InMotion Adventures

14/10/2022

Forever talking about how amazing the dog park was in Durango this summer. We loved hiking in from the far side because the trail follows along the river from above.

The challenge was reserving a little bit of Sashi's energy to hike back out to the car after playing with all the dogs and frolicking in the river 😆

Swipe for a photo of said 'frolicking' 🐾
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07/10/2022

Must Do hike if you find yourself in Telluride, Colorado: Bear Creek Trail 🐻

5.1 out and back
1000ft elevation gain
Views of an 80 ft cascade at the top!

I almost chickened out on this one because the 1000ft elevation gain started at 8800ft... and my lungs just don't. But super glad we pushed through and hiked this trail! It's popular but not crowded, dogs allowed on leash and nonstop scenery along the way.

And we ALWAYS love a good waterfall destination hike 😍
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03/10/2022

During our summer in Colorado, we were lucky to make it up to Telluride twice!

The first time was back in late June with just us and Sashi. We had absolutely flawless weather and a great adventure. Theres something about that town that feels like you're in another country.

The waterfalls alone are worth driving there to see!

We enjoyed the dog friendly gondola, had some delicious pizza in town at and wandered the shops in town.

It's a bit of a long drive from Durango but the endless beautiful scenery makes the drive go quick. 😍
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17/09/2022

We drove the Million Dollar Highway 3 times this summer!

Here's some photos from the first time, just one week after we got Sashi!

This was our test to see how well she would do with car rides, scenic views and hikes. She clearly passed the test 😆

This stretch of mountain road between Durango and Ouray is amazing. The San Juan mountains never disappoint.
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15/09/2022

New episode of the Confident Traveler Podcast is live! "Fall Isn't Just for New Englanders"

We talk about an exciting Alaskan Cruise opportunity for next June 2023, share some travel industry updates and then I share some alternative destinations for leaf peeping across America! New Englanders always think we're the best but here are a few other places you can go for some beautiful fall colors! 🤩 🍂

Check it out on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/602OMfDULnAI4Mt0WWEzeX?si=7-nVeF-aRDeUVArzySdDaw&utm_source=copy-link
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06/09/2022

Time to start playing catch-up from all the fun adventures we've gone on in Colorado this summer!

Back in the first weekend of June, Durango hosted their annual River Days weekend where people flock to the river to either participate or spectate. We went to the dog park two days in a row to watch some of the river fun from above.

We were able to see part of the raft parade and some of the kayak freestyle competition in the rapids! Sashi watched for a minute but was way more interested in what the other dogs were doing behind us 😆
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02/09/2022

In honor of .joyyy 's Birthday today, figured it'd be a great time to share some of my favorite photos from when she came to visit this summer!!

We took Brianna for the big loop and hit all the mountain towns: Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride and had good luck avoiding the pockets of rain all day! Even got to ride up and over into Telluride Mountain Village in the gondola.

Then on Day 2, we hopped onto one of Kyle's side-by-side tours up at Purgatory Mountain and even though the views were MIA, we had an absolute BLAST getting all muddy! Had to give the city girl the full experience 😆

Happy Birthday Bae!! So glad I've got to spend so much time with you IRL this summer! Cheers to future adventures 🥂
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31/08/2022

Can't believe it's been a year since we officially hit the road with Roo! In the last year, we drove from Florida, diagonal up to Washington state and then down the Pacific Coast. We spent the winter in California, the Summer in Colorado, got engaged and added a new member to the family 🐶

16 States
20 National Parks
Countless Waterfalls
Endless Memories ❤️

It hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies. Car accidents, costly camper maintenance, financial struggles, relationship challenges, new puppy stress, and some brutal weather have all taken turns at trying to break us but I'll take these struggles any day. Small price to pay for the neverending adventure. Cheers to the future and the exciting unknown!
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24/07/2022

I Suppose its about time that we officially introduce Ms. Sashi to the world! If you've been following my IG stories or snapchat then you already know but I never officially posted anything!

When you live in a town as dog friendly as Durango, "it's not a matter of IF you have a dog, it's how many." 😆 So we adopted Sashi from Annie's Orphans in town here and she fell right into place in our crazy lifestyle! She's still a puppy but she's quick to learn and adapt to everything so far.

