We initially planned to go to Utah via Las Vegas to see both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks but Matt told me that he wanted to see LA, so a couple of months before we left I had to do some rearranging of itineraries (thanks for that, darling husband!) and cancelling and booking new places to stay. Looking back, I do think switching to LA was a better use of our time as it cut down on a lot of driving hours, and Santa Monica was one of the highlights of our trip.