Day 4 (Part III): The Grand Canyon

So after the  complete and utter awesomeness of Upper Antelope Canyon, we headed over to the south rim of The Grand Canyon National Park.  The little branch of rte 89 outside of Page, AZ  (You know the one that would get us to our destination the quickest) was closed indefinitely due to a rock slide back in February. So instead of taking this little connector branch, we had to drive alllllllll the way around, through some pretty backroad, desolate areas. It put about 70 miles extra onto our drive. BUT, it was really amazing.  We went through some Native Reservation lands that were BREATHTAKING. Had this connector road not been closed, we never would have seen some of the amazing beauty that we did.  So I am happy in the fact that we really got to see some cool stuff. And what fun is a vacation where everything goes perfectly according to plan??

ONWARD EVER ONWARD...
We arrived at the Grand Canyon a little after noon.   The first viewpoint will TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY. (Insert Berlin song from Top Gun here). The kids were jaw droppingly floored.  Finn asked "Why dont we have stuff like this in North Carolina?"

As you can tell from most of the pictures, it was a cloudy day. Rain was moving in. We had a good 2-3 hours before it hit, so we were able to see and do a lot before it hit.

how far can you see??

WE climbed to the top of the tower. It was warm, humid and crowded, from all the people. It kind of smelled like the gym locker room at the YMCA.  This tower was constructed back in the 1930's as a tourist spot. It was built to resemble the old architecture of the area native americans.  has lots of look out points, and about a zillion gift shops.  The inside art was all done by native american artists.

We finished the day stopping at all the other lookoff points, excavated ruins and stop offs.

my boys

♥ love this man ♥ 

a nice Swedish family offered to take our picture for us...

Help, Im falling!

excavated ruins

Here comes the rain...

various tribes that call Grand Canyon their home.

After we were done at the Grand Canyon, we headed out through the pouring rain down to Flagstaff for the night. 

We ended up at a Denny's for dinner. It was TERRIBLE.  In fact it was so bad that they gave us an additional 20% off.(without us even having to ask...)

  So with kids eating free,  and an additional 20% off, our grand total was like 14$.  So I guess I cant complain too terribly.  Wait, yes I can. It was horrendous.

Charles ordered Smoked Cheddar Mashed Potatoes as his side dish.  What came out was hungry jack from a box potatoes with a Kraft American single torn up into bits over the top. 

But every vacation has to have a little bit of a down side, to appreciate the upside.  And Grand Canyon was DEFINITELY an up. 

Day 4(part II): Upper Antelope Canyon

SO GLAD I DID THIS TRIP!!!  When We awoke I decided that we were going to go to Antelope Canyon. It was really one thing we had wanted to do all along, but I never got around to scheduling it.
However that morning I did some research and found the group to take us.  We used Navajo Tours, right on the Navajo lands when you get there.  Antelope Canyon is called a Slot Canyon.

You drive out of page about 6 miles and hit the Navajo lands. You have to pay 6$ a person to get onto the lands for a day use permit. You then have to pay the tour fee. Adults were 25$ and kids were $10.  So for 94$ we got the tour, which was still way cheaper than hiring out a tour company in town.
They pile you in a big old 4x4 that has been renovated with benches and a sunroof type shade and take you on the bumpiest journey of your life.

The ride into the canyon is very uneventful as far as scenery is concerned. It looks very nondescript and kind of boring.  You would never know that you were about to embark on a magical adventure, and see one of the most photographed canyons in the world.

this is the view of the 3 mile drive into the canyon. Pretty boring, right?

We get to the Slit opening of the canyon and at this point I think to myself, what have I done?  It was crowded, it looked like nothing I thought I would enjoy.

However, once we stepped inside I was completely taken aback by the sheer beauty and majesty of this amazing place.

 LOOKING PROMISING...

 HEART IS POUNDING

 WOWIE

 ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?

 UGH. IM DEAD

They call this Monument Valley At Sunrise

 SERIOUSLY, I HAVE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN

I AM CONVINCED THIS WILL BE MY HEAVEN WHEN I DIE

The Wave

.
What I LOVED about this tour was, although it was crowded, we never felt crowded. All the guides did a good job of staggering entry, and I never felt rushed.  Our guide told stories and legends, and interesting facts about the canyon.  At certain points he took my camera and took pictures for me to get the best shots. The tour lasted a little over an hour, and was WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY.

