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I flew back to Finland on 30 November. It had been a bleak fall over there but right before I left, a big snow storm hit the southern parts of the country and it was very winter-like when I arrived. The next few weeks were also very nice as the temperature stayed below freezing and the snow kept coming and coming. On Christmas there was roughly 70cm (28in) of snow in the Helsinki airport which is a lot more than usual this time of the year.

Before New Year's that all changed though as it got warmer and rained for quite a few days melting much of the snow into a slush which then froze during the night. That's one thing I don't like about the winter in the Helsinki region. Some years we get almost no snow at all and the ground stays bare without the need to add some gravel to provide grip. You can ride your bike through the whole winter and whine about the depressing darkness with your colleagues at the water cooler. Other years we get the proper winter with lots of snow and the temperature constantly stays below freezing making it a very beautiful place. Most years, however, it's a mix of these two and it's either trying to wade through the slushy streets dodging the splashes thrown up into the air by the passing cars or then just trying to stay on your feet on streets that would require skates rather than shoes.

Moab, Utah

During the long Memorial Day weekend it was time for the last roadtrip before heading back to Finland. I set off with a colleague and his family to Moab, Utah which has two national parks right next to it - the Arches NP and the Canyonlands NP. Moab had been one of the places I had been recommended by many people but I'd managed to skip it so far so this was a perfect opportunity to go there. During our trip to Las Vegas back in March we had passed by quite close but since then I hadn't even crossed the Utah state line once.

Passing one of the ski centers along the way

My colleague and his wife had two kids (aged 4 and 8) which naturally slows down the travel. We set off on Wednesday around noon after me spending the morning in the already really quiet office. Memorial Day is one of the two biggest holidays in the US and most seem to take the whole week off and spend it with their families and friends.

We decided to spend the first night in Glenwood Springs which is about half way to Moab. Had I been travelling alone, I probably would've driven straight to Moab but at least this way we stopped just before it got dark and could rest for the next day. On Thursday we continued our way and turned south from the I-70 to a more scenic route following the Colorado river and the canyon that it had carved along the way.

After checking into the hotel and grabbing something to eat, it was time to head off to the Arches National Park. It is home to dozens of naturally formed sandstone arches. Some you could see from the road winding through the park but for some you would've had to hike quite a bit to see. With the kids, any long hikes were out of the questions but there was still plenty to see and with the sun going down, there wouldn't have been enough time for much of that anyway. 

Mesa Arch in the Canyonlands National Park

On Friday our destination was the Canyonlands National Park which covers a much larger area than the Arches NP. The park is divided into three sections and we only visited the first although saw quite a bit of the other two in the distance. This area offers some astonishing views of the, well, canyonlands that mother nature's forces have carved out through the years. The scale of it was mind boggeling and even though I'd been to the Grand Canyon, the Black Canyon etc, it didn't take anything away from this experience. All these national parks are there for a reason and have their own unique characteristics.

Green River is somewhere down there

On the way back we also passed by the Dead Horse Point which is so named because of an old legend of some cowboys leaving a group of horses to the upper mesa which then died of thirst staring at the Colorado river since they couldn't find a way down. This is where the closing scene of Thelma and Louise was filmed and this area in general is certainly familiar with anyone who's seen some John Wayne or Indiana Jones movies.

Double Arch

On Saturday we decided to go back to the Arches NP for a couple of hours before starting the way back home. We spent the night at Glenwood Springs again and the kids got to splash around in the Glenwood hot springs. On Sunday we set off relatively early and managed to avoid the crowds on the I-70. We drove through the Glenwood Canyon once more and on the way I just stared at the scenery and tried to soak up all the images to my head knowing that soon I'd have to leave all this behind me.

A spooky face

During this 10 month long expat I managed to visit seven different states (CO, UT, WY, SD, NY, NV, AZ), 11 National Parks (some of which more than once), several National Monuments and other interesting places as well as pretty much scouring the entire state of Colorado. I could have easily added Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana to the list of states just by driving through them or by taking small detours but I didn't want to do that just for the sole reason of getting them on the list. Looking at the places I would've liked to go to but never did, two jump out. Going to San Francisco CA would've required a longer holiday than what I had time for and the Dinosaur National Monument along both sides of the Colorado/Utah state line would've been a good destination in the summer when the days were much longer. I have a feeling I might return to this beautiful state before not too long so maybe I can scratch that off my bucket list fairly soon as well!