Last leg - USA - April 16th to May 1st

From Salt Spring Island we took the high speed ferry to Seattle. Entry to USA was very quick and easy, unlike what we had heard about entry via major airports.

From Seattle we took the 'Coast Starlight' Amtrak train which gave us a good look at the changing landscape. This obliging bald eagle flew alongside the train for quite a distance, giving a nice pose in front of the mountains of Oregon.

Refuelling stop

We were met by our friend Steve and his wife Celeste who gave us a great tour of San Francisco and some of the California coast as well as Monterey aquarium.

We then picked up a hire car and set off for the Grand Canyon area. First stop Zion Canyon. A lovely place to start the 'canyon experience'. Beautiful walks along the river at the bottom of the canyon below the impressive cliffs with a free shuttle to get on and off wherever you want. It also happened to be in a special week with free entry for all the parks.

On to Monument Valley. Famous of many  a cowboy film. Extaordinary eroded landscape with almost no vegetation.

We drove on towards Mesa Verde through the "4 corners" area where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico all meet. Driving long distances in that area really does give a feel for the terrain. Incredibly long straight roads take you through a sequence of huge but suddenly changing landscapes, almost always with large escarpments or mountains in view, which herald the next change. Surrounding country and some of the roads themselves were often at very high altitude, up to 7000 feet so snow was often visible.

At Mesa Verde national park we visited a number of ancient Pueblo Indian ruins of cliff dwellings which built around 1200a.d. These were amazing structures built from sandstone and adobe under the overhanging cliffs and housing large communities. Usually sited high up the cliff above a dizzying drop. This one is the largest called 'Cliff Palace'. It gives a very different perspective to the common view of the primitive American Indian lifestyle.

Part of the landscape where the cliff dwellings are most numerous.

One of our motel stops in Arizona.

We had a couple of nights in Santa Fe, full of lovely adobe buildings and quite a Mexican feel. Very artistic community. Lots of opportunities to buy locally made craft and souvenirs.

 Next stop Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona.  About 1200 metres diameter and 170 metres deep, it was created in just a few seconds by a lump of iron only 50 metres across and only about 50,000 years ago, so we wouldnt want another one too soon! To get a feeling for the scale, have a look at the platform on the right with people on it.

And finally the Grand Canyon. Amazing of course. We were surpised to find we could get a room for two nights at "Bright Angel Lodge" right next to the South rim of the canyon. In the thick of the most touristy bit, but very easy to get the free shuttle buses along the rim to a variety of wonderful lookouts and the crowds soon thin out once away from 'Grand Canyon Village'. The first photo is the view down to Bright Angel Trail about 20 yards from our room.

We walked down the Canyon at South Kaibab Trail as far as Cedar Ridge. About 1000ft below the ridge and 1/3rd of the way down to the canyon floor. Very hot but also very windy, so quite scary on the hairpin bends where the wind whipped round on what was already a quite narrow and loose path.

On the final day we woke to find it snowing! A reminder of the altitude we were at. It was very noticeable how much colder it was on the rim compared to the oven-like canyon itself, although much cooler than it would be in the Summer.

After the Grand Canyon we made our way to Los Angeles for our final flight :-( but we enjoyed some more desert and mountain scenery with the man-sized cacti familiar from films, huge wind farms and we passed along some of the old Route 66 beloved of classic car owners.