Hello me dear,

HOLY COW! That about sums up the day I had in Lower Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend today.  When I first got here I was just about resigned to take walks around the Antelope Canyons, not wanting to leave Sofie alone in the trailer.  I found some pretty cool ones and thought it was perfect, until I met my new RV neighbor where she mentioned that there are some really good dog daycares around here and to have a look as missing out on Antelope Canyon (which is on my bucket list) cause of your loving pet, sounds unheard of… 🙂 I smiled and thought – you know you are right, what the heck am I thinking, sacrificing Antelope Canyon for this 4 legged fur ball, cute and all, but really.

Finding a well reviewed dog daycare, they were glad to take her for the day.  Yeah!!! She will have fun as well.  Then went to reserve my tour for Antelope Canyon, apparently in 2006 they had some fatalities with flash floods and vandalism, so the Navajo community passed some regulations and now you are escorted by a tour guide who can tell you so much information one would not know unless they read a story online. Our guide came with a bonus, he was our photographer at the same time.  He would take our phone so we can have pictures of ourselves and show us how to get some of the amazing colors done by the sun, rocks and angles.  I cant even begin to describe how cool it was to go through there and see amazing shapes after amazing shapes, and when you thought you saw the best one, another surprises you and you are in awe all over again.  It was truly a spiritual experience, one I will never ever ever forget and am so grateful to have taken this trip to see this.

After the 1.5 hour amazingness, I went over to Horseshoe Bend.  Unfortunately it was extremely windy, I mean crazy windy (15-20 mph), I am glad I didn’t take Sofie with me, she would have made me so nervous about falling.  Still was amazing to see, it made me laugh, there are definitely a lot of people who are not afraid of heights – they were right at the edge with the wind gusts. I am not that brave or crazy.

All in all, two main bucket list items I was able to check off and I felt on top of the world and so thankful.  Then reality, running to WalMart and Safeway before I had to go pick up Sofie.  I will admit, though I feel slightly guilty, I decided to have lunch and a beer without her at a real restaurant, it felt like I was cheating on her going most the day without her, I am sure I will get over it and did within a minute of seeing her…

The next day, I decided to not ignore the huge elephant in my chateau “Hairy”… The water pump wasn’t working as advertised. Of course, I have been doing a couple things wrong, like not filling the hot water tank, putting the pump on when I was connected to city water, the list apparently goes on.  I went to a local RV repair shop and apparently the pump just needed to be adjusted, what that meant was getting to it and puling all the bedding and whatever I threw on the bed off so Mike from Southwest auto and RV could access it to put his finger on the pump thingy… He then (half scolding me) taught me what is it I was supposed to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again… Like – use hot water… LOL… Lame.

Since the morning was wasted, I just put Hairy back in her spot and decided to take a smaller hike than I had planned.  It was beautiful,  after spending 30 minutes trying to find the office to buy a permit, I was ready.  Another hiker said it was worth the hike, it was like Antelope Canyon just free and I could bring the dog.  He was not totally wrong, though the didn’t go as deep as Lower Antelope Canyon, it was just as beautiful and colorful.

After meeting some great new neighbors and touring their 5th wheel (which was just beautiful), they invited me to a BBQ party they are having tomorrow night.  I am sitting here in my awesome chateau, my brother-in-law named Hairy, in candle light listening to Andrea Bocelli radio and drinking a glass of wine, I am happy where I am right now, mind body and soul. I try to stay true to myself and always think of the saying – Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, and right now – I truly believe that.

I wouldn’t have said that after the panic attack I had earlier today when I saw the balances of my bank accounts, but after I calmed down and remembered I am pretty much debt free (aside the house and Hairy), I can do this.

The last morning in Page consisted of Sofie waking me up at 5:30, went on a hike up the rocks behind our site. Then packed 95% of the trailer and headed to Upper Antelope Canyon.  The awes and oohhs were almost comparable.  It was so beautiful, I wasn’t able to get as many different colors, but the way it just made you feel in there, it was special.

Upper Antelope Canyon – the heart

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upon returning, packed, gassed up and now off to Bluff, UT for 2 nights then hopefully Natural Bridges.

This is the end of my comfort zone… and I am loving every moment! The easy and the hard.

Love you always!