May 03, 2015: Tanya's Moab and Southwestern National Parks Road Trip - Day 3

Elisa's Daily Scoop

Easy Sunday

Howdy! Just looking forward to a relaxing Sunday!

I was totally geared up for a day of paining and manual labor today with Denise.  But, we both decided to put off the actual paining part for a few weeks.  

Instead, we are going to put a plan together for all the things that have to be done to get her rental apartment completed.  We are going to pick out paint colors for the living area as well as the bathroom and decide on the carpeting texture and color.

Since next week is Mother's Day, we'll have to see about the following Sunday for the manual labor part. 

With Denise at Season's 52 a few weeks ago

In other news, yesterday was truly a glorious day!  The weather was perfect and I spent a great deal of time outside, which was absolutely wonderful.

I took a number of long walks, and actually worked on my laptop outside for a few hours, sitting in the warm sun.

I will say, I didn't get much accomplished, but I succeeded in relaxing and completely enjoying my day.  

Later in the evening, Gianna decided she wanted to make pizza, and boy was it delicious!

I'm on my way to start my day. First to Fairway to do food shopping; then to Costco to get household supplies;  then to the Mall to do some returns and to make a trip to "Baked by Melissa" for mini cupcakes!!

See ya back here tomorrow!
-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop

Adventures in the Southwest

Greetings from Monument Valley, Utah!

Wasn't I just in Utah last week??? 
Why yes I was...but in my defense, it was a different part of the state (although there will be a day next week when I'll be retracing my steps as we head to Vegas). LOL

Well, you're not gonna believe this...
And I'm not playing the blame game. But we nearly missed the boat yesterday; And there would've been no Antelope Canyon tour for us. 
A tour is necessary since there is no option to visit and view the sacred Antelope Canyon without a guide. 

While I may seem a bit strict about sticking to schedules - I am an expert at doing schedules, and if you don't want to miss things that you set out to see then you must stick to the schedule. 
When alarms go off, you must rise to the occasion and get the body movin' 'n groovin'.

I'm glad this wasn't my first rodeo at seeing this stunning slot canyon - being that I have already been there and done that. 
But all in all I would've definitely been disappointed with missing out, especially if it was because of not sticking to the schedule.

We saw some beautiful scenery on the (nerve wrecking) drive to Page, Arizona. 
Dave was driving like a mad man or a bat out of hell to get us there, and lo and behold we had about 30 seconds to spare once we pulled up and parked the car. 
Wow. I was shocked! I couldn't believe it. We made the last tour! Whew! That was a rush of emotions.

Next up was Glen Canyon Recreation Area and the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge. 
The sun was beginning to set, and there was a beautiful glow coming from the surrounding rocks. So pretty!

Finally a last minute addition to our agenda was going to see Horse Shoe Bend. 
And this very well might have been the best stop yet!!!
The overlook is 4,200 feet above sea level and the Colorado River is at 3,200 feet above sea level making it about a 1,000ft drop & no guard rails! 
So be CAREFUL!!!

We arrived before sunset and trekked through the red sand to the end of the trail. It was striking! 
Such a amazing geological place carved out for millions of years from the mighty Colorado River. 

As the Colorado Plateau uplifted about 5 million years ago, the rivers that meandered across the ancient landscape were trapped in their beds. The rivers cut through the rock, deep and fast, seeking a new natural level. Here at Horseshoe Bend, the Colorado River did just that, and as the river cut down through the layers of sandstone, it created a 270° horseshoe-shaped bend in the canyon. (credit nps.gov)

We then drove 2 more hours and arrived to our campsite safe and sound. 

This was gonna be a treat. 
If you recall this is a brand spanking new tent - huge in comparison to what we're use to (a 2 person backpacking tent). Although we had to set up camp with only one flashlight and prop up a brand new tent for the first time in the dark, we did it!

Then it was time to blow up our brand spanking new air mattress - this is definitely a Cush version of camping! 
Except that once we opened the box, we realized that the air pump needed batteries! 
We were gonna sleep on the ground. 
Oh well. No biggie.

And there I was looking to get a good nights rest. Our tent was up, lights were out, and we were bedded down - on the hard ground! 
But after-all I could sleep on just about anything, so that wasn't a problem. 
The problem was when the wind picked up, the tent nearly collapsed on us, and I freaked! There's no way I'm sleeping in that thing! Good bye!

Dave was gonna tough it out, as he wouldn't be comfy in the truck. 
Oh well. Good luck and good riddance. 
I went to the truck and got away from my panic attack. But then the next thing you know within a matter of seconds, I lose the truck key!! You've gotta be kidding me!

The situation with the tent got much worse, and Dave was almost wrapped up inside like a burrito. This is when made his way to the truck. After much laughter, we both fell asleep.

And today we are off to tour the famous Monument Valley and then off to Moab for our first mountain biking ride of the trip!

You may very well want to plan your next trip out here to the Southwest!!!

Hi-Ho Silver, and away I go!
-T