Antelope Canyon

 Wowza. I just looked at our itinerary and it's hard to believe we are almost done! That said, we have some pretty big hikes ahead of us. Yesterday, we left Grand Canyon a little earlier than I intended.  We were pooped from the hike the day before. I initially planned to hike the rim on our first day there, but we were discouraged from that as the rim gets a lot of lightning hits and there was a chance of rain.  So, we hit the harder trail not knowing what we were getting into. Once we recovered from that, the boys were over hiking in the Grand Canyon. They saw no purpose in hiking the rim after we hiked down into the canyon and back up.

So, we drove to the Lake Powell area.  We tried to find a place to actually see Lake Powell and after a bit of research we discovered there are very few places to see the lake if not in a boat.  It is surrounded by cliffs and there are limited entry points. So, we saw a tributary to Lake Powell and called it good. The next opening was miles away.  John was enamored with the hydro-dam and we learned all about getting energy out of the dam. There were HUGE power lines coming out of it.  We didn't take many pics there.

Today, we toured Antelope Canyon. Yes to more red rocks, but these were like none others we have seen.  The canyon was discovered many years ago when a rancher lost his cattle and traced them to the canyon. I would say they were smart cows. I was actually quite surprised this was open to the general public to visit as there were lots of ladders and steep stairs and tiny spots to step thru. 

The canyon was created completely by water. They still have flash floods and Monsoon Season July thru September. People have died not taking heed to flash flood warnings.  

 

There are steel ladders and stairs in several places. One rule they kept repeating was no picture taking from any of the metal platforms. Apparently, tourists get to the top and try to take a picture and fall. Our tour guide said one lady fell and broke a hip and they had to get a helicopter to drop down a basket to air lift her out. It is really not for the wobbly down there. 

JBS took many pics for me with his phone. I had my big camera, but the phones have just as good, if not better images, especially using filters.  He wants some photo cred for his work. :)

Antelope Canyon was just spectacular. I have seen these pictures for years and wanted to see it. Apple, LG and Window use Antelope Canyon for their screen savers, so perhaps you have seen these pictures before!  It was a one hour tour and the only way in is with a guide.  It was worth paying for the tour in order to see yet another amazing creation by God.

The best part was at the end of the tour and our guide said to look behind us.  I caught a pic of the man behind me coming out of the canyon. It is completely camouflaged in to the surrounding. You would have no idea what was below you! 

Fantastic day. Every day gets better and better!

Grand Canyon

 Today we drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I have flown over it, but never seen it in person. Just amazing. We have seen a lot of rock formations, cliffs and mesas.  I feel like we might be getting "used" to the dramatic landscapes, but the Grand Canyon was still breathtaking.

I really hate taking landscape pics without people in them, but the Grand Canyon is the exception to my rule. 

We hiked HARD. We really didn't know what we were getting in to.  When we spoke to the Ranger she said that there was a chance of storms and the Rim, where we wanted to hike, is one of the highest hit places with lightening and advised against it. So, we headed to Bright Angel because she said it had several spots to stop for water, bathroom and rest that was covered. Going down the mountain was easy and fast because it was steep.  Typicaly you climb UP first and get the hard part over. Not us, going down was easy and happy.  Going UP was a different story. It was a 2000 ft drop over 3 miles. We were heading for the 3 mile marker, but JBS started to have signs of asthma attack, so we turned around at 2.5 miles.  JBS and JLS got tired of waiting, so they sailed on up while we sucked air. :) I don't mind a challenge, but this was hard.

This is Lulu. We hit a mule blockade on our way down. While talking to the cowboy, I asked if any mules had ever gone over the edge and he said 1 or 2.  Just being stubborn! Bless them. No one was on them, but still!  Even funnier, while we were waiting a couple kids ran up behind us and said, "Look it's Joe Biden's 2000 Mules!"  I got a good laugh out of that.

