Day 3 was a travel day, as we drove up to Page, Arizona to visit two unique sights. We were amazed at the varied topography along our drive, and I was amused by the varied species pictured in the "animal crossing signs":
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| Elk Crossing signs in this snow-covered area. |
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| Snow-capped peaks. |
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| This part of the state felt more like Colorado with its evergreens and mountains. |
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| Bison/Steer crossing in this desert region. |
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| Painted Desert. |
We reached our first destination by mid-morning:
Lower Antelope Canyon is located within the Navajo Nation and is only accessible by guided tour.
It is a slot canyon carved by water and wind over millions of years, and requires descending a ladder to walk through the narrow, winding passageways:
The following are unedited, unfiltered photos that I took along our hike in the slot canyon. There aren't words to describe the beauty of this place, and the best way is to view these pictures and join us on our underground journey:
After wandering through the paths of the slot canyon, we ascended stairs to exit. It was other-worldly to emerge out of a tiny crack in the ground:
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| There's no way you'd know that there is an entire world under there! |
Out guide pointed out these dinosaur footprints near the exit of Lower Antelope Canyon. I did some research to validate the authenticity of this claim, and all signs point to these being real tracks left by dinosaurs. Pretty cool!
Our next stop was Horseshoe Bend, which is also on Navajo Nation territory:
When we pulled into the parking lot, this is all that we could see:
We hiked for 3/4 mile along the trail and arrived at the overlook:
After visiting Horseshoe Bend, we had one more surprise stop on our way back to Sedona. Through the canyons we drove...
...and arrived in Tuba City!
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| The bullet holes on the sign add to the authentic Old Western feel of this town! |
Our tuba player rolled his eyes when I asked him to take a picture in front of the trading post, but we were tickled by the tuba-themed merchandise sold inside:
Tuba City is the largest community on the Navajo Nation and shares a border with two Hopi Villages. In the 1870s, Mormons settled in the area and befriended a Hopi leader named Tuvi. They had trouble pronouncing his name, and "Tuvi" became "Tuba". The historic trading post has been a place to buy and sell authentic jewelry, textiles, pottery directly from artisans since the early 1900s.
Mark and I got such joy out of our stop in Tuba City, despite our teenager's irritation at our glee. Tubas are such a part of our lives as Luke's parents these days, and we even sent a photo to his band directors (who were equally delighted that Tuba City is an actual place).
Day 3 was jam packed with sightseeing and travel, and we all slept well after our busy day!
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