The first night I tried to take night sky photos alone in the parking lot. I failed because I was afraid of any human surprise while I was taking photos. Maybe I watched too many horrible movies that depicted some psychics appeared and kidnapped women who were alone. I knew ten minutes exposure was not long enough. I didn't have a great return for the ten minutes shooting. I was very upset. So I discussed with my husband the night before for waking up early to take sunrise photos at Horseshoe Bend.
I had no problem to drag my husband to go with me in the early morning. He likes the freshness of the early morning air and weather. He was surprised that I did get up right away without asking ten more minutes in bed.
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| Comparing to the prior day, only my husband and I were there. We enjoyed the tranquil morning. |
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| More and more people came to the site before sunrise. A dog barked down below the cliff echoed in the canyon which broke the tranquility. But it made the atmosphere more interesting. |
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| The sun started shining on the sky. |
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| The rock formation on the rim |
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| The reflection of the cliff in the river became red. It was just like on fired. As I stood close to the edge, I saw a tiny kayak, a tent, and people walking on the trail next to the river. |
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| Sand and Plant |
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| After taking the photos, we were back to our hotel and got ready for our next journey. |
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| Our journey for the day |
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| As we left Page and approached the power plant, we saw many tour trips to Antelope Canyon. It was a pity that we did not have enough time to visit the canyon. We have to wait for next time. |
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| I was trained to take pictures when the car speed was over 60 mile per hours over the past years. I couldn't always ask my husband to stop the car for me that would extent our time traveling on the road. Alternatively, I asked my husband to slow down for taking photos. |
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| After turning into the side rode, we still had to drive around 10 mile to the park. |
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| We saw a lot of vehicles stopped along the road and people were searching or working for something. Our guessed was they were picking the pine seeds (nuts). But the pine trees were all over the park. How could they finish picking the endless pine seed? |
After we arrived at the visitor center, we asked the
park ranger. She said it was in season. Navajo people
picked seeds, took the nuts out, and roasted the nuts.
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| Hogan and Sweathouse: The transitional ancient Navajo building structures. These two structures were behind the visitor center. |
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| It was very interesting to learn the sweathouse and thought about nowadays lifestyle comparing to the ancient people. |
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| We took the Sandal Trail which was 1.3 miles round-trip behind the visitor center to the outlook overlooking the Betatakn dwellings. |
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| It was built between 1250 to 1300. Approximate 75-100 people lived here with 135 rooms according to the archaeological survey. |
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| I felt I was like a paparazzi to peep at someone's privacy. Anyway, it was amazing to see the close-up dwelling. The park offered free guided tours to reach the dwellings' site. Please visit its official website for more detail. |
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| The 1.3 mile round-trip trail sounded not to long. But when it came to an inclined hill, it was hard to walk and consumed more energy than walk down the hill. |
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| Most time it was boring driving on the desert environment. There would be some silent time in the car. My best way to kill time was to document rocks or look at some interesting forms of clouds. These rocks were called baby rocks. |
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| We arrived at Four Corners National Monument which was managed by the Navajo Nation. The entrance fee was US$ 3 per person. |
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| The Navaj Nation is the biggest population among all the Indian tribes. |
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| Here is the focus point. The four corners are the only place in the States that 4 states meet. The four states are Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. So, just stepping on the cross point, I was in the four states at the same time. Better yet, my article title should be like " Travel to Four States on One Foot." |
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| My husband bought me a pair of earring from this jewelry vendor. He was talking to her asking some questions about the Navajo Nation and promoting Taiwan. |
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| We met this rock which is called Shiprock on our way to Farmington, New Mexico after we left the four corners. It is an important landmark. |
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| We arrived at our hotel in Farmington. We were surprised by the room which had a kitchenate with a dishwasher. It was unusual set up in a hotel room. My husband and I were very happy with the room quality and friendly staffs. |
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| After we drove around the down, we met these riders especial two female riders. I am always amazed by them handling a heavy motorcycle and they don't worry about the weather situation on roads. |
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| The view from our room |
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