Welcome back to part 4 of the Fancy Navajo Rez Tour. This is the final part of my trip and I am so sad it’s coming to an end. If you have been following along I recently went on a fancy road trip with my IG bestie Jen throughout the Navajo Nation. Today I am picking up from where left off from Monument Valley, AZ and where we continued our journey to Page, AZ. If you missed part one (Gallup & Window Rock- here), part two (Hubbell Trading Post & Canyon De Chelly – here), or part three (Monument Valley – here) make sure to catch up. You’ll have to let me know which one has been your favorite so far?
My hopes are that these blog posts serve as a guide to anyone traveling to the Navajo Nation and the surrounding areas. Some areas I am more familiar with than the others. I know there are so many places to see and visit that we didn’t get to visit. So, feel free to add in the comments section of this post, some of you favorite must see, eat, and do in these areas.
Alrighty now back to the Fancy Navajo Rez Tour…
Page, AZ
After Monument Valley we drove 2 hours north to Page, AZ. This is the part of the trip I was most excited for. I have only ever passed through briefly or seen pictures on Instagram of Page. The three areas we wanted to check out were Lower Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell, and Horse Shoe Bend.
We arrived in Page, AZ a little after sunset and we checked into our hotel. Don’t worry if you are wondering on a place to stay. Page is a very touristy town and there are plenty of hotels and food options. I was most surprised by the variety of food which I’ll share later. We stayed at the Best Western Plus. I give it a 10/10. The beds were comfy and we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast each morning!
Lower Antelope Canyon
Day 4 of the Fancy Navajo Rez tour we woke up early and headed to Lower Antelope Canyon. In order to tour Antelope Canyon you MUST have a Navajo Tour guide. There are a variety of tours and we chose Ken’s Tours. Prior to the tour, I didn’t know there were TWO different types of tours of Antelope Canyon: Lower and Upper.
Upper is the most popular and easier to access as you walk right into the canyon. The base of the canyon is the widest and the top narrows in. Lower requires some climbing and you have to take stairs/ladders down into the canyon. The base is narrow and the top is wide open. Ken’s Tours offers tours of Lower Antelope Canyon which is the one we did – here.
A few things to note about the tour. You cannot take anything with you unless it fits in your pocket or in a clear bag. They are pretty strict about it and I had to remove my fanny pack before we could begin. If you have fancy camera go pros and camera equipment you may not be able to take that either. So, keep that in mind prior to your visit. You also have to climb stairs down to the bottom of the canyon. It is very narrow at the bottom and you should be mindful of what you wear because you are in close proximity to people the whole time.
The tour itself was AMAZING!! I really didn’t know what to expect, mainly because I was nervous about climbing down into the canyon. You know a million bad things could happen while you are down there. It didn’t help that our tour guide kept sharing all these scary facts about seeing a mountain lion and flash flooding in the canyon. Hahahaha!! But it built anticipation as we finally got down. I was blown away and my nerves settled down!
There were so many formations that we saw and with each turn there was more to see. The whole tour lasted about an hour and the guides were very knowledgeable. They give you tips on how to take pictures. However, If your goal is to take a lot of photos, a group tour may not be the option for you. Since it’s a small space there are people all around you at all times. You only get a few a minutes to view the gorgeous sand stone formations. Our tour guide let us know there are actual photography tours for people who need more time in the canyon. We managed to take a few photos but honestly we were just in awe by everything!
One of my most favorite part about the tour was the people we toured with. Before you begin the tour, you are split into small groups of 10 people and each group gets their own tour guide. Among our group was a sweet family from Italy. It was the mom’s dream to come to Antelope Canyon. She marveled in the beauty and snapped pictures every few seconds. She kept holding up the tour but her husband patiently waited for her take each picture. At one point the tour guides told her we needed to hurry along because we were holding up the line.
The husband with a very kind voice explained that they may see this every day, but for them they traveled across the world to be here and apologized for holding up the line. You could see their appreciation for this place and it reminded me why I wanted to take this Fancy Navajo Rez Tour. People from all of the world come to see the Navajo Nation. Yet I had never been here before.
