We decided to start our day with a good breakfast at Cracker Barrel before hitting the road. We don't have any of these restaurants near our home and since we had $10 in gift cards, this was a great morning to have one breakfast out on our trip.

For most of the day, we were heading west on the main interstate. Once we were back in Utah, the Google directions I had printed out at home put us on Highway 24, then eventually Highway 12. Little did I know that Highway 12 is one of the most scenic routes in the United States. (Scenic route usually means long winding road!)

We started to see a glimpse of what we might see the next day at Bryce National Park.

Love all the layers of colors

We stopped at one point because I saw a sign along the road that said 'Petroglyphs'. Can you see them?

Didn't know we were driving through National Park grounds, so we stopped to peek in the visitor center and pick up a Junior Ranger book for Kelsey.

Just north of the visitor center

Since it is monsoon season, we had quite a bit of rain along our drive

We learned later that we had driven through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This area is 1.7 million acres of a territory of multicolored cliffs, plateaus, mesas, buttes, pinnacles, and canyons.