Day 4: Horseshoe Bend and some driving

We were sad to say goodbye to Zion, but excited to start the next part of our journey. After packing up, we left Springdale and headed towards Arizona. Our first stop was Horseshoe Bend. Here, the Colorado River has made a horseshoe-shaped bend in the canyon from years and years of the water eroding away the sandstone.

We arrived around 9:30am and set off on the sandy trail. We trudged up the path in heat and sun that was already beating down heavily on us. This first part from the parking lot was fairly steep and the sand was soft and hard to walk through. Once we got to the top we went down to the bend, which was fairly easy, but all we kept thinking was that we have to go all the way back up on the way back! Plus, we were carrying both kids. But once we made it to the bottom we were rewarded with inspiring and gorgeous views of the Colorado River and the bend. When we were there the bend was looking a little dried out, but it was still a beautiful site. While Jon took some pictures, I huddled under a rock with the girls to get us all out of the sun, especially since there wasn't any shade anywhere on the .75 mile walk back... and the sun was strong!

Coming up the trail carrying two kids took some effort. One guy who passed us on his way down patted Jon on the shoulder and said, "Man, you've got some balls! Good for you!" That provided us with some laughs on the way back up!

Jon carrying Julia

We then drove to Cameron Trading Post about 45 minutes away. I had read that this was a good place to stop if you were going to enter the Grand Canyon from the east entrance. They had a huge store full of everything you would could possibly want to buy from your trip to the southwest, plus a restaurant that had authentic food from the area. One thing that threw us off though was the time change. We knew that Arizona doesn't follow Daylight Savings Time, but after researching we found out that Indian Reservations throughout Arizona do follow Daylight Savings Time. I think. Or is it the other way around? So when we got to the restaurant to eat lunch at 11:40am they informed us that everything in the building was an hour earlier than everything outside of the building, therefore making it 10:40 in the morning and not lunch time at the restaurant yet. I'm confused just writing this. So we shopped a little and came back to eat their specialty, Navajo tacos, which were very good!

This is only half of one portion! 

With our bellies full we got back in the car to continue our drive to the Grand Canyon. More on that later :)