Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts

WW: Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona

Happily sharing more photos from Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona for this (almost) Wordless Wednesday.

Well, we went there in 2016 but with breathtaking beauty and amazing landscapes, I have tons of unpublished photos from this trip alone.
Read the story at Spring Break 2016: Deeper Underground at Lower Antelope Canyon

Page, Arizona

Hope you like it as much as I do!
Feel so small standing amidst these naturally shaped rocks.


after thousands of years..

with a bit of ray of light

indigenous shape and colors..





Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the links! 

Spring Break 2016: Grandeur Grand Canyon

"Mommy, where are we now? Why is it snowing?"
"Are we going to hike again today?"

Obi asked me, looked worried.

I was busily packing bottles of water and salty snack in our backpack when I heard Obi from the back seats. 

"Don't worry, baby. We will have another great adventure today," I smiled reassuringly.

We just arrived at Grand Canyon.



The next place we visited after Lower Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell, still in our Spring Break. 

And we made it!
We finally made it to Grand Canyon.

Perhaps, for many of you, visiting this national park is a regular annual trip.  But for us, coming from a different part of the world, Grand Canyon is certainly on top if our bucket list along with Alaska,Yellowstone National Park, and so many more. 

And it was snowing (yes, snowing) when we arrived here one early morning at the last week of April.

Driving for about 2 hours from Page, Arizona, we started the trip from Dessert View, heading to the South Rim, up to the Hermit Road. North Rim was still closed for the season. We managed to stop at Little Colorado River Gorge for a while.


Little Colorado River Gorge

Grand Canyon, on whatever season, never fails to amaze us.


Standing there, warmly wrapped in our light winter gear, the grandeur Grand Canyon is all for us to explore.

Dot by dot, every view point, we enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of mother nature with admiring eyes and endless wonder.
And how small we are amidst the vast and incredible nature.


cheers from the Watch Tower.

Asli ngeri-ngeri sedap foto sama anak-anak di Grand Canyon.
Tebing di mana-mana.
Dan kalau takut ketinggian, kebayang deh sengsaranya :).
Apalagi seringkali karena melihat keindahan alamnya yang luar biasa, kita langsung lupa diri dan sibuk mengabadikan pemandangan alam dengan kamera (tunjuk diri sendiri >_<).

You have to be fully alert all the time. 
That's for sure/
Bo et Obi were very cooperative. We have drilled them before to stay on the path, to be behind the rail, and to be cautious. Not to mention how dangerous it is to play around, jump and run while trekking .
Good thing tebing tempat kita foto ini di bawahnya ada tebing lagi yang pendek dan landai. So, it's much safer buat foto seru :).
Just don't look down.


at the Powell Point...bener-bener foto di ujung tebing :)


We started our journey from the Desert View drive, driving along this beautiful palisades.
The vista is amazing.




We stopped at the Watch Tower, enjoying the canyon and its grandeur.
For the first 20 minutes, we were so busily taking pictures and recording videos until our hands were numb due to the cold >_<.
As you can see, pictures shown here are both taken by me and my hubby, Rudi, as the watermark indicated :).

Good thing the kids were waiting inside the watch tower.
We also got a chance to climb up the tower and see beautiful Indian drawings and symbols on the wall.


the Indian drawing

From the watch tower, we drove along and stopped at so many points, - Yaki Point, Mather Point, Grandeur Point and more. 

We took the buss from Grand Canyon Village headed to the western part of the Canyon, hiked from trailview overlook to Maricopa Point, Powell Point, Hopi Point, Mojave Point, the Abyss, monument creek point, Pima Point and finally to Hermits Rest.

Words can not express the amazing vista we saw along the way.
So precious, so mindblowing.




And we finally called a day after a beautiful sunset, amidst a cold and cloudy day, at Pima Point.




Have you visited Grand Canyon? What is your impression about it?
Do you like National Parks?

Check out more of my stories at #Steller :)



Spring Break 2016: the Quest of Horseshoe Bend and the Missing Antelope

"Mama, where's the missing antelope?
Why do we have to walk around these rocks?"

Obi innocently asked me while we were stepping down the steep don't-look-down stairs in Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona. She thought we would meet antelopes, lots of lots of them, in our adventure that day.

