After leaving California, we headed in Utah for one night and then criss-crossed the border between Arizona and Utah several times on the way to Page, Arizona.

What's there, you say? The famous Antelope Canyon! Normally you need advance reservations, but by selecting a combo tour of the Lower Canyon and a boat cruise of Antelope Canyon we were able to get in on short notice.

On the way, we stopped for a hike to the Toadstool Hoodoos at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Short hike but interesting rock formations.

Large Hoodoo

 Family of hoodoos

Looks more like a giant penis than a toadstool!

See the doggie? He has a brown hat on!

We stayed at a lovely campground on Lake Powell at the marina in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

 This is such a beautiful area of the country! I love the red rocks!

Next up: Lower Antelope Canyon

The descent

Lots of stairs!

The way out

We were awestruck by the colors and waves. Pictures don't do it justice!

On to the boat ride!

 A long walk down a very steep ramp to the marina!

These 75'  house boats are for rent at a mere $900 per day but they supposedly sleep a lot of people! But they rent by the week so it better be with people you like!

Antelope Canyon's walls are higher than ever because the water is so low.

And a long uphill walk back up. This earned us both a beer!

Rochelle had suggested we visit Carrizo Plain National Monument known for its amazing display of spring wild flowers. We had already seen poppies on some hillsides. The pictures on the web from previous years were amazing. Unfortunately, we were a bit early for the super bloom, which is expected this year due to all of the rain. There were a lot of wildflowers (mostly yellow) already blooming but the pinks, blues and purples were just starting. Nevertheless, it was gorgeous. The smell was almost overpowering at times!

 The orange flowers are California poppies.

Some blue!

Soda Lake

A sea of purple

 This is one of my favorite photos (above).

We walked 3/4 of a mile to the sea of purple above. I could only sit it in for a minute. It smelled like grape bubblegum and the smell was overwhelming!

Poppies!

After visiting the flowers, we returned our rental car (We put on 2000 miles in 3 weeks!) and headed east toward Utah and Arizona. We spent nearly two months in California and were pleasantly surprised. It is for the most part quite beautiful. I didn't know there were so many different climates. We went from the ocean to the mountains, to the desert, to farming country, to lakes, and orchards and back to the ocean. I had no idea it was so mountainous! Another surprise was the amount of oil being pumped. There were oil pumps everywhere; by the ocean, alongside the freeway, in farmers' fields. I was amazed! Also, California is very multi-cultural and not just in the big cities. If I lived here I would definitely have to brush up on my Spanish and maybe learn one or two Asian languages as well!

I felt I could live in almost any of the little communities we visited with the exception of LA and its surrounding areas. Way too many people for me! And the traffic (as well as Trevor's driving!) is intimidating!

Trevor's here! Today no chains were required so we planned to travel up to the higher altitudes through both parks to see the General Sherman giant sequoia. About halfway up, we started seeing snow and shortly after heavy fog. Everything was very eerie.

Walking through a giant dead Sequoia laying on its side.

We couldn't see the tops of any of them!

Trevor in photographer mode!

Looking up at the giants in the fog.

Twins attached at the base.

Mom and son dwarfed by a giant Sequoia.

On the way back down the mountain, Trevor took us on a back road that was barely 1 1/2 lanes wide. We were nervous at first but soon saw some of the prettiest scenery so far. The California poppies have started to bloom!

One more day in the park, time to see some giant sequoias not shrouded in fog! But there was plenty of snow. Very slippery! Good thing we had our hiking poles!

The Keebler elf getting ready to bake. :)

Forest of Giants

Difficult to get a picture of Trevor when he is not in photographer mode!

Unfortunately, this was our last visit with Trevor as we will be leaving California in the next few days. These last two months certainly went by quickly!