As the weather cools, I am reminiscing on my time out West this past summer. I refrained from writing about my time in Utah with my best friend Ashley because of the spiritual experience that I had there. It was one that I wanted to keep to myself. This morning, I feel called to share it.
The most freedom that my soul has ever felt thus far in my life was in Utah. One of my greatest friends and I traveled to the Southwest to experience landscapes and energy forces that eventually were brought back with me, and continue to stay.
Ashley is and has been one of my closest and truest friends. We raised pigs together for 4H our entire grade and high school years, and have continued this real and honest friendship now into our college years. She and I hopped on a plane to Las Vegas together on July 30, 2022, to experience the landscapes of Utah, USA, and unintentionally encounter utmost peace and serenity.
The wind led us to Zion National Park for two days. Leaving our trailer park cabin, we hiked to the top of Angel’s Landing, the most strenuous hike in the park first, ironically. We sat at the top of the peak and overlooked the world below us. It was breathtaking, truly. I teared up and we sat on the rock in silence. The sun was shining, but it was not too hot with the light breeze that it paired with. We took our shoes off and ate raspberries.
Prana from the trees and rocks around us was something new for me. The energy sprouting onto me brought me utter peace. After hiking up miles at intense elevations, my heart was still. Ashley and I sat and did not speak for what felt like the longest period of time, and the shortest. Not one person passed us or came across us sitting in the sun on the peak.
The moment we stood up from our ground at the top of the canyon, thunder boomed in the distance, the voices of other hikers were now within earshot, and the clouds began to block the vibrant sun above. When we finally began to move, so did the world around us.
We hiked back down to the bottom, discussing meaningful topics about our lives and future now that we had moments to catch our breath on the descent. The moment we reached the bottom, it began to downpour.
We returned to Zion the next day and hiked through The Narrows - the most narrow section of the Zion Canyon. Before putting on rented water gear, we sat calmly to eat a peaceful breakfast at a small cafe in town, Cafe Solei, and watched the sun rise above the rock. Ashley and I were able to have our first mindful and intuitive conversation with each other on the trip. We took our time, sipped coffee in the metal chairs and laughed. This calm morning was one of my favorite moments on the trip.
The Narrows was difficult, intentional, and tested the patients of Ashley and I. We waded through the muddy and fast water rushing against us. As rock and mud kicked up in the water around us, it was impossible to see where our feet would land in the next step. I took each movement with balance, strength, and curiosity — just as I strive to in each step throughout this life that I live.
Through the Narrows, as with Angel’s Landing, Ashley and I did not speak all too much to each other. We kept within eyesight of each other but trekked through the water where it felt best for us. During the Narrows was when I recognized how peaceful this place truly was. For the number of worldly travelers that explore the park each day, it felt so empty to me. I was being hit forcefully by gentle prana that felt like it was only attracted to me, with nobody else there to interfere.
We were led to Bryce Canyon National Park on day three of the trip. The amphitheater overlook brought me to tears. How amazing is it that the same God and the same energy and forces that created you and I also created this landscape? Ashley and I took a good long look at what was in front of us, speechless. The sun was hot and bright shining on us with the same light breeze that surrounded us on the peaks of Zion. We descended to the bottom of the amphitheater and saw so many park rangers and humans working at land preservation. We got lost, then we got lost again with a family from Iowa, and made our way back to the top. Sore bodies from lots of movement throughout the last few days encouraged us to make the decision to return to our new Airbnb and relax for the rest of the day.
Our rental truck led us not to the trailer park, but to our new home on a horse farm. I feel like I could write a whole book on the experience that Ashley and I had in Ellisnor, Utah. The AirBnb that Ashley booked for the second half of our trip was on a horse ranch in the upper portion of a house owned by a family of four: a couple in their mid-thirties with a 9-year-old boy and a 7 year-old girl. When we pulled into the driveway that first evening, a pair of horses raced to the end of the driveway and followed us all of the way in. Not a single home was in sight, just another ranch in the distance and the mountainscape. The only sounds we could hear were the animals in the distance.
Ashley and I walked about the ranch in our sandals and shorts and watched the sun set around us. The air was as fresh as it gets, and not a person in sight on the land around us. Serenity, really.
We fell asleep each in our queen beds in an open-spaced room watching The Bachelorette. Neither of us really interested in reality TV were now overly invested, discussing every sentence, facial expression, date, and rose that was on the screen.
A rooster woke us up. Through the partially-opened windows, a light morning breeze blew the sound of a morning rooster into our AirBnb to wake us up at dawn. We dressed in swimsuits and baggy t-shirts and drove into town and stopped at a diner: The Cowboy Corral. Owned by the same woman for the last 50 years, she was the only person behind the counter with big southern hair and a hunched-over back. The only waitress was a 17-year-old girl named Holly Jo. Ashley and I were the youngest people in the place by about 40 years. We had a nice chat with Holly Jo after she took our order, asking her questions about living in Utah and life in the south. She asked us why we would travel from Wisconsin for a vacation out to Utah.
What is one person’s every day is another person’s peace. What is one person’s peace, escape, and retreat. This comment from the waitress got me thinking with a much larger appreciation about the blessings that surround me in Wisconsin that could be another person's peace.
Our home-cooked breakfast cost us $6 for each of our meals — an omelet, toast, and coffee. We tipped Holly Jo good and wished her well.
On our final full day, we immersed ourselves in the Earth of Utah by going to two local hot springs. One, more commercialized, labeled as a “resort” was one that I was not overly connected to. Water from the hot springs ran through piping into bathtubs which were great for photos, but not so much for connecting to the Earth around. However; the views where unbeatable.
The host of the AirBnb left a few notes, one of them including directions to a hot spring off the beaten path that “only the locals know about.” When Ashley and I got there late in the afternoon, it was evident that that statement was true. The red hotspring sat lonesome on the outskirts of the village. The only people there were a young couple sitting at the very top of the spring smoking a joint. They greeted us with a wave.
The hot spring was so raw and real, truly crafted from the Earth. Ashley and I sat in the spring for a while, overlooking the views in front of us. Breathtaking is the only way to describe it. How unbelievable it is that such a landscape exists, and, again, was created by the same forces that created us human beings. Ashley and I sat there until dark, drove into the small town, and ate with the locals at a ma-and-pa diner and ice cream parlor. Ashley and I shared so many laughs and drank two of the best milkshakes we have ever had in our lives.
Milwaukee welcomed us with open arms the following night. I brought the beauty of the trip home with me. My time in Utah could not be described in any word other than: perfect. People can say nobody is perfect, or nothing is perfect, but this trip was. The weather, the experiences, the people that we met, how everything fell into place like a puzzle — it was all perfect.
Extensive things were taken in throughout this trip. I learned so much about myself internally and externally. I learned so much about Ashley as a friend and woman just by how she navigated this experience alongside me. I let the forces touch my soul and calm me, and remind me of what this world holds, and how small I am inside of this place we call home. I am small, but my energy can tumble with these worldly experiences to exert a newfound radiation from me. This trip shaped me and I still carry it with me and will do so for as long as I can. What’s next?
