We woke up early at the motel to fog and mountains. We packed up our bags and began our drive to Nevada. Having an extra day on the trip was more than I could ask for. We drove passed mountains that looked painted onto the sky. Nothing on this trip looked real.
We stopped at the Hoover dam. It was packed with tourist and I began to lose my adventure drive. The place was beautiful, but there's something about with exploring new places almost alone. It was very noisy and lots of lines and overpriced food. We didn’t stay for too long because we still had to find a place to stay for the night before going into Vegas.
We stopped at a little tourist shop only to discover that the lake mead campground was just behind it. When we got into the campground I was excited to see palm trees for the first time. We found a magical spot that was near the lake. We were surrounded by mountains and palm trees. A part of me didn’t want to leave the campground. The exhaustion from the trip was setting in and just spending an evening around the campfire would be enough.
But we came to Nevada for Vegas so we marked our spot and left. The sun began to set and I was beginning to feel excited to see Vegas. Once we got into the city it felt very strange. We had spent the entire week exploring national parks. My boots were nearly worn down to nothing, my jeans were dirty and my hair was messy from letting it air dry.
Once we parked the car and started to explore the main strip it became very apparent that this was not my thing. I did enjoy it, but I felt very out of place. We wondered into Caesars palace and spent most of the time exploring expensive shops. Without any money to spend it was very easy to lose interest in all of it. After a few hours we decided to get some in and out burger before heading back to camp.
When we pulled into the campground we were surprised at how quit it was and how there were no fires. We kept as quiet as possible as we built are fire ans set up some chairs. It felt like summer and soon we were listening to packs of coyotes near by. I felt very content on ending the trip this way. We talked about all of the amazing things we had done and how nice it will be when we got home. Camping in the car that night was like sleeping outside in the summer.
We woke up early at the Grand Canyon and pulled out the camping grill and made breakfast. I drank coffee and watched the large crows scavenge our fire pit for food. We started to plan out our day and decided that we would go to Antelope canyon. We packed up the car and went to go look at the Grand canyon one last time. It was much more peaceful in the morning without all the tourist.
The drive to Antelope canyon was beautiful. We saw horses running along the side of the mountain. It was until later that I realized they were the Tonto national forest wild horses. We drove into a small town and pulled into a tourist spot and to get our Antelope canyon guided tour tickets. The truck that drove us to the canyon had seats and a cover built into the truck bed. I was the last to climb in and felt a little uneasy sitting in the back so close to the road. We drove over desert sand and you couldn’t hear anything but the rickety seats banging. There was a bar to hold onto so you didnt fall out of your seat.
I was so eager to get into the canyon. We followed our tour guide into the canyon. I was amazed to be standing in a place where I’ve in so many documentaries on. Before we left the Canyon we collocated the sand in an empty water bottle. Once we were back at the tour building we explored the tourist shop when I overheard a worker talking to a couple about horseshoe bend. This was a place that I always wanted to see, but it doesn't show up on maps.
We talked to the man and he told us that it was just down the road. It’s a very easy place to miss because there are no road signs, just a small parking lot. We parked the car and began the short hike to Horseshoe Bend. I was so full of excitement that I wanted to run to it. The landscape was flat and you can just see a canyon in the distance. I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
I could see the top of the bend and it wasn’t until I stepped up to the edge where all of it came into view. It took my breath away more than the Grand Canyon did. Pictures cannot justify just how large and beautiful it is. Birds were flying hundreds of feet below us with their shadows casting over the water. We walked around the edge of it towards a cliff. We climbed a large rock that was covered in carvings from people. The sun was hot and for the first time the whole trip, we could take our jackets off.
I fell in love with the whole place. We trekked back to the car and decided to drive back to Flagstaff for the night. We still had an extra day and made the decision to go to Las Vegas the next day. The sun was setting and I was driving behind a man on a motorcycle, surrounded by purple mountains. My heart was full and I was eager to look at the pictures on my camera.
It was late as we got into Flagstaff and we decided to stop at a small diner for food. The food was amazing and we looked up some hotels. We found a nice motel and I stayed up transferring all of my photos onto my computer. I was beginning to feel the exhaustion from the trip. The thought of driving home made my heart hurt. We only had one more day of exploring before the very long drive home
