It’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times. ~Unknown

It was unbearably hot for two Pacific Northwest dwellers. We had just spent the day roaming the Grand Canyon and were ready to jump back on the road, back to the comfort of our air-conditioned ride.

The truth is our trip did not go as planned. Actually, we didn’t plan at all! The night we departed Seattle, I had a map in hand, a highlighter, 24 hours to come up with a route, and an ecstatic heart. In other words — the perfect ingredients for anything to happen :)

When our first planned destination didn’t work out, we were left with two extra days to explore the Grand Canyon. It turned out perfect. And when our second destination was completely out of the question, we headed to Page, Arizona in search of sandstone magic.

And it. Blew. Our. Minds…

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LOWER ANTELOPE CANYON, ARIZONA

We arrived at Page around 3 PM. We were aware Antelope Canyon could only be accessed through a tour, so we were not originally planning to visit. I didn’t think we could score ourselves a spot in any tour with such short notice and being the busiest time of the season…

…But we did! We were so excited. By 5 PM, we were wandering through these magical sandstone walls.

We did the tour through Ken’s Tour, which is a Navajo-led tour. Our tour guide was such a sweet gal and offered to take everyone’s photos in the most popular spots of the canyon. Like in this panorama…

How incredible are these perfectly formed sandstone waves?

Earthing.

The sun poured into the canyon, creating such pretty colors of yellows, pinks, and oranges.

It was like stepping into a little time machine, suddenly standing in what took millions of years of flooding to carve such a masterpiece. Every layer within those walls held its own little story…

…history which we could truly only imagine :)

Before you and I, antelopes roamed. Really =)

Do you see the stars below? This was one of my favorite corners of the canyon! Each little star, of course, was built of mineral deposits.

And this here is the Lady of the Wind. Do you see her in the photo below? What a Goddess! 

It was so easy to lose ourselves staring into these waves…

We had such an incredible time here.  And our tour guide was so great! She was not only very informative, but also very patient with everyone’s photo-taking =) 

And if you walked over Antelope Canyon, you would never know a magical world was carved right beneath your feet…

HORSESHOE BEND

Right around the corner from Antelope Canyon is another one of Arizona’s gorgeous gems. If you follow any photography hubs on Instagram, you have probably seen the countless photos of Horseshoe Bend.

But experiencing this place is like nothing a photo will ever be able to capture. And it’s no wonder Horseshoe Bend has become an Instagram favorite. It is a spectacular corner of the Colorado River!

We were first taken aback by how giant the ‘Horseshoe’ really was.  

It was so massive, our GoPro was our only camera that could capture the horseshoe in its entirety…

Incredible, no?

Believe me when I tell you that no photo equates to seeing places with your very own eyes. Ever.

Or the fact that a photo could never replace your own experience…

It was sooo windy along the edges of the cliffs. But who doesn’t like sand-tossed hair? :)

I am easily impressed with rocks. Rock formations. All rocks, everything!

Massive is this world… As is adventure in your heart. <3

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Once the sun set, we headed toward Lake Powell in search of showers. A few dollars and one amazing cold shower later, we decided we didn’t want to spend $30+ on a campground for the night. So instead we came back to the trailhead parking lot of Horseshoe Bend for the night. Shhhhh…don’t tell =)

Lake Powell the following day: I hadn’t realized my camera was on a random setting, and it created this really dreamy affect. Ahhh, well.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by this corner of the web. May a photo never satisfy your curiosity to see and experience the world for yourself <3

Love & Adventure,

Denise

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Stay curious, wild hearts!

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