~ Travel Notes From the Land Before Time ~
About six years ago my mom and step-dad moved to Page, Arizona upon retiring from their steady jobs. More specifically, they sold their house and bought a motor home. Their plan was to travel across the country and work seasonally to their hearts content at a good handful of our nation's national parks. They managed to pull that off at few parks when someone told them they ought to work at Lake Powell over the upcoming summer. Off they went to Page to investigate.
They never left.
My first visit to Page was three years ago. Like my folks, I fell in love with the area right off the bat and I've gone back for more every year since then. This year I had the honor of traveling to Page with my two daughters. It was a "trip of a lifetime", "somebody pinch me" kind of experience.
The following is a collection of photos and notes from my travel journal. These pictures won't do any of it justice, but it's all I have until you go and see for yourself, which I hope you will. Then all we'll have to do is nod and smile because you'll "get it" too. Until then, bon voyage ...
Big Water, UT - Page, AZ
September 2013
Day 3, Part 1: After taking Day 1 to fly to Page and Day 2 to do some shopping and get settled in, Mom & Gary took us hunting for REAL dinosaur tracks!
"Where?", you ask?
Where else? In their backyard, of course.
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| Macy & Maddy kneel next to a three toed dino track we dug out from the sand. |
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Maddy is indeed the King of the Hill. (We never doubted.)
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Day 3, Part 2: The latter half of the day included more backyard exploration. We caravaned in the Jeep, Can-Am and ATV. This became a favorite activity in no time.
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| Macy's first time on an ATV. She tamed the desert. |
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| MY GIRLS ARE STUD MUFFINS. (Just sayin' ...) |
Day 3, Part 3: We finished off the day with a refreshing swim in Lake Powell at Lone Rock Beach. This was Kota's first time swimming! She loved the water ... and the dirt ...
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LAKE SHARK!!!! EVERYONE OUT OF THE WATER!!!
Oh, ... no ... Kota's first time swimming, actually. False alarm. |
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| Kota loves a good roll in the dirt after a refreshing swim. Don't you? |
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| Gorgeous models present Lone Rock in style. "Ta-da!" |
Day 4: Gary treated the 4 of us to a boat tour. Destination: The legendary and awe inspiring Rainbow Bridge. (Thank you, Gary!)
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| The highest natural arch in the world - The Rainbow Bridge. |
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| Just another day in the Land Before Time. |
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| Me and "Bundle" on the tour boat. |
Day 5: TRIP FAVORITE - A hike through ancient Fremont Indian ruins led us to The Notch petroglyph panel, 1000 year old pottery shards and evidence of long abandoned dwellings.
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| Seriously can not believe we were standing in front of petroglyphs over 1000 years old. Amazing! |
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| Two-headed Snake (one is quite enough, thanks). |
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| The Hunter (or possibly a very stylish woman wrangling a centipede for dinner?) |
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| Macy & Maddy sit amongst ancient Fremont Indian ruins. |
Day 6: The Lower Antelope Slot Canyon has become a regular stop when visiting Page. The photos leave no mystery as to why.
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| The Lower Antelope Slot Canyon. |
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| Macy & Maddy being super cute! |
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| "A hole in the wall" takes on a glorious new meaning. |
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| You just can't take a bad picture in this place ... |
Day 7: We were lucky enough to have my Mom & Gary's friend Brent as our guide on the Colorado River Float Tour. He made the trip extra special by playing beautiful tunes on a Native American flute, letting the girls drive the boat, and ordering up an extra waterfall and mist on the river just for us. We loved him instantly!
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| A monsoon the day before made for extra waterfalls on the canyon walls. Good to be us. |
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| US!!! ( I love us.) |
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| Brent is our favorite river guide. EVER. |
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| Super spooky mist on the river. Just in time for Halloween. |
Day 8: We traveled to Kanab where Mom got her new Utah drivers license. While there we enjoyed Navajo Tacos for lunch and did a little shopping. We also stopped at an Old West movie set museum and the award winning Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I didn't bring a camera along on this day so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Day 9, Part 1: Horseshoe Bend - I won't lie ... this gorgeous piece of real estate made this Mom a nervous wreck. Nervousness aside, the girls thought it was breathtaking and we were all appropriately awed by the views.
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| Is this gorgeous or what?! Love the reflection of the clouds on the water. |
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| *faint* |
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| Check out the storm coming in over Macy's shoulder. We left just in the nick of time! |
Day 9, Part 2: This excursion left each of us with a far better understanding of how dams work, Macy & Maddy with a larger college refrigerator magnet collection, and Mom & Gary with a toy Condor they named Judy. (Gary's dear sister, Judy, passed away last year. She loved condors and told them that if they saw one land on their deck railing, it would be her checking in on them.)
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| The bottom of the Glen Canyon Dam |
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| Adventuring with our girls is one of my very favorite things to do in life. :) |
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| Ya think?! |
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| You can see the blue rafts we used on our float trip on the left of this photo. |
Here are a few more pictures that deserve to be seen ...
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| Tower Butte is an area landmark. It can be seen for miles and miles in any direction. |
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| BIGGEST. RAINBOW. EVER. !!! |
So there you have it. Page, Arizona - one of my favorite places in the world. If you plan a trip there you won't be sorry. What we saw on this trip doesn't even scratch the surface of all there is to do in the area. But be careful ... clearly "they" have put something in the water there. If you go, you might never leave.
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