Canyonlands

Here are a few pictures we took of Canyonlands National Park. We stayed there and watched the sunset which was brilliant.

Sunset

Ps. Mum - I've made it down safe and I am perfectly fine.

Jeeeez

Well I think the last 3 days have been the busiest of the trip so far. Where do I start.

We went to the Grand Canyon - my god it's huge. We went on a tour with a guide called Thomas, he was from Germany and didn't like his job, yet he was a really good guide and looked after us well. We saw a lot of the South rim of it, seeing accross about 25 miles of it. So we took a lot of photos too and had a really good day.


HDR Photo of the Grand Canyon


So then 2 days after that we went with our new friend Jasper (from Denmark) in his hire car down to Sedona Vally, which was almost as impressive. It was really hot (no jacket needed) and the sun was out with clear blue skies. We drove the car round to a few different points which are great for taking photos. At one point we went on a walk around a rock which we needed to cross a river to, so I managed to step stone half way accross then rolled my trouser legs up for the 2nd part, when add came behind me he dropped his shoe in the river and it got swept down stream, luckily it got caught on a rock about 20ft further down and he managed to get it. Very funny stuff though, it looked like a raft perched on the edge of a waterfall waiting to plunge down.


Here is a picture of Sedona Vally









On the way back from Sedona Vally we stopped off at a Meteor Crater, which was absolutely huge. Had to pay a bit to get in but it was kinda worth it as there was a museum and cinema film they showed about how it happened, it was simply just a huuuuuuge hole in the ground formed by a meteorite (American's obviously named it as a 'Meteor' is a rock that is actually burnt out whilst entering the atmosphere and therefore doesn't hit earth, a 'Meteorite' on the other hand is an object that does not fully burn out and hits the earth). Meaning the crater was caused by a meteorite, not a meteor. But I guess nobody cares.

So then we move on to today, we got up at 8am and set out forward with Jasper in the hire car, coinsidently he is on his way to San Francisco and wanted to go via the national parks, so today we went through Monument Vally. Wow. It was probably one of the greatest parts of the world I have been to. We paid $5 to get in the door, but then they gave us a map to show how we could drive round the 35km of track that goes round the whole park. There were so many interesting and amazing rock formations, just standing in the middle of nowhere. Really really enjoyed it.

An hour later we went to a 'Natural Bridges' park in Utah. We saw a sign for it on the way back and thought we'd go check it out. After slowly driving behind a herd of pregnant and curious cows, we got to the park. It was a simple track that you drive round, park, get out, walk 100 yds to the edge of a canyon and look down at these natural bridges that have been formed by mother nature. A few of them were really big and impressive, but were covered in snow and it was getting dark by the time we got there, so didn't spend long.

We have just arrived in a town called Moab which is middle eastern Utah, tomorrow I think we will be going to more National parks to see more amazing sights.

Greetings from Flagstaff

Ok well we made the 36 (turned out to be 40) hour journey from Indianapolis to Flagstaff, Arizona. We got on the first bus with only 4 seats left as it also turns out that the US army finishes there Christmas break this weekend, meaning every soldier was on the greyhound busses this weekend. We managed to find random seats, which took us to St. Louis. Once we got there we managed to re-board, and once again, we were the last ones on the bus (very lucky). What was even luckier was the fact someone asked to swap there 2 free seats for adds 1 free seat at the front, which meant we managed to get seats together, considering it was the last 2 seats on the bus we got really lucky. We then travelled hundered of miles and hours through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and into Arizona, where it's snowing. It's been snowing for a long time here (as its about 4000ft above sea level here) and in some stages we've stood in snow up to the tops of our legs. It's snowing outside as i type this too and not sure when it will stop.

Tomorrow we are getting picked up at 9am from the hostel to be taken away to the Grand Canyon, we have bought a tour which includes guides, hikes and transportation which sounds really good fun and can't wait for that.

The internet at the hostel is about as good as the current weather is for sunbathing, so we are currently at a really cool coffee shop roudn the corner which has free wifi to use.

Shall talk soon and upload a few photos too. We're on to Vegas next but not sure when.

Cold

Ok well we went to an all you can eat buffet yesterday which was really nice. However I seem to have gained a cold, my throat is very sore and all my back is stiff too. What makes things better is that we have a 36 hour coach journey starting tonight at 11pm. We arrive in Flagstaff AZ on Sunday morning.