Written Friday 30 May
Just as I was about to start writing this post in my notebook, a ginormous black spider scuttled across my hand, shudder. Darted to the safety of the bathrooms to de-stress and on my way back stepped over not one but three cockroaches - and they're not the first we've seen on this campsite! Eeeek - there are definitely downsides to camping, but when it means you can drop by a series of amazing places the negatives get pushed aside and giant spiders become almost (almost) trivial.
So, today. Today we had a lie in and breakfast cooked for us - living the life of luxury here! - before hopping in the van to go to Lake Powell for some well earned sunbathing time - tbh my arse hurts too much from the horse riding yesterday to do much else! Was a very relaxing morning: sunbathing was followed by an impromptu yoga sesh in the car park and a picnic lunch on the green overlooking the Glen Canyon dam. Sweeet!
Made our way to Monument Valley in a leisurely fashion after lunch. Initially wasn't sure how it could top the incredible rock formations we passed on the drive - I've never seen such strange landscapes - but of course I was proved wrong. Somewhat naively perhaps, I thought that Monument Valley was just what you see on the postcards, but turns out it's actually an entire valley...funnily enough. That explains why we needed the jeep tour then... So once again, something I didn't exactly have high hopes for turned out to be pretty spectacular. It's the kind of places that leaves you in utter awe of the forces and beauty of nature - I can't even count the number of times I caught myself saying 'wow' out loud. The jeep took us on a 2 and a half hour tour around the valley with stops at lots of points of interest. From gaping holes in the roofs of caves and arches to giant standalone rock formations that mirror each other's exact shape (how?!), the entire site was hugely impressive. The only thing that could have possibly enhanced it was a gorgeous sunset...which is exactly what we got. Beautifully lit up by the fiery desert sun, the valley looked even more glorious bathed in a dusky red hue. So cool. Heading back there briefly tomorrow although need to enforce a ban on photos, took about five million today, watch out for a monumental (thank you, I'm here for the next 2 weeks) Facebook invasion...