And I broke a smile as my answer as I scaredly looked at the stairs in front of me. The gust of ancient wind whispered a welcoming lullaby in my ears.

Welcoming myself back to the magnificent mother nature. 

To the Navajoland.

***

It all started from a book.
Smithsonian level four, Endless Exploration.
Yup, Bo's book.

One of its many chapters is the World Wonders. 
And we have Grand Canyon there, listed as one of the amazing places to see.

Then our eyes captured the flip-out card of Grand Canyon, showing an iconic photo of Horseshoe Bend in the eastern part of the canyon. We got to see that!





And we're back on the road again :).

The Frakarsas..

We have another series of adventures during this spring break. The kids have their holiday for a week and we just can't wait to explore this country more.

So, my hubby and I had planned a rather ambitious (as always :)) road trip.

Destinations: Las Vegas - Page - Lower Antelope Canyon and the surroundings - Grand Canyon National Park - Death Valley National Park - Yosemite National Park - San Fransisco.

Frankly, I have to drop Yellowstone National Park due to the time constraint. 
So, at this point, it remains in my bucket list ;).

We were planning to do it all in 12 days.
Flying to Las Vegas then renting cars then stop in all those lovely places and small town in between. 

We flew from New York City, - or rather Newark,New Jersey, to Las Vegas. It was a lovely flight, transiting in Chicago for a couple of hours, then overlooking the astonishing views of Nevada and Arizona. We just couldn't wait to see them up close and personal.

the view from above..

Arriving at Las Vegas on Friday evening, we grabbed our rented car and headed to our hotel. We stayed at Holiday Inn Las Vegas Desert Club Vacation. Using my points, we got our free night here. 

our room :)

We didn't do much that night, just enjoying dinner and strolling around the city. But we all were pretty much tired from our flight. Not to mention 3-hour time difference which is not that much but quite annoying.

The next day, we were heading to Page, Arizona, our gateway to the Grand Canyon. Before that, we drove around the Las Vegas strip, posed in the fabulous Las Vegas sign, grabbed some ice cream and souvenirs. It was fun indeed. Las Vegas and its ageless charms really captivated us. But as I said, LV is the gateway, so our real adventure soon began.

Cheeers...

Las Vegas - Page is around 4 hours drive. We took the eastern entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. As we browsed around, Page is indeed beautiful. Such a scenic route we took and along the way we stopped several times just for photos and rest for a while. 

photo break :)
Not to mention the legendary Route 66.
If you watched Cars, one of Disney's famous movies (I'm a big fan!), then you got an idea what route 66 looks like. For us, who just recently live in the US, the idea of exploring Route 66 is super tempting. We were lucky that we passed at least 2 small cities which are part of this historical route.

Route 66 :)

Another lucky thing is that Bo et Obi were very cooperative along the way. 
No tantrums, no (too much) are-we-there-yet sessions and we all tried to enjoy the trip. I was of course equipped with laptops filled with their favorite movies, books, stack of paper and crayons, and munchies.

kiddos enjoying the trip..

Here in beautiful Page, we took some time to go to the Horseshoe Bend. 
Coming from Las Vegas, we arrived almost late at this spot. I mean we arrived there as the sun began to set. And mind you, we have to walk (and hike) for about a mile before arriving at this exact spot. 
You can imagine how crazy we hiked, in the middle of the chill windy desert weather, to catch the sunset before it would be completely dark.

Welcome to Horse Shoe bend :)
Horseshoe Bend is basically one standing rock surrounded by Colorado river. 
Its distinct shape and unique location surrounded by the Colorado river has made it very special.


Running to this particular spot catching it before the sun went down was worth it.

Then on our second day at Page, we joined Lower Antelope Canyon tour with Ken's tour. I guess the name refers to the  herds of pronghorn antelopes used to roam freely in this area. And I have to say, the trip was amazing.

The perfect collaboration of water and wind have created an amazing array of unique, one-of-a-kind forms and shapes of sandstone. I just can't explain it. Better check these pictures.

Looks familiar? It's one of the screen savers in windows :)





Deeper underground

Well, that's the first part of our trip yhis spring break. And Page still got a lot to offer.

