Utah, here we come!

So I finally booked our flights to Utah yesterday. I've been tracking the airfares, but they just keep skyrocketing {$600...$700...some are $900?!?!?.....yes, those fares are per person for domestic coach seats booked 6 months in advance, yikes!} Gone are the days of airline steals and deals, my friends. I took a gamble that the prices won't come back down, assumed that they'll only continue to go up at this point, and just went for it to make sure that we get the itinerary we prefer.

We're going in March; Sal will be presenting his research at a national chemistry conference in Salt Lake City. So, as it is my M.O., I'm turning his business trip into our chance to explore Utah! Sal has also been invited to give a seminar at the Brigham Young University Chemistry Dept. The campus is in Provo, which is only an hour's drive from SLC and -- get this! -- that city is a scrapbooking mecca (translation: stores galore, woo hoo!). How fortuitous!

I'm still planning the other aspects of our trip.....but during our stay in SLC, we plan to take a daytrip to go snow skiing among the sheer, granite walls of Little Cottonwood Canyon. After all, we'll be there during the season of pristine powder! It'll be the first time that either of us has skied, so that'll be a cool new experience.

Then we'll visit the 5 fabulous national parks in southern Utah.....Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Arches. And there's also Monument Valley. So much to see! I really appreciate our country's national parks, and my guidebook describes the Utah parks as a "geologic fairyland". So they will no doubt be absolute heaven for me. VERY excited, can't wait!

If anyone knows of any other not-to-be-missed sights or experiences in Utah, please do share!