It was humbling and proud to see their reactions. As soon as the tour ended we saw the Italian family and the wife gave her husband the biggest hug and started crying saying her husband made her dreams come true. I am such a romantic and this completely melted my heart. So sweet!!! Before we left we saw them in the gift shop and quickly became friends. So who knows the Fancy Navajo Tour may be coming to Italy!
BirdHouse
After our tour we were HUNGRY and we decided to eat at BirdHouse. It’s a fried chicken place that was soooo good! I might have to make a special visit back to Page, just to eat here again! The chicken was not only flavorful but it was nice and crispy!! I got the Chicken Bacon Ranch salad and a side of mac cheese. Jen got a piece of chicken and a side of season fries. We both savored each bite. The restaurant was so cute and I liked how they converted a Drive Thru restaurant into a sit down restaurant. Seating is limited but I would not let that stop you. Take it to go and have a nice picnic at Lake Powell.
Philadelphia Baking Experiment
https://www.philadelphiabakingexperiment.com/
No lunch is complete without dessert. We met up with an Instagram friend who gave us a short tour of a cute plaza in Page. We came across the cutest little bakery, Philadelphia Baking Experiment. You know I’m a sucker for freshly baked goods, so this was right up my alley. They had a variety of baked goods from freshly baked bread, scones, and cookies. I fell in love with their apricot thumb print cookies. They were so good, I bought all of them on display!!! They also had blue corn cookies with native designs.
Lake Powell
The next place we visited was Lake Powell. We probably should have took into consideration the time of day, as it was in the afternoon and the temperatures was nearing 100 degrees! But nonetheless we hiked down to the lake and had nice little beach day. I’m really not a lake or water person. If you read “Part 2 of the Fancy Navajo Rez Tour” – here then you know my feelings about walking barefoot in water. Hahaha! I only made it in a few feet before I turned right back around. Of course, I was in flip flops, because I didn’t dare walk bare foot.
I thought it was pretty awesome seeing the Arizona rock formations in the background and then to see the lake. It was like a secret little getaway. After spending an hour here, we decided to retreat back to our hotel that had AC. The walk back from the lake to the car was brutal. At this point the sun was at its highest point and it was blasted right on us. If you saw my Instagram Stories on this day. You saw the struggle. If you want to still catch the IG stories then head to my Instagram and look for Rez Tour – here.
Horse Shoe Bend
We cooled down and then ventured to Horse Shoe Bend for a beautiful sunset. It was a short 15 minute drive from our hotel and a 20 minute walk from the parking lot . I think we both gained some serious leg muscles after this trip. Ha!! However once you get to the bend, it was all worth it! There were also A LOT of tourists!!! They recently put up a fence along the viewing point. But there were still areas that were open and we snapped a few pictures. Here we saw the most gorgeous sunset! However, please please please be careful. There were so many daring people taking pictures close to the edge, it made me really nervous.
Cameron Trading Post
https://www.camerontradingpost.com/
The next day we packed up and made our way home to Phoenix! Woohoo!! I think both of our husbands were eager to have us home! Our final stop was Cameron Arizona. We stopped at the trading post for lunch and I would have never expected such a fancy restaurant here. Of course we had to try their native food. I had the Green Chile stew and Jen had the Navajo Taco. Both were delicious!!! We had some car troubles here and honestly we were both glad this happened in a populated area. The trading post staff were so nice to help us and soon we were on our way home!! Thanks Cameron Trading Post!!!
Home Sweet Home
After 5 days on the road, I was excited to be back home. I love traveling but there is nothing like sleeping and being in your own home. I had so much fun going on a road trip with Jen. It was something we have talked about for years!! We both enjoy being creative and taking pictures so it was nice to be with someone who was just as happy to explore and take pictures. I fell in love with the beauty of my homelands and I am so proud to say all of these place on the Fancy Navajo Rez Tour are on the Navajo Nation!! Thank you for following along!! Hopefully you’ll visit one of these places soon!
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Want to read about my Fancy Navajo Rez Tour Part 3: Exploring Monument Valley? Then head on over to this post.https://thefancynavajo.com/2019/07/12/fancy-navajo-rez-tour-part-3-exploring-monument-valley/
Where can I buy that umbrella?
Unfortunately I don’t know the seller. This was purchased a few years ago along the parade route of the Navajo Nation Parade in Window Rock, AZ.