The perks of being a teacher include random breaks in the middle of a semester. Spring break this year consisted of an RV adventure through the southwest US -- Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods (UT), Grand Canyons (AZ) and Havasu Falls (AZ). Day 1: We packed up our 31-foot RV and drove a couple of hours in the night to get a head start. Our RV included a cab over the driver's seat (sleeps 2), a sofa-bed, a table that converts to a bed, a master bedroom in the back, shower, TV, oven, fridge & freezer, microwave, stovetop, storage space and water & water tanks to store all the wonderful dishwashing and bathroom waste.
Our first official RV driver Roy! He was also our captain and trip organizer.
Kenny, Harry, Candace and Suazo (Jennifer) on our first night in the RV.
View of the inside of the RV -- stove, counters, microwave, fridge/freezer, oven on the left; table and beds on the right and master bedroom in the back.
Day 2: The guys drove all day and we finally reached Monumental Valley (UT) in the evening and luckily there was enough light to see some of the stunning rock formations.
 This place reminded me of all the old western movies, cowboys on horses and indians running around. Giddyup horsey! Bang bang! Yeeehaw!
Day 3: The RV campgrounds we parked at had a 1/2-mile hike to the hidden arch. Here, we did a little bouldering and shimming up rocks.
From the bottom of the hike, you can't see the arch. What a great surprise to reach at the top :P
crazy jumpin' picture. way to flash your boobies harry.
Afterward, we went off-roading with our RV through the Valley of Gods...
...which, as you can see, is reminiscent to all the majestic buildings and temples that gods would reside in. 
"Let my people go!" moses Roy declares as he parts the red sea.
Suazo and I shimmied up a rock and in the back is a deformed hand.
Our RV amidst the spectacular gigantic red rock formations. A dirt road had been paved through the valley of the gods with one lane going in both directions. Our RV was so wide that we took up both lanes. We had to pull over to the side whenever someone needed to pass.
Last, we arrived at Four Corners 30 minutes after the park closed and decided to sneak in :P I kept imagining scenarios where a dude with a shotgun would come out and tell us to "git off his property" and that I would have to book it and run for my life. But we didn't get caught.
I was in 4 states at once! Woot!
Then we made our way to Williams, AZ to pick up 2 more members (Cynthia and Marcello) and battled the blasted propane dectector through the night. (Think of those random piercing fire alarms that go off in the middle of night in college where you just lay in bed with the pillows over your ears, hoping that you're just dreaming). Day 4 & 5: Slept in, played some basketball at the RV park and drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyons.
View in front of the south rim of the Grand Canyons 
"Heeelllppp! I'm falling and I can't get up!"
Just taking in the beauty of God's creation
Day 6: Highlight of the trip! We went to Havasu Falls, located on the west rim of the Grand Canyons, and hiked 10 miles between these canyon walls to these gorgeous waterfalls hidden in the canyons. To get to the waterfalls, we had to hike through the Havasupai Indian village, which was eye-opening and made me more aware of the problems they deal with on a daily basis. After our hike, we stayed at the lodge down in the reservation.
Starting the hike in the early morning. 
Group pic before descending into the canyon
As we were going down to the waterfalls, groups of mules and horses were heading up to the top of the hike with tourists' luggage. Because of them, the trails were full of stinky poop that I kept trying to sidestep.
We hiked between these canyon walls.
This was about 6 miles in (I think).
After 8 miles of hiking, you reach the Havasupai Indian villages. Here's one of the houses on the reservation.
While hiking to the waterfalls, we were given glimpses of what was the come. Here is some water that flows and feeds into the waterfalls.
The first waterfall (in a series of 3) is called Navajo Falls. I don't have a picture of it, unfortunately. The waterfall on the left is the second waterfall, Havasu Falls, and probably the prettist, largest one of them all. You hike down the path, round a corner, and BOOM all of sudden you look down and see this ----------->appear. The camera can't seem to convey the length and depth of the falls.
To try to capture the enormity of this waterfall, I zoomed in on these people wading at the bottom of the falls. 
The last waterfall was Mooney Falls and was the best out of the three.
To get to Mooney Falls, first, we had to go down through these caves. DESCEND AT OWN RISK! EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION! Apparently some girl died going down the rocks to get to Mooney Falls a couple of years ago. When I heard this, I got scared.
Kenny and I in the cave.
Secondly, to climb down the rest of the rocks, we had to use the spikes and chains that were nailed into the ground. (Harry and Candace coming down)
 Here's a zoomed out view of the rocks we had to climb down. The specks on the rocks are Cynthia, Marcelo and Jennifer climb down.  And then...we jumped in. It was really really really really cold. But after a while, you're whole body gets numb and you can't feel the cold anymore. And you can feel the power of the rushing water from the falls. So cool.
 The best part about Mooney Falls was that there was this rope swing attached to one of the trees. Here I am swinging on it.
Roy in his element:) Caught in mid-air after jumping off the rope swing.  We decided to explore the area further past Mooney Falls to find the fabled 2nd rope swing. But no such luck. We did get a chance to see another awesome view of the waterfalls. Here, Kenny is posing like a girl. Teehee.
Day 7: Hiked back out from Havasu Falls. Picked up a stranded Native American family on the highway who ran out of gas, entertained the 3 and 4-yr old, and drove them to the nearest gas station. The guys drove us back to LA and after a week of eating frozen and instant food, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at TGIFs. The trip was amazing! No kids + nature + good company = a very happy and relaxed Caroline :) I plan on going back to Havasu Falls sometime in the near future. To check out the whole photo album (400+ pictures), go here.
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