Rock on!!!

What a day!!! After getting up at 4.30am we took a leisurely stroll along the Rim Trail to watch the sun rise over the Grand Canyon. As the sun came up the colours in the canyon was amazing and from our walk we ended with a full breakfast over looking the canyon! Breathtaking. From breakfast we then drove round some of the south rim stopping at great view points as we went. One stop - the desert view had a watch tower perched on the edge of the canyon. Needless to say walking up that was a struggle when on the edge of a massive hole in the ground! No where near as bad as the sky walk though! The watch tower had some amazing sandstone art in it though.











We then drove through the Navajo Reservation on our way to Monument Valley. The Navajo live in what looks like small caravans in the middle of nowhere - they even have to collect their water in tanks from a water point! We stopped at a small town called Kayenta, which although had a Burger King, McD's and a Subway also had a cinema that would only play the film if it had at least 10 people in it!

We then drove down what looked like a scene from a movie heading to Monument Valley - turns out Thelma and Louise was filmed on that particular road! I said to Sarah we should have a Thelma and Louise moment.

Monument Valley is stunning - there are so many more rock formations than you think, probably because they only ever film or photograph a few but they are huge! Our Navajo Indian guide drove us round the formations on a little bus - well it wasn't as bumpy as the bus that took us up Mount Etna but came a close second, that and being covered in dust! It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience - yes another one! I wonder if Monument Valley is a vortex? The Navajo seldom go to Monument Valley as apparently back in the day loads of the Navajo were slaughtered there and they don't visit places of death. You also can't photograph them as each photo takes away a piece of their sole. Our guide was funny though - earned his tip!












Last stop, Page for the night and boy were we tired! Hardly digested my pizza before falling asleep, luckily tomorrow isn't as early a start! Phew - sleep!!! Oh and Sarah was not at one with nature today - she was a domestic goddess putting Nigela to shame washing clothes and sewing! Very odd!!

Geronimoooooooooo...

Today we started with a bit of geography - all here before i forgot! Geronimo was the name of the Chief who resided in the area and has since had a mountain named after him (Chief Mountain), if you look at it the right way you can see a chief's face! The Grand Staircase is the area of table top mountains in this location. The Grand Canyon is in the middle of this area, of which the oldest rock at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is 1.4 billion years old! Technically the Grand Canyon is only 6 million years old when the river carved it. (Obviously this is all according to the guide so please don't string me up if I'm a year or two out!)


As we left the Phoenix area we saw the last lonely Sagurai cactus - made me reminisce about Charlie my cactus - he had a hard life and travelled widely, not as comfortably as the Sagurai i might add - before coming to an end after about 4 years. A short but hopefully happy life - not a patch on 165 years.

Red Rock Country and the Bell rock formation was our first stop. The Bell is a vortex which is an area that has increased energy flow form the earth. Even the plants have been given healing areas! Apparently Stonehenge is also a vortex. After stopping at the ranger spot we headed to Sedona. A quaint little place surrounded by amazing scenery. Streets lined with art and water sprays and fantastic rock formations all around.











We then headed to the highlight of the day - the Grand Canyon, south rim. Unfortunately we were too late to see Obama but at least it made our journey easier to get there! That would have been awesome though, he is off to Phoenix tomorrow but at least we were in the same state! What can i say though - no words can do the Grand Canyon justice, nor can photos. We walked on a trail down into the canyon and of course i went rock collecting. Sarah was at one with nature - birds, lizards and a cute little cartoon like squirrel, it was like a different person.






















This place will continue to keep me in awe - and to say we stayed in lodges at the Grand Canyon is something you would seldom experience. Tonight i will definitely sleep appreciative of where i am and what we've seen! And it's only going to get better!!!