The Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon

The Grand Canyon was our next destination, and one of the two main reasons for our trip.  I’ve been to 47 states, but I’ve never before seen the Grand Canyon.  It truly was grand!  We weren’t there at the right time of day to get sensational photos, but I’m pleased with what I got.

There were a LOT of people here, but it’s big enough for everyone to get a view or two.  We saw a herd of elk when we first drove into the park, and I couldn’t believe how many people were walking around trying to get close to them.  We also saw more elk as we were leaving the park on another route later.  And then there was this guy, who crossed right in front of our Tour bus!

Obviously not too worried about humans. 
We got to Desert View tower just in time for sunset.

There were a lot of people scurrying to the edge to get their last view before the day’s light was gone.
After leaving the park, we drove for nearly 3 hours on a very dark, very lonely road.  We had a little scare with our tire pressure, but it turned out to be just a bad sensor.  Driving across wide open terrain is awesome, because we could see so far, and watched storms in the distance.  We safely reached our destination and settled in for the night.
Our activity for the following day was to visit one of the Slot canyons near Page Arizona.  Our tour took us to the very beautiful Upper Antelope Canyon. 
While the section of Nevada that we saw was very brown, this part of Arizona is very red.  We had some time to kill before our tour, so we took a short drive over to Glen Canyon Dam. 

Then on to Antelope Canyon.  we hadn’t made reservations in advance, and were very fortunate to get our hands on tickets for the 12:30 tour!
Our guide was Kay, a member of the Navajo Nation, on whose land the canyon is located.  She was very helpful and knowledgeable, helping everyone get the right settings on their cameras, and pointing out good shots.  I also learned a little about Navajo customs from her.

My pictures do not begin to do justice to the beauty of this canyon, but here is a small sample of what I took.

What a fantastic experience.  This canyon was very easy to walk through, and although I’m claustrophobic, I was not uncomfortable at any time. 
I’ll stop here for today so that I don’t blow up anyone’s computer.  Hope you’re enjoying our tour of the southwest.

~~~ Sunny ~~~