She loves sticks, rivers, lakes, hiking, and looking at the mountains on adventures. Also unconcerned about why our house collapses in on itself and rolls to new locations every so often 🤣 Stay tuned for more of Sashi's adventures! 🐾
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18/07/2022

The Animas River is the pride and joy of Durango, Colorado.

Here you will find people rafting, stand up paddle boarding or kayaking the river. And for the less adventurous folks, you can go north a bit to the calmer section and find the tubers and beach go-ers. If you don't want to be IN the river, you can go to one of the MANY parks along the river and watch everyone else float by!

We were lucky enough to have Kyle's boss invite us out on a spontaneous raft trip right in our first or second weekend here. The river was ripping so we had a blast! Both of our first experience white water rafting!
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14/07/2022

We have officially made it to the Colorado chapter of our story 🥰

Colorado was the reason any of this adventure ever happened. After traveling to Estes Park and Rocky Mtn NP back in 2019, we couldn't shake the feeling that we needed to get back out here and explore more. So when we started looking for a summer job for Kyle, Colorado was the first place we looked and within 1 day of looking, he scored a job with Colorado Outback Adventures running RZR tours out of Durango, Colorado!

We arrived to Durango mid-May and got ourselves all set up at our new campsite for the summer. Then the first thing we did was buy a fuel efficient car, and take the scenic drive up to where Kyle would be working this summer: Purgatory Ski Resort! Not a bad office.

Once we got back down to town, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out and stroll around town to orient ourselves to our new home. Spoiler alert: we're going to like it here 😊
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06/07/2022

Photos from our evening timed entry into Arches National Park... we made sure to do the hike to Delicate Arch (which was an unexpected doozy of a little hike) and then wandered around to a few other spots.

We drove out to the end to see Devil's Garden from the parking lot (because we did not secure a permit to hike it.)

Then we ventured back to Sand Dune Arch and played around in there for a bit.

Followed by a quick drive by of Balanced Rock and a bit of an evening meditation moment looking over Park Avenue as the sun set in the background.

Did we wish we planned ahead more and did some bigger permitted hikes in Arches? Yes. Do we feel disappointed by everything that we were able to see and do in our two last minute timed entry spots? Nope! I think we did a pretty good job for weird time slots and no planning ahead.

Next time we'll just get up early and beat the timed entries now that I know 🙃
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03/07/2022

¡ N E W B L O G P O S T !

10 Things to Do in Yellowstone in 2022. With all the recent flooding and closures, many are wondering what they can and cannot do. Here's a list of the plenty of sites you can see despite the closures this year!
https://kristininmotion.com/2022/07/03/yellowstone-national-park-2022/
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30/06/2022

New episode of the Confident Traveler Podcast is up! We discuss several news items in the travel industry and then play a fun game of "If money were no object... where would I travel to."

We discuss Antarctica, Scandinavian countries and a world cruise! Where would you travel to if money were no object?

Check it out on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KhXJ22i24oUL1DON8ZiUn?si=QH0urSJ-TtuHwkfqpwYT3g&utm_source=copy-link
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28/06/2022

Shafer Trail, Canyonlands National Park

This was the highlight of this park for sure. A 4x4 road across from the visitors center with some wild, winding switchbacks, high clearance required and a loongggg drive back to Moab.

We even passed by the cliff where they filmed the end of Thelma and Louise!

Kyle and I debated what was better, being above the canyon and looking down, or being in the canyon and looking up!

Which do you prefer?
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24/06/2022

Protip: Don't forget about Dead Horse Point State Park when you venture to the Moab Area!

We hadn't even heard of Dead Horse but a couple of friends we met in Capitol Reef told us that we couldn't miss it. Dead Horse is only a state park, and it has a $10 fee that isn't covered by the annual parks pass but it was well worth it!

The park only takes up a small portion of the canyon area but I would argue that the views were better than Canyonland National Park. We hiked the rim trail from the visitor center and got to the see the Canyon from all angles.