Let me get back to you with more stories and pictures.

Do you manage to go somewhere lately?

Spring Break 2016: Deeper Underground at the Lower Antelope Canyon



Good morning from Page, Arizona.
And welcome to the Navajoland.
Shall we continue our journey here :)?

Page is indeed a beautiful city.
I am glad my hubby insisted on staying here as our gateway to the Grand Canyon. 
So many interesting spots to see and enjoy.

Before that, we have considered other cities as well, including those closer to Grand Canyon or on our way to Death Valley.

As I have shared before in Spring Break 2016: the Quest of the Horseshoe Bend and the Missing Antelope, we spent a half day taking the Lower Antelope Canyon tour. 

It takes around 30 minutes drive to Lower Antelope Canyon from our hotel at Best Western Plus Lake Powell, Page. 

The typical landscape of the area is desert, but underneath is another world indeed. Never crossed our minds that beautiful, one-of-a-kind rocks constellation is waiting down there.

The desert..

So early morning, we went to the Lower Antelope Canyon. There are two tour operators here and we chose Ken's tour.
I read in Trip Advisor that they are well recommended.

It's also better if you reserve before coming in. They assigned a group of approximately 15-20 people every 15 minutes. And the list is filled up fast.

We came at 9.15 but got a slot for 10 AM. There are 2 types of tours, genera one and the photographer one. We took the general one because the photographer tour filled up already. Unless we wanted to come back later that day. There are a few things we have to consider before chosing those tours, as you can see in my picture below.

No selfie stick :)


The fee is $20 per adult, and kids 7 years and older is $12. 

Oh, in front of the gate, we also paid our contribution to the Navajo tribe, which can be used for the whole day in other part of the Navajoland, like Upper Antelope Canyon. I think it was $8 per adult and $4 for kids

So we waited for a while at the cafetaria and browsed around the souvenir shop 
(as always :)).

while waiting for the tour..

For sure you can not take a self-guided tour here. 
We were wondering about that and once we were at Lower Antelope Canyon we know why we have to take the guided tour.

This canyon is amazingly located underneath the ground. 
Yuuup.
Underground.

You have to take stairs, many of them. 
Some of them are very steep.
But no need to worry as it is indeed safe to do so.
Take it as a little effort we have to make before we can witness the fantastic sandstones, curves, turns and magically curved and sculptured by the wind and water for thousands of years. 


Not to mention that this area was recently flooded. Therefore, it's rather dangerous for you to go down there alone or with someone who is not familiar with the area.

watchout...

Our tour guide, John, was very nice and patience as well. 

our guide, John...


He explained a lot about the story of the canyon and the names of the rocks. 

one corner..

We saw the lion's head, the lady, the Indian chief.. Complete with his headdress. 

the chief....

And soooo many other incredible shapes, forms and colors.

what do you think it looks like?


Here are some more photos in a collage. I have tons of them but I know it will be too heavy for the blog :).



So when you happen to be in Page or the neighborhood, don't miss the Lower Antelope Canyon. Truly a great experience for us, and for you as well.


Check out more of my stories at #Steller :)



WW: Grandeur Grand Canyon

Time for another (almost) Wordless Wednesday.

Still some snaps from our last spring break in the West Cost. 
After Page with its beautiful Lower Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell, now I have Grand Canyon :).




one fine afternoon



the Frakarsa by the cliff :)


astonishing view..


the watch tower


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Boat Trip at Lake Powell : Photo Album

Ready for another series of our half-day adventure in Lake Powell?
On a boat in one sunny afternoon?
Under the magnificent sky?

As I have shared here on Spring Break 2016:  Boat Tour at Lake Powell, we really had fun exploring the western part of this country. Still at Page, Arizona, we have more photos to share here.
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do :)

some part is cloudy, some part is sunny :)

It was only 1.5 hours but we couldn't stop admiring God's grandeur creations.
Who wouldn't admire the magnificent landscape beautifully sculptured in thousands of years?

while waiting for our trip...it looks like the Devil's Tower in the back, but it's not :)

Jumpin' high..









Join us on Skywatch Friday and enjoy beautiful skies from all over the world