We just got home from nearly 2 weeks of a wonderful, relaxing, adventurous summer vacation to Arizona. We saw so many cool, unique things and enjoyed some family time. There are lots of pictures to help us remember what we did and what we saw - so hold on tight. Here is our recap:
We spent our first night in Kanab and then headed south the next morning down to Wupatki National Monument. It is a really neat place where they have discovered lots of Native American dwellings.
We hiked around and got to see some really neat places.
This is the Wupatki Pueblo, the largest dwelling in the Monument.
And this is Lomaki Pueblo. It looks like a giant ship - the dwelling is built on top of this really cool rock.
From there we headed into the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
We got there near sunset and hit a bunch of the viewpoints along the way. That's the Colorado River in the bottom.
We spent the night inside the park at one of the lodges. Most of the haze was gone the next morning and it made for some nice views.
Dad nearly fell off the side of the rim. See him hanging on there?
Ok - just kidding.
Here we are "at the top of the world".
Then we headed down to Williams and made a stop at Bearizona. It was a really fun wild animal park. We spent a lot of time there watching the animals. We could have spent days and days watching the four little bear cubs. They were adorable!
We spent that night in Flagstaff and got up the next morning to go to Walnut Canyon National Monument. Here we saw more Native American dwellings - they built there homes sheltered by the overhanging cliffs and farmed down in the canyon.
We hiked the Island Trail - it was amazing!
From there we headed to Pinetop Arizona where we spent 7 days. People wondered why we chose to go to Arizona in the summer - well, we stayed in the high elevations, not down in the valleys where it is hot. Our condo was at 7400 feet above sea level.
And there were lots of things at our resort to keep us busy - mini golf, and a rec room with pool tables, ping pong, a pool, and other cool stuff.
There was also a fun lake nearby that we wandered around. It was so pretty.
Dad headed out onto the rocks at the edge of the lake to take pictures of a bird. Then - he fell in. It was some stinky water!
After a couple of relaxing days, we headed out on a day trip to Petrified Forest National Park. This area was once a flood plain back in the time of the dinosaurs. There were tall conifer trees growing all over. After the trees fell over, they were covered with silt and mud and volcanic ash. Finally the logs were petrified. The petrified wood here is rainbow colored - caused by the different minerals in the water.
This log is called "Old Faithful". It is over 10 feet across at its base.
We did a lot of hiking around - it was beautiful.
Here you can see some of the rainbow colors in the wood.
After a great day, we stopped at a roadside rock shop and the owners let us feed their ostriches. Let's just say they sure were hungry and they weren't especially polite about taking the food.
Poor Sam got his fingers bit by the ostriches. But it was cool - how many people ever get to feed an ostrich?
On our way back north toward home, we stopped at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. This is a neat area with a 1000 foot volcanic cone and its lava flows.
The lava flow area was amazing! Hard, craggy lava rock and ash everywhere you look.
The Cinder Hills overlook trail was also amazing. That is the big volcano behind us.
We found this super cool old tree trunk and took some fun pictures.
The whole family.
Sam and I got some energy out by racing around the smooth parts of the trails.
After spending a night in Page, we got up early and headed to Antelope Canyon. This is a place that mom has been dreaming about visiting for years and years. You start out on top of the sandstone and finally you start to see some cracks in the earth. Then it opens up to a small area where you climb down 5 levels of stairs to get down into the canyon.
And from there on, everywhere you look is unbelievably incredible! It's like being on a different planet. There is red sandstone formed into waves every where you turn.
The sunlight plays off the colors and the walls.
The rock formations are amazing.
This is pretty much what the entire hike was like - we all had cameras and just kept snapping photos. We had to remember to look with our eyes as much as we looked with our cameras.
It really was "other - worldly"!
The hike was fun because it literally went on forever. It really wasn't too long, but definitely long enough to feel like you got to spend some good quality time in the canyon.
This was mom's favorite area. See the little hole in the rock?
Finally you climb back out at the other end of the slot canyon. And from the top, you would never know that those wonderful rock formations ever existed. Truly amazing!
Here is one more view from the top. Truly a wonder of the world - in our opinion!
From there we headed home - another wonderful vacation finished.
This was a great one - now its back to the real world.
Sam Alert: Hey everyone - Sam here. I loved our vacation - being with my family was really fun. I told my neighbors that I was excited to bring my own family to these parts of Arizona one day.
I have two more pictures for you - this one of me in Lower Antelope Canyon. I can't even begin to tell you how cool this place was!
And this is a picture of me from the drive home. I usually don't nap in the car while we drive. But I was so wiped out that I actually slept for about 3 hours. It was a great nap!
Ok everyone - Sam out. See you next time.
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