The reviews on AllTrails complained that the trail was hard to follow but if you have any common trail sense, and know to look for rocks and cairns, you'll be fine!
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22/06/2022

When we're traveling, we have two requirements when we're searching for places to camp:

1. Verizon Cell Service so I can work.
2. ORV trails or riding areas so Kyle can play while I work 🤘

Moab was perfect for this.. its a huge off-road mecca for 4x4s, side-by-sides, dirt bikes, & ATVs. We took one day to go riding together and then he got 2 or 3 more rides in while I was picking up some shifts! Perfect situation so he's not running circles around me while I'm trying to focus 😆

Photo cred to for the first photo!
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22/06/2022

19/06/2022

¡ N E W B L O G P O S T !

Woww its been since February since I posted a new blog but it's about damn time I got that going again.

Figured I'd start with a nice little life update! Where we've been, where we are not and what we have in store for the next few months!

https://kristininmotion.com/2022/06/19/june-life-update/
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15/06/2022

Took a bit of a hiatus from the Confident Traveler Podcast but had a great time back at it, chatting with Chuck about our trip through Utah!

I shared about our route, the parks we visited, which ones we liked the most, and some of the harrowing drives we went on, camper in tow!

Check it out via the link in my bio!
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14/06/2022

Classic case of the travel planner doing a terrible job planning her own travel 😳

It wasn't until we were chatting with a couple in Capitol Reef that we heard anything about timed entry tickets into Arches. Woops.

Definitely didn't do my due diligence there. I popped online and of course there was hardly anything available for the following week but I was able to snag a mid-day entry for Sunday and an evening entry for Thursday. Good enough!

It wasn't until later that I learned you can always enter before or after the gate times without time entries. That would have been good to know since getting up and going early to avoid crowds is our travel style anyways! But we got in the mid-day, hour long line like the good doobies that we were and enjoyed our day in Arches National Park.

Spent our time wandering around a few of the more popular areas in the park and making note of the spots we'd like to hit during our next timed entry ticket a few days later!
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13/06/2022

As much as we loved Capitol Reef, we had a whole week in Moab ahead of us to look forward to!

Since we were going to be there for a full week while I worked 3 shifts, it was imperative to find a spot with good service for my hotspot. I stressed out while reading thousands of reviews and finally landed on Klondike Bluffs BLM. Of course by the time we got there, the spots were limited and we ended up down in a bit of a gully with no cell service. 🤦‍♀️

We decided to manifest that the car camper in the spot at the top of this hill would leave so we could steal his high spot! Low and behold, he rolled out the next day so we packed everything up and moved Roo up to the top of the hill where we stayed for the rest of the week! It was windy but the cell service was fantastic.
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10/06/2022

Protip: multitask stopping to take a photo and catching a breath on an incline 🥵

Cassidy Arch trail in Capitol Reef was just a short 1.5 miles out but with 1000 ft elevation gain, that definitely put this hike in the high end of my lung capabilities 😆

That being said, it was SO WORTH IT. The trail takes you up and along the cliff edge the entire time then finishes with a traverse across slick rock to get to the top of the arch. From the top you can look down into it and even walk across the arch! Which leads me to protip #2...

Don't trust an older man to take the photo of you on top of the arch. He will zoom in and completely miss the point of the photo 🥲 Swipe to see the results.
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08/06/2022

Our first day of hiking in Capitol Reef National Park took us to two smaller hikes: Hickman Natural Bridge and Cohab Canyon from UT-24.

Hickman Natural Bridge was a great hike, short in distance but enough stairs and elevation to call it moderate. We went early and basically had the whole thing to ourselves. But drive by later in the day and the parking lot is mobbed and spills out down the main road.

On the opposite side of UT-24, you can hike up the other side to get up into Cohab Canyon. Most people park at the other entrance and hike in from there but we chose thing direction to avoid moving the car. Again, the elevation climb is steep but short but it levels off more once you get up into the canyon. We personally found it difficult to stay on the path at a certain point but it was still fun to play around on the slick rock!