Here's the kicker...we went on an off peak time, when the light isnt optimal for canyon photographs.  I would say it looks pretty darn optimal to me. I can only imagine how completely breathtaking it would be had we gone on the 11am tour.
Thank you Henry (our Navajo Guide), Thank you Navajo Tours.  We had an unforgettable experience.

Day 4(part I): Glen Canyon Dam and bridge

So after the miserable day 3 we had at Lake powell, I really needed it to redeem itself. I really needed to redeem MYSELF as well. I awoke bright and early, and formulated a plan.
We decided to drive down to the dam and bridge for photos. Then head over to Upper Antelope Canyon, which is what Charles and I really wanted to do all along.

I think I was so bummed out about Lake Powell because when you see it and how beautiful it is and big and all tht water, you know you really just need to rent a boat.  If I had ANY IDEA how amazing that could be I think I would have worked a little harder to save an extra 300 bucks to rent a boat.

However, out morning photo shoot and then Antelope Canyon completely revitalized my spirits and redeemed Lake Powell.  Now I know what I need to do my next vacation there.

We started out at the visitors center for the dam and walked along the bridge.

 This is the bridge. It was walkways on either side you can hike along,  It was kind of cool, thrilling and a little dizzying all at the same time.

 The Glen Canyon Dam.

more views of lake powell

Day 3: Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam and Reserve

After our successful trip to Bryce, we awoke in Hatch UT. We stayed at Hatch Station, a small series of cabins, all with 2 beds, a small bathroom and TV.  Nothing super fancy, but clean, comfy and next to a super mom and pop Galaxy Diner. After breakfast we headed out to Page Arizona and Lake Powell/Glen Canyon Reserve.

  On the way we saw a TON of old Ford Model T's heading up towards Bryce, and discovered it was a Model T convention/international club that had held its annual meeting in Kanab UT.  It was really cool to see all those old cars out on the road, all heading out. Just glad I wasnt one of the drivers stuck behind them, though. They didnt look like they were going very fast...


 We had decided to spend the day in Lake Powell.  This was something I have always wanted to do.  Now seeing as we had no extra money to rent a boat, I wasnt sure if we wanted to just find a beach, or if we wanted to take a boat tour.  I had thought about doing Antelope Canyon,  but hadnt gotten around to scheduling that either.  This was just kind of a "Lets just see what happens" type of day.  Well, that kind of sucked and was a huge mistake.

We started out at The marina.  Werent Sure where to go, what to do.  We looked into a boat tour. Decided that we didnt want to fight the 5000000000 tourists all signing up to go.  Decided to go BACK to the beach. (wasted like 3 hours trying to figure out what the heck we were going to do for the day).

Decided on the beach at Lone Rock on the Utah Side of Lake Powell.  Drove up and realized the parking lot was like 1/2 mile from the actual beach and that it required quite a hike in the HOT sun.  We saw a bunch of cars down closer on the beach area and saw cars driving down closer, so we decided to take a stab at it too. (And by we, I mean I henpecked my hubby to do it).  We  take the wrong path. We IMMEDIATELY get stuck in the sand with no way to go forward or back. Im crying, Charles is fuming, the kids are scared.
So I make Charles take the kids down to the beach and I call roadside assistance and wait for a tow. Almost 90 minutes I waited.  I waited while trucks sped by without a care in the world, or without asking if I needed help.  Finally A truck of nice men pull up and say "Hey, you stuck?" (really?? What does it look like).  So I say yes but I am waiting for my tow truck.  They say they can pull me out for free, they have already pulled out 5 people today.   I thank them, but my tow truck JUST pulled in.   So I waited almost an hour and a half for a 2 minute pull out,. It was kind of ridiculous.  So I park in the parking lot, and then walk down to the beach.  The water was clear and cool. It was so refreshing.  I just kind of floated and cried.
At the end of the day we are sunburned and grouchy and hungry and tired.  We hike ALL THE WAY BACK UP TO THE CAR and head to the hotel.  We find an amazing pizza place for dinner and chow down. (Canyon King Pizzaria) Now I dont know if it was amazing because we were starving, or if it was amazing because it was really tasty. I say a little of both.  We then get caught in a massive rain/lightning storm on the way back to the hotel
.  Honestly I think I went to bed at like 830 that night.  I was SO TIRED.

YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DONT PLAN?? All hell breaks loose and I have a crappy time.
Next time I go to Lake Powell, I am renting a boat and I am NOT driving in the sand.