Z I O N

Never Stopping

Nature's Wonders

Well, we made it. After all the twists and turns of the last 24 hours, making it to the tour for the Lower Antelope Canyon was nothing short of a miracle. After yesterday's bad weather, we fortunately had time in our schedule for the rebooked tour and the girls rallied enough after spending the morning in Urgent Care to make the 1 hour walk. Thank god for ibuprofen and antibiotics or I wouldn't have been there either. This was my first time visiting a slot canyon and I loved every twist and turn. What an absolutely stunning creation from Mother Nature. Knowing what the photos looked like, I was still totally in awe of our descent into the canyon. Our tour guide Moe explained that during our time on the stairs, we weren't to take any photos and really, I can see why. I needed both hands to hold on to the railings and make sure I was coming down the ladder-like steps without missing one. The girls hung in there with their sure-footedness and mostly enjoyed the spectacular sights. But within a short time, they were worrying more about who was going first on the next ladder and how to piss each other off in the meantime. It was stupid enough that at first I tried to just ignore them. But then Carolina was crying and squawking and it was just irritating enough that I intervened and gave Elisa an earful and a good threatening. Of course, she stormed off and seemed intent on ruining my nature zen. Ah, yes, traveling with kids is SO. MUCH. FUN. Did I mention how much I enjoyed my trip to the Southwest with Nacho back before all of this? Yeah, well, there are definitely times when I still feel. like maybe they don't deserve to see such beauty because they sure as shit aren't embracing it. No, this was a day for being in awe and instead I was refereeing them. But thank god for our tour guide who made sure to snap some family photos that turned out great. At least I could believe in the lie that day. What an amazing pic of all of us! What a great time we're ALL having! I needed the lie that day. I'm so glad she was able to get us in this place together, because it will be what I remember. Not the crying. Not the mean big sister. Just the gorgeousness of this place. 

An early smile and hug...it was all downhill

Love this one of us. My best travel partner

Moe said "Look up there!" Then snap. Cheesy but I love it

The lady in the wind

The old Indian Chief in the rocks....beautiful 

In the summer, the canyon sees close to 5,000 visitors a day. On our day, they shuttled abut 1,000 of us through. It's a testament to the tours that they have this down to a science. It was orderly and peaceful and I had time to take it all in. In fact, I was furiously snapping away when Moe offered to get a family pic of us all at a cool spot. I happily obliged and then figured it must be that we were nearing the end of the tour. She was taking everyone's group pics, so this must be it. I asked if she'd do another with my good camera and she said yes, but further up. There was another good spot. I must have looked confused because she said, "We're only about 10% of the way through right now." WHAT?? That was such a great feeling because I didn't want it to end. The more of the canyon I saw, the more I was enchanted. This place is on Navajo lands and the tour guides are Native Americans who have such a connection to this great creation. Water made all of this and they still experience 4-5 wash outs each summer which means it's still changing and evolving. Upon exiting, you turn around to see the canyon you've climbed out of and are greeted by this amazing view. It's like for a little while, Mother Earth held you in her womb. It was that cool.