Monumental

Hi Folks,

After chilling out in Fiji for a week, we've hit the road hard in the States and have already covered a huge amount of ground (3 states and counting). As usual I've managed to slightly underestimate the distances between places but our cause has been helped by actually having a decent car for a change. We upgraded on arrival in LA and were simply told to pick a car from a section of the carpark! We couldn't quite believe that they expected us to get in and drive away whichever car we fancied. I resisted the temptation to get a huge jeep and went for a mean looking saloon. So far it has been a dream to drive.

Anyway, Emma mentioned that we spent a day and a half at the Grand Canyon. It is no understatement to say that it is the most immense place I have ever seen. I really don't think anything on our trip will beat the first sight of the huge canyon and watching the sun set.

Having torn ourselves away from the Grand Canyon, we headed a couple of hundred miles to Monument Valley - home of the Wild West films. We were able to drive round the rather bumpy track which enabled us to see some of the most amazing scenery. We then made our way to Lake Powell whereby numerous canyons have been flooded by a dam. The Lake is now a huge tourist attraction (amazingly attracting twice as many visitors as the Grand Canyon), with loads of very ugly house boats. Although we enjoyed a boat trip on the lake, there was something very unnatural about it all and we weren't sorry to leave the place.

Next on our "to do" list was Bryce Canyon which we've visited today. We were slightly scared when someone in the tourist information office said that you can expect a good deal of snow up there. Obviously we had forgotten that Bryce Canyon is some 9,000 feet above sea level! True enough, we woke up this morning to see our second snow shower of the holiday. Thankfully it was only a light dusting - no need for those snow chains yet!

Tomorrow we head to our final canyon at Zion National Park before making our way to Vegas in the hope of securing funds for the rest of our trip! If unsuccessful, we may be home sooner than planned. Fingers crossed we can get some decent food there as so far we are struggling with the lack of choice: burger, steak, pizza or burger.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well.

Ricky