Since many people have been camping for their COVID vacation, I wanted to share with you a great gluten-free and chemical-free skincare line with amazing products for you and your family when you're camping or having fun outdoors. Utah is known for its outdoor fun and adventure; however, you need to be safe in the sun. Did you know that Utah is #1 for skin cancer in the United States? Since we are at high elevation, our sun is much stronger than other places at lower elevations, so you can burn easier. Additionally, some people think they can't get a sunburn in the winter when it's cold; however, that is entirely false. You can actually burn easier in the winter because not only are you getting sun from the sky, you are also getting reflected sunlight bouncing off of the snow.

I love camping. I love the outdoors, sleeping outside, sleeping in my hammock, having a campfire every night, not caring about smelling like campfire smoke or makeup. The beautiful trails I hike and the out-of-the-way places I find when I'm taking that road trip to my next camping spot. There are so many things to love!

Few activities are a must when camping. One, especially in Utah or climates that are dry and at high elevation, is taking care of your skin. The largest organ in your body can quickly become dehydrated, burned, and bitten during outdoor adventures unless you take proper precautions with your skincare.

Chemical Free Hydration for Your Skin

Keeping skin hydrated means drinking lots of water. The higher elevation, the less oxygen and the more water you need to drink, however, if you're drinking lots of water, you want to also take an electrolyte supplement or salt supplement, so you don't unbalance the electrical connections in your body! Remember, if you're out in the heat, drinking more water doesn't cool your body temperature, you must pour water on you, bath in cool water, get into a climate-controlled environment or wrap a wet towel on your head or your hotspots on your body to cool yourself down.

Besides my hands, I find my face is super hard to keep hydrated, especially overnight. Lemongrass Spa's Coconut Overnight Rehab Cream is a high moisture cream, applied at night, to rehydrate dry skin. 

Healing Elements is a fantastic cream that keeps my super dry skin hydrated overnight as well. Besides being super-healing, it smells deliciously amazing! It's heavy cream, with a texture like a salve. There's no doubt you have a protective layer between your skin and the elements when you put this on your skin. My dog Lily loves to have a taste when I'm applying this to my skin after a shower.

Never had the inkling to ski? Would you rather have the flu in the middle of summer than hit a snowy slope in the middle of January? Going to Salt Lake City doesn’t have to be all skiing, wiping the possibility of cultural activities off your to-do list. There aremany fun cultural and science activities to do here in Salt Lake City, especially if you love museums. From art and science to laughs and escape rooms, you’ll find something for everyone in Salt Lake City.

Art Museums
There are multiple art museums you can check out while you’re in Salt Lake City. Make sure to check hours for each art museum on their websites listed here. The Utah Museum of Fine Art is all about the history of art across the world. There are two museums that host modern art and are free and open to the public: Urban Arts Gallery and the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art.

Science and Nature Museums
From pre-historic dinosaurs to science, STEM and gardens, Salt Lake has a myriad of science and nature museums to see. See exhibits, movies, planetarium shows and IMAX shows exploring space and technology at Clarke Planetarium. Find dinosaurs lurking about, Native American cultural artifacts and learn about genetics the Natural History Museum of Utah. When you visit The Museum of Natural Curiosity you’ll get to explore over 400 different interactive exhibits — no two visits will ever be the same. For an eclectic mix of art and science, check out The Leonardo. Visit the Hogle Zoo to walk through a safari of wild animals from all over the world.

Enjoy a Great Craft Brew?
Like a refreshing pint now and then? You’ll love the 

Four years ago, I discovered the Pacific Coast Highway in Sunset magazine. By the way, if you've never read an issue of Sunset - beware - this publication is addicting! More specifically, Sunset magazine embroils the senses with the unique, fantastic getaways and the most inspiring and delicious interior decorating a magazine publication has to offer.

In the beginning, my basic knowledge of Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH as it's commonly known, was how the highway mingled with the west coast of the United States from the northern California coast to  Southern California. I had been searching for a fantastic road trip adventure, and, to my traveler's delight, Pacific Coast Highway was the journey I was looking for! 

After piling through information on Pinterest about PCH, my heart was pounding to go and explore the grains of sand, exquisite views, and glorious mountains, which caress the Pacific Coast Highway shoreline.

​I hear two sides to driving in the desert. First, there's the crowd who says, "There's nothing for miles", and I also hear people say, "It's a beautiful landscape."

It's picturesque on the surface, but below the surface you'll find a vast, amazing and brilliant world to explore.

Deserts are filled with millions of organisms of greens and tans, just staring down at you from their dry, hightop perches above the desert landscape. It's like they are all little versions of Yertle the Turtle from the Dr. Seuss storybook, looking down upon the cars as if to say,"I rule all that I see!". 

Moving traffic is the entertainment of the hills and plants surrounding the highway on I-15 in southern Arizona, waiting for the observers in their vehicles to notice the patches of grasses, sagebrush and Joshua trees standing on the landscape. Each patch of greenery is a thriving community of microorganisms, small reptiles and plants. Millions upon millions of these little "islands of the desert" surround the road - contrasting the natural world to the strip of modern world, winding its way through the vast expanse of the desert.

Hiking through the desert is a fun, exciting and exhilarating outdoor experience you will want to have at least once in your life. Sage-scented air swirls around rock formations, and if you know where to look, certain spots have rock art from indigenous tribes dating back hundreds to thousands of years. Art from pre-historic tribes who marked their territory, where they buried their dead, or drawing pictures of the day-to-day activities such as hunting.

The desert offers much to those who stop to look. Take your time, close your eyes, and experience what this fragile location has to offer. Then open your eyes and see the beauty which falls across the landscape.

​For great advice on how to travel gluten-free, grab my Guide to Traveling Gluten-Free on Amazon today!