Brake Lights & Bug Bites

After a month in Utah, we turned south into Arizona. We started out in Page which is home to Horsehoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, the Glen Canyon Dam, and Lake Powell. There was so much to see and do! We stayed at a beautiful new campground that was nestled in the red rocks. Our backyard was heaven for the boys–rock scrambling and exploring right outside our door! Our campground was just minutes from so many of the local attractions.

Not far from our campground was the beautiful Horseshoe Bend. On its journey to the ocean, the Colorado River meandered, sometimes making wide bends, but always choosing the path of least resistance. Horseshoe bend is one of those places. We visited at sunset and the view was just beautiful! For being off-season, it was so busy with tourists.

Glen Canyon is a National Recreation Area that encompasses over 1 million acres and includes Lake Powell, a popular recreation lake and houseboating location. We definitely want to come back and visit in the summer months. Maybe rent a houseboat! The area was named after the Glan Canyon which was flooded by the Glen Canyon Dam. One of the largest man-made reservoirs, it was constructed to harness the mighty power of the Colorado River to provide water and power to millions in the West.

Antelope Canyon was an unbelievable experience! Antelope Canyon was formed by the erosion of sandstone during flash flooding. Water would rush into narrow passageways and over time the rock erroded away creating the flowing shapes you will see in the pictures. Antelope Canyon can only be accessed through a tour. The tour starts out with a 10 minute hike to the entrance of the canyon. Then, we descended down into the canyon via a metal stairway. Ken was a champion carrying Tate through the canyon. There were so many tight spaces and ladders that took great skill getting himself and Tate through! The next hour was spent meandering through the winding narrow canyon. Every turn contained such beauty. Our guide often encouraged us to look up and turn around because every spot of the canyon offers an incredible view. As we came out of the canyon, we could look back and see the canyon from above. This was everyone’s favorite part of our time in Page.

Now we are going to hear from Miles about our adventure on our last day in Page.

“One Word to describe Monument Valley–Movies! More than two dozen movies have been filmed in Monument Valley including Transformers, Back to the Future III, Forest Gump, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Stagecoach, The Lone Ranger, Mission Impossible II, and many others! Disney’s Cars collection, Lego movie, and Warner Bros. Roadrunner have been inspired by Monument Valley. We drove 2 hours from our campground in Page to get to the Valley. It is on the Arizona/Utah border. We started out our time with a tour through Monument Valley. First, we saw the buttes that looked like left and right mittens. Then, we saw The Castle-Tom Cruise climbed this one in Mission Impossible II. We saw the 3 sisters which were tall spires. The tallest one looked like the profile of a lady. Next, we went on a special road that only tours go on. We saw two indigenous family homes. We saw a rock that looked like a dragon and 3 neat arches. We finished out our tour at a sand dune. My brothers and I raced up and down. After our tour, we drove a few minutes away to see the famous rock that looks like a Mexican Hat. My brother, Charlie, climbed up almost to the top! On our drive home, we saw the sun setting over Monument Valley. We made it home in time for pizza with Daddy and Tate and watched clips of the movies that were filmed in Monument Valley! I thought it was so neat to hear about all the movies that were filmed in Monument Valley. Grant liked racing up and down the sand dunes. Charlie’s favorites were the spires and the view of Monument Valley from Forest Gump hill. When you find time out of our day, watch Cars I and II and a few episodes of Roadrunner. Can you see any of the places from our pictures in the movies?”