Our favorite part of our travels is seeing wildlife. We first saw this guy on a ledge on our way down. And when we came up, hours later ;), he was on the trail munching with no worries in the world for people walking by. I think he took one for the team and took tourist duty for the day. He got lots of attention.

This is JLS' lizard. He loved him. Named him Ollie. I named him JLS.

This was the ram from below. We really have no idea how he got to that ledge. He literally climbed straight up the cliff to get there.

Just munching away from a beautiful spot with a beautiful view. 

We passed a herd of elk on our way to dinner.  Wish we saw more animals!

One thing I will say....people are kind and generous and caring when you are hiking. Everywhere we have gone, we have met people from all over the US and many international visitors on our trails. {Lots!} So much kindness, words of encouragement, offers for water, wonderful conversations during rest breaks. The world may be in chaos, but these people are truly good. It's been so refreshing!

Valley of the Gods & More!

I woke up early in our sweet little cabin because the sun was rising and shining right thru our big front window. I got to sit on the porch and listen to total silence while looking at the beautiful rocks of Monument Valley one last time.  It was the 4th of July!

Will joined me before we hit the road.

We drove to Valley of the Gods, which was breathtaking. It was a dirt road that wound thru beautiful red rocks.  It was so vast it was difficult to get photographs of the beauty.

After we drove thru the Valley of the Gods, we drove to the top of a Mesa that looks over the Valley. It was a white-knuckle drive to the top over dirt roads and hair pin turns with no guardrail and steep drop offs. We even saw a couple old cars that had careened off the road and clearly, did not end well.  There was no way to bring them up!

Once my heart rate got under control, we found a spot at the top of the mesa to snap a pic. The boys are not as close as you might think as there is a landing right behind them. JLS took joy in peeing off the ledge.....

Zoom in on this. We think it was a trailer that went over at some point.  Scary and sad all at once.

We drove to Kayenta from there and passed "The Toes" behind the elementary school there. My friend, Heather, taught art at that elementary school when she was first out of college. She taught all the kids from the reservation and even lived in subsidized housing on the reservation. She has quite a story. Here you can see "The Toes."

Down the street there was a Code Talkers exhibit inside a Burger King. Seriously. It was small, but impactful. I loved it.

And just down the road in Tuba City, we saw the Dinosaur Tracks. The history says that all of this was the Gulf of Mexico.  All these buttes and structures were underwater, which truthfully makes more sense to me that they were formed with water and waterlife.  The sweet young Navajo who showed us the tracks said that the dinosaurs were here when the water was here. When the water went away, the dinosaurs went away.  Fascinating to think about.

We have been confused more than once with the time zone changes. Not only are we heading west thru time zones, but some places follow Daylight Savings, some don't. This night we stayed at a Hopi resort that didn't follow Daylight Savings, but across the street, off the native land, they did.  We got a little rest with extra time in Moenkopi, where we spent the night and funny enough, the boys didn't like the down time to rest. They were ready to keep moving!

We didn't see much of a celebration of the 4th where we were, sadly. But we will make up for it when we get home.

Monument Valley

We left a cold and rainy Purgatory/Durango, CO yesterday and headed to Monument Valley, AZ.  But not before stopping at 4 Corners.  While it was fun to stand in 4 states at one time, the fact that we paid $40 to stand in line to take a picture still doesn't sit well with Babe.  The win was that we got there before the huge line formed.  It was still fun to say we did it.

We bought some fun things there....bracelet for JLS, horned frog earrings for me and a tomahawk peace pipe for JLS. 

We headed to Monument Valley where we stayed in a perfect tiny cabin for 5 with a view like no other from our front porch.

As soon as we checked in, we headed out for a Sunset Tour of Monument Valley with a Navajo Guide. Cool art remaining on one of the walls.

I think this was my favorite stop.  This spot is named after John Ford, a movie maker. Over 200 movies have been filmed in Monument Valley, but he loved this shot the most as well. 

Closer up...

