Roswell, New Mexico is nothing much to look at. Flat dusty plains and quite a run down little town. But it was exciting! Just thinking about what might or might not have happened here in 1947 made it so worthwhile!

As did Main Street, with it’s tack filled shops and a visit to the ‘International UFO Museum and Research Centre’. The street lamps here are alien heads and the Roswell McDonalds is in the shape of a UFO! Love it!

I’m sad to report that I spent some time staring up into the sky but saw nothing.

Day 1.

I am writing this blog entry from the very bottom of the Grand Canyon, but will be posting it when I reach civilization again! If that does not impress you, it should, because it sure impresses me! But wait til tomorrow, the 15.3km hike out of here is going to simply astound me! the 11.3km hike in today was tough enough! Going down hill for that long, sure puts a strain on the ol’ legs! Took about 4 hours!

We have set up our tent and now are relaxing after a refreshing soak in the creek. (It’s about 35 degrees) The temperature got warmer the lower into the canyon we got. It was interesting to watch the vegetation change n our descent. The leaves became broader to soak up more sun.

Sitting here taking it all in, there is an abundance of wildlife. Butterflies all around! One just landed on my finger.. a snow white moment! Love it! And the cheekiest of desert rock squirrels is stalking our camp – he’s already had a chew of my back pack while my attention was turned the other way! I’ll be glad if we don’t see all of the wildlife though, there is something called the Giant Hairy Scorpion that lives around here. Sounds awful!

Down her in the inner canyon there is an excavated Hopi Indian Kiva  and we are off to a ranger talk in an hour about the first inhabitants of this very secluded  area.

Day 2.

It was difficult to sleep due to the heat and the thought of the following days hike out! But we headed to bed early with the fly off our tent so wee could watch the stars and the dozens of little bats flying around the night sky.

We awoke in the middle of the night to a mule deer nibbling at the bush next to our heads. The closest I’ve been to one! I was too excited and had trouble getting back to sleep.

The alarm went off at some ridiculous hour and we were packed and heading out just as light started to seep into the the outer canyon. We wanted to get some miles under us before the sun really woke up.

Our legs had stiffened over night from the hike in and the first part of our walk out had me very nervous indeed! But sure enough as the walk became a climb, new muscles were introduced to the Grand Canyon!

The first half wasn’t too bad and we made the half way point by 8.30am.  I was pretty chuffed. We rested a little and felt a bit re-juvinated. This feeling didn’t last long! The sun was getting hotter, the legs sorer and the terrain steeper! Suncream and sweat was dripping off me and I just felt awful.

The closer to the top, the worse it got! (& the worse we looked) And annoyingly the more people we encountered heading down looking all fresh and lovely.

Unlike the hike in, I forgot about the scenery (except at rest points) the camera battery died on us on the way out but i was unlikely to use it as we just looked so dreadful! (Kind of a blessing in disguise!)

When We finally reached the top, 7 1/2 hours after we left, the feeling was awesome! I am very proud of myself although I can hardly walk and my shoulders ache like crazy (did I mention I was the water bearer??) Without a doubt, the hardest hike I have ever been done and so so satisfying!

Though the canyon is Grand from the rim, I would never have realised how deep and intricate it really is and how much it plays with perspective if we hadn’t ventured to the inner canyon!

One of this trips biggest highlights so far! Though my legs don’t agree!

We spent our first night in Arizona in the wonderfully tacky ‘Arizona Inn’ in the town of Kingman – ‘the heart of historic Route 66′ and the beginning of the longest remaining stretch.

It was also the home of the Route 66 museum, so before we got out kicks, we went to learn about the history and many various eras of this famous road.

We had a cheeseburger and fries in an awesomely kitch  ‘Mom & Pop’ roadside diner, stopped at old trading posts and bought a few tacky mementos before turning off Route 66 and heading to one of nature’s wonders of the world!

