Four nights of desert camping in Utah calls for a splurge, don’t you think? Well, we don’t need your approval, because we did it anyways. We headed to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park for one night of lush cabin life.

Just over the Utah border, this am-I-in-a-Western-movie park is absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth the stop. I mean the drive alone was breathtaking. One second you are on the highway…

… and then next you are dropping into a valley on a super-steep dirt road.

When in Monument Valley, you really can only do one hike or drive without a Navajo guide. We didn’t book a tour, so we just checked into our cabin RIGHT at check-in time (Ross Gellar would be proud) and sat/drank on the porch. Here’s something to keep in mind, it’s illegal to sell alcohol on Navajo land, so don’t plan on hitting up any bars at the hotel restaurant. Do what we did, and BYO…shhh, don’t tell.

The cabins are perfect size for two people (or a family of four since ours had fancy bunkbeds).

They are pretty brand-spanking new and were a welcome treat after waking up every morning with gritty sand in my mouth.

The views paired with a sunset that was out of this world really made our less than 24-hour stop here oh-so worth it.

The next morning, we drove the scenic road.  I highly recommend you have an SUV to drive this. We almost got stuck going up a tiny hill and we have an SUV. The roads are super bumpy and filled with massive holes you can get stuck in. You’ve been warned.

After our rocky start, we headed towards Page, Arizona to camp at Wahweap Marina on Lake Powell. It was, you guessed it, fucking hot. Luckily, the campground was right on the lake so we could dunk ourselves in the water.

The main reason we came to Page? We had booked a tour at the must-see Upper Antelope Canyon. You can’t access this slot canyon without a tour guide and you must book in advance or you will wait for hours.

The slot canyons were just like all the photos I’ve seen blowing up my Instagram. You feel like you just discovered a secret, magical place.

And then you look behind you…

Who invited these fools? I guess there’s a reason our tour guide said “welcome to Grand Central Station.” Well the crowds can’t take away the sheer awesomeness of it all.

Spoiler alert: those light beams you see in ALL the photos of the slot canyons (like the one two photos above)…they are created by tour guides throwing sand up into the air. Yep. But whatever, I’ll take it. The guides were awesome and even snapped multiple photos of us and managed to capture me looking stoned amongst the stones.

So, it turns out Page is more than just slot canyons. They are also home to the famous Horseshoe Bend. AKA all the social media rage. We jumped on the bandwagon. Sorry not sorry. Oh, and we got a free exfoliation from all the sand whipping us in the face at the viewpoint.

I was totally going to talk about our hike into the canyon of grandness within this post, but I have too much to say about it and just not enough time. Jessie Spano gets it.

Next time, talks of 20-mile hikes, 6500+ feet of elevation gain, and temps reaching 130 degrees.