As we drove up, Cheryl, our guide, described Arizona as "a lot of boring, boring, boring...and then, Oh My God." And so we came upon Little Painted Desert, which, after miles and miles of flat, colourless land, elicited just such a response from us.

The moniker "Earl's Girls" was decided upon near the end of the week. Every Canyon Calling tour group decides on a name that it will be referred to from now on, and this one was chosen because we fell in love with the Dixie Chicks' song "Goodbye Earl" - a very cheerful song about spousal homicide - while listening to it repeatedly in the van.