Arizona -> Utah -> Colorado

We leave Arizona today, go to Utah - while crossing Monument Valley - to finally arrive in Colorado at the Mesa Verde National Park.

Here is a picture of the famous West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte in Monument Valley :

Without knowing we arrived in another time zone (1h later), so we missed the last cliff dwelling tours in the Park and this will now be something for tomorrow morning. In the meantime we already made our own tour and could overlook some of the cliff dwellings. Difficult to see on the pictures, but those Mesa cliff dwellings are really 'built' in the cliffs of the canyons and there are many meters cliff below.


We checked in at Mesa Verde Lodge (in the middle of the Park) when it started to snow (strange that you have a snow storm at one place and sun again 20m further), and here is the view from our room/terrace/bed :


Tomorrow at 9h we will be visiting the Balcony house, the most adventurous cliff dwelling tour. A one-hour tour involving climbing a 10m ladder fixed on the cliff to enter the dwelling. And to exit we'll have to crawl through a tunnel of 46cm high, followed by a 20m climb up the open cliff face using 2 ladders and some stone steps... You'll know what happened if no blog news tomorrow ;-)

PS : No internet in the rooms here (only in the main building, so needed to go out in the dark, cold and snow to update ... but anyway, also no tv in the room ;-)

How many different landscapes can someone see in 1 day ?

It is snowing when we get up, but melting immediately. When leaving Grand Canyon in the snow, and driving through the park (from South rim to East rim) during about 1h (with a lot of campers, which slows down a bit the speed ;-) the snow starts to stay on the ground on some places.

Once we leave the park we are driving through Navajo territory for the rest of our trip (+/- 2h). The view is unbelievable and constantly changing.


Driving in a snow storm from time to time

We arrive in Page around noon, so time to visit both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon before check-in. To visit Lower Canyon we descent till about 30m under the ground through this narrow Canyon for a hike of about 1h. To visit Upper Canyon we first have a 5 min (very cold) drive and no ups & downs in this Canyon, which is much larger but also much shorter. Beautiful colors and shapes ...




Afterwards check-in at our hotel (DaysInn) - very nice room with a great view


Lake Powell (at 2 min drive from the hotel)

We thought about a boat trip on Lake Powell, but so cold (+/- 10°C today) and so much wind that we hesitated. Finally we went down but boat trips after 17h do only take place during summer, so the decision was taken for us ;-)


Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell

While I update the blog Phil is taking care of some laundry and once that is finished we'll be ready to get out for dinner ;-)

Great - Huge - Awesome - Grand Canyon

After a drive of 1,5 hour, a whole day at Grand Canyon South Rim till sunset - a real wonder of nature.
A day with extreme winds (100 km/h) but long walks and amazing views. Not easy to choose amongst the +/_100 pictures taken, so here are some from different moments of the day.
In the morning (see how small the people are):










One of the local animals : squirrels











Late afternoon & waiting for sunset :









In the evening - colors are more bright 20 min. before sunset























The wind did it's best but couldn't make us fly away, so we checked-in at the Holiday Inn Express at Grand Canyon Village (2km from the Canyon) and ended the day in a real Western Steak house.

Rain and snow foreseen for tonight, ... let's wait & see ...

A 9h drive to Flagstaff

Leaving hot and sunny Palm Springs early this morning for the longest drive of our trip (> 650 km)... ready to see very different areas again

First stop on this long trip was for lunch at Subway near the General Patton Memorial

Early afternoon we have been followed and stopped by the police ... Apparently it is not allowed in Arizona to drive on the right lane when a vehicle is parked on the emergency lane, and that is what we did while this police car was parked there. Luckily it was a nice police officer who just gave us a warning, made a joke about the picture on Kris' driving license and gave us some advise for our way to Flagstaff :-)

A little stop since some of us are drinking a lot of water ;-)

In the late afternoon (and less sunny area) a stop for a walk and visiting the Tuzigoot National Monument in Cottonwood (ruins from a native American village).

Almost in Sedona
close up of the magnificent Red rocks surrounding us in Sedona
And the last part of the trip goes through Pine tree forests on the hills


After this amazing trip starting in the desert, going to the mountains and having an extreme number of consecutive curves in the mountains the last 2 hours, check-in at the Flagstaff Sleep Inn around 19h and a giant hamburger (as big as my hand) as dinner in one of the many restaurants around.

Palm Springs - From 94°F (30°C) to 60°F (15°C)

After a last good breakfast in dynamic & multi-cultural LA (I guess at least 80% of people here are latino) we start a 2h drive to Palm Springs today ... heading for the desert as well as the mountains.

We arrive around 10h and start a 1,5h walk 'in the heat' in the Agua Caliente Indien Reservation (Cahuilla people). Very hot but we choose to 'discover' the Andreas Canyon trail since for a big part of it we get some shadow from the palm trees. It's about 94°F here (more than 30°C). Very impressive views.


After lunch on Palm Canyon Drive ('the' drive in Palm Springs) we take the Aerial Tramway to the top of Mount San Jacinto for walk in the snow at a height of more than 2.600 m. No palm trees here but mainly Jeffrey Pine, Pinyon Pine and White Fir surrounded by snow. Unbelievable that we are now walking in the snow with a temperature around 13°C, but luckily still some sun.

After a walk of about 2h it is time to check-in at the hotel (Best Western Las Brisas - very nice room) to enjoy the swimming pool, which is more than welcome

We end the day with an enormous steak (and our most expensive dinner till now) on a terrace on Palm Canyon Drive (a little tipsy due to the combination 'hot weather + good Californian wine')

Time to go to bed around 23h, since early wake-up tomorrow for a long drive to Flagstaff.

So many differences in one same area

A relaxing and very mixed day.

Starting with a trip amongst the stars ... A walk in Rodeo drive and then a tour in Beverly Hills. Indeed a different world ;-)

Afterwards heading to the beach. Less sun at Santa Monica Beach, but some activity ongoing :




Time for some real American 'light' lunch outside.


A 1h walk at the beach till we reached Venice Beach .. a more 'love & peace' side and more 'artistic' people and building.


Afterwards we visited the 'real' old Venice .. the small canals built a long time ago (this is where the name Venice comes from). Nice neighbourhood and difficult it is the same town then the less clean side close to Venice beach.

Our last evening in Hollywood with a last walk on Hollywood Bld and Japanese dinner.