Utah

I had never been out west, but wanted to go for years. The trip was Stella's idea. I think she felt it would be a good cure for the rut I had gotten into, which was due to an injury that ended my career as a drummer. Little did either of us know just how much of a medicine this trip would be.

I've done some traveling over the years... Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Puerto Rico... but nothing like this. I've traveled up and down the east coast of the United States, but have never actually been farther west than Pennsylvania. I've been to the top of El Castillo at Chichen Itza, but southern Utah is on a whole other level.

After flying to St. George in the southwest corner of Utah, we rented a car and hit some incredible destinations while traveling east. Five National Parks, some dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs, and a couple obscure film locations over ten days.

In the 2012 Presidential Election, the State of Utah had the highest percentage of the vote going to Mitt Romney at 72.8%. By comparison, the State of New York had a percentage of 63.3% for Obama. Which means that Utah is more conservative than New York is liberal. Why would a left-winger from NYC want to go to Utah?

This is why...