Swept away by Vail Village

We stopped in Grand Junction for the night, but the main adventure of our third day on the road was in Vail. We had no idea what really was in Vail, we just knew the name.

We found Vail Village! We weren't really looking for it, but still, we found it!

After we pulled off the highway, we stumbled upon ‘Vail Village.’ As soon as we got there, my immediate reaction was that we were in Europe. My next reaction was “where the hell do we park?!” It took about 15 minutes to figure that one out.

It was obviously a resort destination–there were hotels and restaurants and shops and scenic walking and biking trails everywhere. We really liked it, but at an elevation of over 11,000 feet, we were struggling a little bit. Alex and I are both in pretty good shape, but after walking for about five minutes we both felt like we weren’t getting enough air–but we soldiered on.

We found a restaurant soon after we arrived, and ate an incredibly delicious lunch while watching the first half of the World Cup. Everyone at the restaurant was sitting outside on the patio, so we were the only people sitting inside watching the game. It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

Our lunch stop in Vail.

After we left Vail, it was two more hours to Grand Junction. We ate dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant where nothing matched–silverware, plates, cups, salt and peppers shakers–everything looked like it had just walked out of Goodwill. Despite its appearance (and my misgivings), the food was delicious. That says a lot coming from me, as I’m known for detesting Asian food.

The next day, we drove through Utah, and that night we stopped in St. George. I’ve been many places in my life, but I think Utah must be the most beautiful. Alex agrees.