It was mid February as we landed in Phoenix, Arizona. Ten of my close friends set out on a 6 day round trip through one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and it is such a wonder!

As we drove out of Phoenix and into the desert the landscape grew more arid and dusty with each mile driven. City faded and the houses shrunk to cabins, then to s,all shacks that dotted along the classic red sands of the Arizona desert. We chugged along in our rented campervan, eyes fixed on what would come from around the next bend.

Everywhere we went the landscape bent and twist and towered over us, and being in the driver's seat for most of the time was ideal, it was the best seat in the house!

We stopped in Sedona where we visited "energy vortex", which was a well respected places of natural energy, said to give the experience of high emotional and spiritual energy. I can't say I felt much from the landscape, aside from my own happiness and excitement from being in the area. Because we had a big group of us together with a lot of places to see it was difficult to take a moment to reflect. If I had another chance to visit here again I would take the time to meditate and really try to tap into the energy around the area.

Antelope Canyon probably the most fascinating stop for me. Walking around these canyons and caves, running my hand lightly along the smooth sandstone which was formed by running water from flash floods in the area over thousands of years. These naturally formed mazes we used by the native people for shelter from the harsh weather in he area as well as oncoming aggressors. Located close to Page, AZ, it was hard not to imagine what it was like in those times, torchlit coupled with the spirituality that we were informed about. It must have been surreal.

Horseshoe Bend was absolutely spectacular! It's a huge winding section of the river running through the canyon, and the scale of the river, and the of course the whole canyon itself, was breathtaking.

We crossed the border into the state of Utah then to visit Zion National Park, which has won awards for it's natural beauty. We powered up winding switchbacks to the top of thestunning Angels Canyon which, surprisingly, is quite icy in mid February. We did not expect this a all and really struggled to reach the peak and I only made it due to a single studded ice cleet which I borrowed from a stranger. But the view from the top was this snakelike canyon stretching for miles into the distance. This was the first time I really saw the canyon from above. I made sure to take a few snaps before we made the trechourous journey sliding down to the canyon floor