Antelope Canyon

From Mesa Verde we headed west on the 160, through snow showers, past impressive mesas and single rock formations, shaped by millennia of wind and rain.

We came across the Four Corners Monument, and braved the wind to stand simultaneously in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. 

Despite stopping often to take photos of the incredible landscape, we made it to Antelope Canyon early enough to take a tour (helped by the extra hour we gained travelling west!). 

All entry into both the Lower and Upper canyons require a guide these days. We joined a tour for the lower canyon with 15 others, descended into the red earth, and were immediately awestruck by the beauty of the rock. 

An hour and a half, a one-way trek along the narrow canyon floor, and hundreds of photos later, I was very glad we'd stopped. It had been on our itinerary this time last year, but we'd run out of daylight.

I find that it always takes longer than I expect to travel distances here in the USA. The country is vast, and my brain subconsciously estimates time based on kilometres rather than miles. I really appreciate having the Garmin GPS, despite being a late acceptor (real navigators don't need machines, right?!) 

It was a magnificent thing to do - all for $28 each. The hotels in nearby Page were quite busy due to bus loads of tourists arriving for the evening, but we found a room at the Holiday Inn Express - clean, comfortable, free parking, wi-fi and breakfast. Dom had spied a Texas BBQ diner across the road - excellent ribs and pulled pork, to go with my wine that came in a pre-packaged glass with a foil lid! Noice.