Visiting the Grand Canyon and seeing the classic fields of Arizona cactus were dreams of ours that we saw come to fruition. The experiences touched our souls and excited our hearts. We’ll never forget when the two of us, our dog and kitten watched the sun go down over the ancient canyon. That night, we learned the high temperature would be somewhere around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, so we decided not to camp in our VW bus. All of the hotels in the area were a bit steep, so we explored other options. The only thing that looked feasible was around 2.5 hours away, so we headed North.

We drove through the night, alongside the starlit canyon and made it to a nice hotel in Page, Arizona. When we woke up the next morning, we walked outside and were blinded by the light. Once our eyes adjusted, we realized we had an incredible view overlooking the Northern rim of the Grand Canyon!

There was no telling what Page, Arizona offered when it came to sight-seeing, so we did a quick search and realized we were in the home of the absolutely jaw-dropping sandstones. Millions of years of erosion supposedly resulted in walls of sandstones that reach up 120 feet above the stream bed. We headed right over to Antelope Canyon to see and capture the magnificent swirling formations.

It was absolutely incredible to surround ourselves in such natural beauty. There was something to see and absorb around every corner and it was just wild to climb up and hike down through the caverns. The stone was soft and cool to the touch and the way the light came in through cracks in the walls was heavenly. Glimmering minerals, exposed by erosion, glistened as we traveled through and it looked as though the bending stones were moving, but everything stood still. It was a magical wonderland we will never ever forget.

After an exciting time at Antelope Canyon, we climbed out of the sandstones and drove just a bit to Horseshoe Bend, a phenomenon that humans still can’t quite wrap their heads around. The river flows one way, then makes a quick “horseshoe” and somehow flows the opposite direction. It was so wild to see up close.

We hiked with our dog, Sunday, through the sand and all the way to the edge. We were blown away by the view and uniqueness of the bend. We could feel the energy pulling us downward and we both experienced a minute of vertigo. The vastness was incredible and everything was so picturesque.

Visiting the sandstones at Antelope Canyon and seeing Horseshoe Bend was such a wonderful way to end our trip in Arizona and we never could have expected any of it (thank you universe!). The two of us felt guided and we were so pleased by our happy accident of stopping in Page, AZ. See what happens next on our cross-country adventure here!