I took so many pictures of red rocks that really don't do the actual site justice. This was unique with the open hole at the top. If you can look at the black going down the right side as hair, you can see the side view of a Native American with his nose on the left.

This is a Hogan, a Native Navajo home. Quite impressive on the inside. My pictures didn't turn out, but there was a Native in there that showed us how they make their woven Navajo rugs. She also showed us how she spun the wool and died it.  It was really neat. I really had my heart set on getting a Nanvajo rug (small size to hang on wall) until I saw the price point was $4000. Holy Hannah! But she did explain that it takes months to clean, dye and spin the yarn...straight from her sheepies. Then to weave the design. It was really cool to see. I guess I will just dream about having that rug. 

This is called the 3 sisters. She also pointed out that it looks like the 3 Wisemen.  WHS, said he saw pants. I think it very interesting that we all look at the stones and WHS was looking at the sky. I think that says something about him. Maybe that he's a leftie?  I dunno.... :)

The call this God's Eye. We were there at the perfect time to see the sun coming thru the opening.

Milk Plant....don't touch. Poisonous and will kill you.

As we were returning to the lodge, we looked back to see a sand storm coming. I haven't seen one of these since I was little at Granny's. But the lighting was so beautiful. They were hurrying us along to get  inside before it hit, so I snapped a quick pic with my phone. Just beautiful!

And behind us....a beautiful sunset.

We inhaled a late dinner at a restaurant named Gouldings with such a pretty view and headed back to crash. We were tired and covered in a layer of sand. Showers felt REALLY good!

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Today, we hit Mesa Verde National Park and toured the Long House Cliff Dwelling.  This is a tour we almost missed and we would have missed out!

They only open tickets 14 days in advance for these tours. The Long House is the most popular tour.  While I set a reminder in my calendar, I didn't sign in to buy tickets until 13 days.  They were all sold out except 5 tickets, at different tour times.  I couldn't make it work with our driving schedule and I was devastated.  I looked back at the tour time and I misread the directions that said all tours are timed or something to that effect. I thought it said they weren't sticking to the timed entries.  So, I proceeded to giddily make 5 purchases (bc it wouldn't let me do them all in one purchase) and I bought the last 5 tickets ranging in ticket times from 9:30am to 2:30pm.   After I purchased them, I realized I made a mistake, but held out hope.  Ultimately, the Ranger was the decision-maker as each tour is maximum of 35 people.  While it was great for us, only about 25 people showed up, but sad for those who didn't get a ticket because they were restricted on the website.  I am so glad I purchased all 5 and even after realizing my mistake, we drove the long drive to get there. It was worth it!

We met a really nice family from Massachusetts who was doing our drive in reverse.  So we shared tips for each location we had already seen. I think they helped us more than we helped them :).  They had ticket issues too. 

This is us as we got to the "landing" area of the Cliff Dwelling.  The Pueblo were incredible engineers for their time and for the resources they had at their disposal.  They spent most of their days searching for food or growing their food on top of the mesa.  It's mind-boggling to think of all the things we have to distract us in our world today.  Things that distract us from the beauty of the earth, God's creation.  The views, the landforms, the purpose for living.  There is beauty in returning to that mindset. Not sure I could hack the cold, but I am sure I wouldn't know any better!

The view of the dwelling....

And their view every morning when they woke up!

The way they made their bricks and mortar were amazing.  Creating holding places for water as it seeped thru the cracks in the cliff... You can look at the soot on the ceiling and see where walls used to be by seeing how the soot from their fires is broken up. Truly fascinating culture and fascinating to try to put the pieces together to figure it out.

That hand is roughly 25 feet up the wall with no ledge in site. Clearly a ladder was there at one time. But the fact that that handprint is still there at least 1000 years later despite all the weather and time!

We saw lots of wild horses on our hike down the trail. This one was so pretty.  We connected :) The boys think she looks like Ollie. EVERYTHING looks like Ollie!

So much eye candy! Every direction!