Road Trip 2025: Day 13

I slept very well last night thanks to that hike in Zion. This morning we are heading south again. We have a tour lined up to see Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. My cousin, as well as our friends from Jersey, recommended we stop in to visit. When my cousin lived in Utah she used to volunteer there. Our friends still volunteer. In fact, they will be there later today to spend a few days with the animals. The sanctuary is in Kanab, close to the Arizona border.

Best Friends is the largest No Kill Shelter in the United States. It owns 6,000 acres of land and it operates the shelter on 4,200 acres. It was founded in 1984, predominantly, to end the practice of killing animals for the purpose of population control. Its ultimate goal is to end the practice of euthanasia in all shelters across the country. Not only do they have cats and dogs, they also have farm animals—horses, goats, and pigs—and they rehabilitate wild animals, mainly birds of prey. During Hurricane Katrina, Best Friends rescued 7000 animals and then went on to create an emergency response team. Recently, they took in animals during the California wildfires—animals already in California shelters to make room in those shelters for displaced pets—and they are currently helping in Texas following the floods. The Navajo Nation Reservation is nearby and they parter with them to spay and neuter all animals, as well as do wellness checks on them. Since it’s a place that loves animals, they also have an animal cemetery on the premises. Best Friends runs on donations. They get most of their donations from individuals, however, they also have corporate sponsors. For example, Blue Buffalo (the food my cats hate) sponsors all the cat and dog food and Volkswagen sponsors adoption events.

While on the tour, we got out of the van twice. Once to pet the cats and once to pet the pigs. I miss my fur babies very much so it was nice to pet the cats. Pigs have thick rough skin. It was nice to also pet them, but they weren’t cuddly like the cats. After the tour, we went into the kitten room to pet the kittens. Oh my, they were adorable. One crawled up on my shoulder and then curled into my arms. Needless to say, I wanted to take him home. Another little guy was curled up hiding under a blanket because he was scared. I could have brought him home too. I could have adopted them all. Choosing one would have been hard. Kati and G3 also wanted to take home a kitten. But we will be on the road camping and site seeing (in places that don’t allow pets) for another three weeks. While we didn’t get a kitten, we did become members, promising a yearly donation. I think my Dad would have liked  Best Friends, although he would have wanted to see and pet the dogs instead of the cats. He loved animals, and I definitely thought of him when we stopped at the goats. He always enjoyed taking G3 to see farm animals and he enjoyed feeding goats probably more than G3 did.

For lunch, we went to the cafe that is run by Best Friends. At five dollars a person the food was a steal. Except, it was vegan food so G3 and Kati didn’t like any of it. I’ve eaten plenty of food I dislike on this trip, so I didn’t feel bad sitting there eating a big salad. But since G3 and Kati didn’t eat anything, they went to Wendy’s when I finished.

Next, we dipped into Arizona for a tour of Antelope Canyon. G3 has wanted to see Antelope Canyon ever since we first flew into Arizona three summers ago. The canyon sits on the Navajo reservation and the tours are run by the Navajo. Our tour guide was phenomenal. He was one of the best we’ve ever had and we’ve gone on many tours. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and a good photographer. He had each group in the tour pose at two different spots and he took our pictures—one he even took in landscape mode so we have the height of the canyon as a backdrop. Kati is already considering using one of the pictures on our Christmas Card. The canyon is small but beautiful. It was carved by wind and water. The walls are twisted and curved and the passage through the canyon is tight. During the rainy season, flash floods still occur and fill the canyon with water. Once upon a time, before the age of tourism, animals, such as cougars, lived in the canyon. I am glad G3 insisted that we visit. It was definitely worth the drive.

On the way back to Utah, we stopped at Horseshoe Bend which is part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It was a one and a half mile walk—out and back—in the heat to see it. The Colorado River carved a horseshoe into the earth. As we stood high up on the observation point, the canyon appeared almost circular. It was pretty to see despite the thick haze caused by the wildfire on the Grand Canyon’s Northern Rim.

For dinner, we stopped back in Kanab to meet up with our Jersey friends for dinner. It was another enjoyable evening of talking and catching up. I am glad we had the opportunity to see them again.