The next day, after doing a “Rim Walk” along part of the Canyon we packed up and set out for another long ride towards Monument Valley which straddles the Arizona/Utah border.  However, we had decided that we just HAD to visit Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona. My parents had actually traveled here in 2008 and my father’s pictures from this Canyon were just unbelievable. It truly is a majestic place that looks like another planet:

Antelope Canyon

The weather in springtime Arizona and Utah was not what I expected at all.  On the entire trip there was only one day that allowed for shorts. Most of the time it was cool or actually cold enough for jackets, gloves and hats. This particular day was very strange because I was experiencing my very first sandstorm!  Before entering Antelope Canyon, we were told to remove our contact lenses otherwise sand would blow in our eyes and it would be very uncomfortable. Of course, we were told this 30 seconds before leaving so there was absolutely no time to remove the lenses!  Instead, we carried on snapping as many photos as we could while the sand literally rained down on us.  By the end, we were pretty much covered from head to toe in red sand. Lovely.

This same sand storm made the approach to Monument Valley extremely eerie.  It was about twilight when we were on our final approach to our next stop.  The wind was howling outside and all we could make out from the rented mega mini van were these huge, strangely shaped rocks in the background.  My parents kept referring to this as the “vortex” moment and forced us to put on some Pink Floyd.  With “Shine on you Crazy Diamond” blaring on the speakers I could barely keep myself from breaking out in hysterics. I rolled my eyes and sang along anyway because I just love to sing.  I have to admit though… between the sandstorm and the visuals it all did seem just a wee bit odd out there.

Even more odd was the house we stayed in that night.  The entire sight is on an Indian Reserve including the Gouldings Lodge which is where we stayed.  The house had four bedrooms so we all finally had our own rooms.  When we pulled up to the house it was unlocked, door open and completely dark.  Lee took the liberty of checking all of the bedrooms, closets, and bathrooms to see if there was anyone waiting to kill us or at least lecture us on Native American culture.  The one place Lee, or any of us for that matter, wouldn’t go was the basement.  So we just shut the door and hoped for the best.  On top of this, the sandstorm outside had turned into a snowstorm!

After a somewhat decent night’s sleep we awoke to a full blanket of snow covering the ground.  Looking out the window we finally could make out what we could only see the outline of the previous night.  These wildly shaped rock formations or more accurately buttes dotted the landscape in all directions.  After breakfast, we took a tour of Monument Valley and I was totally in awe of what I saw:

Monument Valley