Death Valley was the part of the trip I was most nervous about when it came to Toby, and after his recent dummy spit I was all the more apprehensive. But What a trooper of a van have we

The scenery was truly amazing. It was like being on another planet. Red and black rock, sand that kept changing from red to black to grey to white. We could see cars coming  from miles away as the road stretched forever in front of us and the desert dust blew up behind them.

The elevation dropped gradually, but it seemed really dramatic. 3000 ft below sea level, 2000, 1000, -214 ft! Signs along the lone road read – “Warning – Extreme Heat”. Really? I would never have guessed with this feeling of my face melting off!

Our over night stay was in a place called Furnace Creek, apt aside from the lack of a creek! We spent the evening in the spray mists on the porch of  the saloon watching the roadrunners playing under the water, and in the lukewarm, crowded swimming pool the ‘town’ had to offer. The showers after our swim, which we were most looking forward to, didn’t have any cold water!

A sleepless night with all the doors and windows open in the van followed by another stinking hot day. We saw a coyote panting along the side of the road no doubt in search of the roadrunners back at Furnace Creek! We didn’t have any ACME anvils on hand to give him

We braved the heat and walked out onto the salt planes of Badwater – the lowest point in America, and into a canyon to see a natural bridge (and a rattlesnake curled up under a small bush – Eek! )

We thoroughly enjoyed our desert experience – Thank goodness for spray bottles and our senses of humour!

We spent 2 nights in a camp site nestled in Yosemite National Park. And it looked exactly how I imagined it would! Chipmunks scurrying everywhere, cheeky little squirrels sneaking up behind me, big birds of prey that I couldn’t identify circling above the Sequoias! We built a campfire and toasted marshmallows. It was just like out of a Warner Bros cartoon!

On the middle day we hiked about 8 miles (just under 13kms) along the Yosemite Valley floor and took in the famous sites such as of El Capitan and the Half Dome. Butterflies, ground squirrels and deer all around – it was just lovely. We had a great time in one of America’s favourite National parks!

Before leaving San Francisco, it would have been wrong not to stop in Haight-Ashbury for lunch and see what all the buzz was about. A slice is pizza was all we could afford! Prices seemed to be very inflated around this area! And there was an air of pretentiousness about the place.. Not really what I was expecting for the birthplace of free love and all that!

We followed our pizza with a Ben and Jerry icecream.. in keeping with the theme I ordered the Whirled Peace Icecream  – Little chocolate peace signs through out! Yummy!

Before we left, we wandered up Ashbury Street to the ‘Grateful Dead house’ – lighting wasn’t fantastic but I snapped this one for you, Uncle John!

We came into San Francisco over a fog covered Golden Gate Bridge. A much smaller bridge than The Boy and I had been expecting, but still impressive as the World’s largest Suspension Bridge.. I’m always impressed with the  world’s biggest things

We stopped on the other side and went for a walk under it and jostled with all the other tourists to get ‘the pic’. Insanely windy place and all the pictures of me in front of it look like I’m going to blow away!

Our Hotel is on the famous Lombard Street (but not the crooked bit!) and dinner last night was at Joe’s Crab Shack (Eat at Joe’s, Eat at Joe’s) done at Fisherman’s wharf. It was a truly awesome dinner and the tack factor hit the roof when our waiters began to dance every half hour.

The cable car ride was worth every penny of the ticket and the drivers were very entertaining! Hanging of the side was both fun and scary! Some of those streets are so steep, kept imagining seeing a car chase coming down one with air being caught off the flat spots!

Although we were only here for one night, I feel like I got the whole San Francisco  experience and am leaving with a smile on my face )

Well, it wouldn’t have been a roadtrip without a breakdown right?

I knew they were going to be big but I was still not quite ready for how big! We spent most of the day in absolute awe of these giants that sat in groves all along the Northern Californian coast.

We stopped Toby so many times, went for a few walks among them and just gawked! No pictures or video footage we took gave justice to them so we tried to soak it up and take it all in.

Here’s a hint…