So many unique kinds of rock throughout this area, definitely worth exploring!
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07/06/2022

Testimonial Tuesday 🙌

Full text: "I can't say enough about Kristin and InMotion Adventures! She helped plan an amazing 50th Birthday Trip! We were looking for a hiking adventure. We opted to stay one night in Vegas to visit family before heading off to Utah. Kristin helped from flights, hotel, car rental and found the perfect Airbnb in Hurricane. She asked all the right questions to tailor our trip guide. She put together our confirmations in one easy format. We spent 4 days in Zion and 1 in Bryce Canyon. Kristin's attention to detail and passion for what she does shines through when helping plan a trip! Can't wait to plan our next adventure with her!" - Lindsey Welz

Helping to plan Lindsey and Mark's trip was a dream trip for me. National Parks and tons of hiking, sign me up! 🙌 Need help planning an adventure of your own? Or maybe just want someone to help put your thoughts in order to create a perfect itinerary for you, shoot me a message and let's chat about what InMotion Adventures can do for you!
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01/06/2022

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah! What an underrated park!

We got our camper set up and immediately just did our typical drive through the park to get acclimated drive and WOW this park is cool.

A lot of people actually skip over this park when they're visiting Utah and I have no idea why. It's so cool to drive through with the towering canyon walls, and it has ample spots to offroad and get even deeper into the canyons. Plenty of good hikes and washes to explore, and it isn't all that popular. Definitely stands out as one of my favorites!
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28/05/2022

Scenic Byway 12, All-American Road.

We has never heard of Scenic Byway 12 until we found ourselves on it! After staying a few nights in Escalante, our next move took us up the Scenic Byway to the Capitol Reef area!

The night before we planned to leave Escalante, I was looking ahead at our drive and read some concerning reviews about how gnarly this route was. So we hopped in the truck and decided to test drive it before pulling Roo through it and boy were they not wrong.

This Byway has wicked winding road on 14% grade declines, sharp switchbacks, narrow twists through canyons, steep drop offs on the side of cliffs, and then an entire section along a ridge with drops off on both sides 😳 The views were unreal and it was by far one of the most amazing roads we'd ever driven.

We were glad we scoped it out the day before so Kyle was prepared for the drive towing the camper the next morning! Thank you transmission for troopering through that one 🙏

If you're ever planning a road trip through Utah, always take the scenic route!
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24/05/2022

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the place that we never heard of but are so glad that we went.

I think it's still a bit of a hidden gem in Utah because there are not many easy or accessible activities to do for people in the basic activity level range. We were told that if there was one thing to do while we were there, it was to do Peek-a-boo and Spooky Gulch slot canyons. In the end, I chickened out of Spooky because it was extremely narrow and I am not, but doing an out and back of Peek-a-boo was still one of the coolest things we've ever done!

Between the long ascent down from the parking lot, the 12' rock wall into the canyon, the hoists and squeezes and climbs along the way, and the hot and dry climate of the day, this was certainly a challenge for me, and left me in tears at least once, if not twice!

It's good to push yourself outside of your comfort zone every so often. I'll look back on these memories fondly!

Shoutout to .landscape.designs
for making sure we had this in our road trip plans!
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23/05/2022

After our morning in Red Canyon, we circle back to Bryce for three more short stops:

📍 Inspiration Point
📍 Paria View
📍 Bryce Point

These 3 stops are right past the Sunrise and Sunset parking areas and overlook the Amphitheater so if you only have one day in Bryce and don't have time to drive the whole scenic drive, make sure to add these few quick stops in!
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20/05/2022

Totally underrated area of Utah: Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest

Red Canyon is the first stop on the Highway 12 Scenic Byway and has a visitor center right off 12 it but might be often overlooked by travelers focused on Bryce. Red Canyon offers a few hiking and mountain biking trails that give people a chance to get away from the crowds of the National Park.

This small area of Utah has amazing "hoodoo formations, red cliffs, pink soil, and ponderosa pines" making it easy to photograph and fun to explore. We followed a suggested loop trail made out of a bunch of smaller loops to get the most out of the park. It felt like being on another planet at times, not right off a highway!

Definitely recommend the stop if you're pass through on Highway 12 and have the time!
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