Chasing Shadows

Heading back east

The trip west with the sun at our backs on the chilly mornings has turned around and we are now chasing our shadows eastbound across Southern USA. This section of the trip really drives home the emphasis placed on "big" in America whether it be man made or natural. From Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley to the 35km bridge to get to New Orleans everything around here is just plain big........ including the people at Wal-Mart.

My 1st bear sighting

Death Valley

So from San Francisco we drove to Bishop for a night then onto Las Vegas, going through Death Valley on the way. Vegas was awesome, the atmosphere is electric and everything is over the top. We hired a bus bus to drive us up and down the strip on the 1st night then gambled and drunk the night away.

Bellagios

Vegas

Our Vegas party bus

From the bright lights of Vegas it was just a days drive to get to the Grand Canyon, cruising along part of route 66 as we went. Upon arrival our guide made us all close our eyes as he led us to a viewing platform. Words cannot describe the Canyon or the colors I saw that day. The pictures I took dont really do it justice either but that didnt stop me taking hundreds. It was hard to cut down the photos im putting on this blog down to 5. The morning after arriving we hiked down Kaibab trail, which leads down the side of the canyon, to watch the sunrise. Im more of a sunset fan for a couple of reasons but this one was pretty special.

Sunrise over the Grand Canyon

Kaibab trail

Ahhhhhhhhhhh

1 more days drive after the canyon bought us to Monument Valley. The valley is full of red sand that gets in everything so the mini sandstorm we experienced on the way was not the most promising start. Upon arrival it had calmed a little but we still managed to get sand in every crevice you can imagine. After driving around and grabbing some photos we were lucky enough to be able to camp in the valley overnight, under the shadow of the mesas.
The night was spent in a traditional hogan with all 11 of the group sleeping in the 1 room, captivated by the deep & wise voice of our Indian guide Cecil telling us stories of his youth and his tribe, the Navajo. We then drifted to sleep under the starry sky to the soothing and peaceful snoring of Amir.

Monument Valley

Weeeeeeeeeee

An artist at work

Some long drives were on the menu from here on. From Monument Valley we kicked on to Durango checking out Mesa Verde on the way.

Mesa Verde

From Santa Fe to Roswell to Carlsbad Caverns to San Antonio the drives were up to 450 miles per day! Each of these towns had their own charm. By now we were all experts at setting up and packing up our tents and the campsite. The usual routine involved waking up around 7am, rolling up sleeping bags, matresses, repacking backpacks, showering, a cereal breakfast then loading up the trailer. All this generally took me 1.5 hours so 7am departures could mean a 5:30 wake up :/

Roswell museum

Carlsbad Caverns

San Antonio Riverwalk

This leg of the trip puts me in New Orleans from where I will pick up from in my next blog.



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