Tuesday 15/04/2008 - Arizona, Nevada

Mileage - ~250 miles (via Grand Canyon Caverns, Kingman, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas (NV))

Last night's Greek meal was funny. I started chatting to the owner who was from Crete where Krysia and I went on holiday so he latched onto me. He was crazy, like the Stavros comedy character only unshaven and he swore a lot. Jaf was too tired for his madness so we made our excuses and left.

Figured-out that the clocks had gone back another hour so we had a lie-in. Jaf then drove up a one way street, past the po-lice station, as we drove out of the motel. Luckily every drives at 2mph so we didn't hit anyone.

We went shopping in a Safeways - fruit, vegetables, healthy stuff! They also had massive frozen pizzas that wouldn't fit into a UK oven and lemon pies the size of buckets for $3. We bought this deli sandwich which was basically a large loaf of bread with about 10 layers of meat and cheese, cut into four pieces. It was the first cold, non-fried, food that we've eaten in a week. It was good, but a bit much for breakfast.


Went to the Grand Canyon caverns which were Ok, but not really worth the entrance fee. Chedder Caves back home in Somerset are far more impressive, although these were quite big and are still used as a bunker in case of emergencies with food and water stashed away for 2000 people for several months (we thought this was bull-sh@t as the containers looked like they were 50 years old).

Stopped in Kingman, but didn't bother with going to yet another museum so we got directions and went to the Hoover Dam en-route to Vegas. Temperature in excess of 31C (about 87F). The Hoover Dam was pretty spectacular, especially considering that it was constructed in the 1930's. Well worth visiting and en-route to Las Vegas anyway.

We did about 250 miles today but hit rush-hour in Vegas and then spent ages finding a decent yet cheap motel, so we've spent quite a while in the car. We drove up and down the strip and saw all the famous sites (Ceasar's Palace, Sahara, Flamingo, etc). We'll go for another drive tonight when all the neons are on. Our motel isn't great (but was very cheap) and it's on the actual strip so quite central. I almost made Jaf check us into a real dive but the owner actually put us off and told us not to stay there if we had any valuables at all! That said, I'm still not sure about our current place. This is quite a rough place - we should really have forked-out for a flashy hotel. We're planning on staying here for 2 nights.

We're off out again soon, will give you an update tomorrow / the day after.

Highlights - Fuel economy back up to 30mpg, tumbleweed, desert sand storms, plastic dinosours, first proper big cactuses, Jaf purchasing a pedicure set, seeing fruit in shops, cheap pistachio nuts in 1lb bags, Hoover Dam, the madness and excess of Las Vegas.

Lowlights - Grand Canyon Caverns were nothing special, Jaf going the wrong way up the road and getting beeped by rednecks in trucks, dodgy motels in down-town Vegas, Jaf breaking my camera (which he denies doing, despite me not using it).

Tomorrow - probably another day / night in Vegas, we could be millionaires.


Cheers

Andy and Jaffa.

Monday 14/04/2008 - Arizona - Grand Canyon

Mileage - ~200 miles (via Grand Canyon, Williams)

Left Flagstaff this morning with a cherry pie for breakfast. Took the road North to the Grand Canyon, suprised to see how hilly and forested the terrain was up to the Canyon. Paid the $25 weekly pass and we were in.

The layout of the South Rim is basically like a Giant (but amazing) Center Parks with places to eat and stay at each end of the road that runs alongside the crater (20 mile road). We drove up to the first viewing point and we were blown away. It's so big that it makes you dizzy. We had to sit down for a bit to take it all in. We spent over 6 hours walking around and taking 100's of photos and hours of film. Impressive place but quite busy - still we couldn't get enough of it but decided not to bother with the plane / helicopter ride although it would have been amazing as the planes actually fly in the canyon below the people viewing from the rim. Realistically, you should book a lodge at the Grand Canyon itself and stay for at least a few days as there is a lot to do and see. American 'Awesome' word describes the place the best.

Now in Williams for the night - very tired despite only driving 200 miles today. Must be because we've run out of caffiene speed pills. In what appears to be a Greek restaurant now. We're so hungry that we've ordered loads of food.

Highlights - Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon, getting asked if we were Professional Rugby players, Grand Canyon, Jaffa overcoming his fear of heights.

Lowlights - More sunburn (including eye-lids), too much walking and no time for lunch.


Tomorrow - Kingman and Las Vegas

Jaf and Andy.

Sunday 13/04/2008 - Arizona

Mileage - ~300 miles (via Window Rock, Petrified Forest, Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff)

9.45 - Jaffa comes out of the 7-11 with 4 large chilli pickled dills for breakfast. They taste of plastic coated in vinegar. I eat one and Jaffa eats the other three.

We take a detour to Window Rock in the Navajo Indian reservation. Lovely and peaceful place - also the home of the Navajo government. Saw a monument to the WW2 windtalkers (see the movie).

11:30 - We get to the Petrified Forest National Park Arizona. Jaffa expells petrified gherkins (a vicious turn of events - I was right to only eat one).. Amazing place, we spent most of the day there. The Grand Canyon is gonna have to be pretty good to compete with this. Jaffa now has sunburnt arms and my forehead is totally red as is my neck - I am now officially a Redneck. Temperature is now 24C (figured out how to get the car reading metric units) which doesn't sound like much but it's a killer when you're walking around for hours in the sun. The photos / film will tell the story - stunning views in every direction.

We then made it to Holbrook which was pretty dead - couldn't find the concrete wig-wams. We ate at a crap place which had expensive burgers that tasted worse than any of the big chain ones. We then drove up the road to Winslow where we saw the po-lice in action tackling a distressed woman and her 6 kids. We asked where the corner was made famous by the Eagles song (Take it easy) - we were told that there are lots of corners in Winslow Arizona. We took a photo at a corner anyway.

We went to see the Meteor crater - we were too late, it was closed. We then went to some other famous canyon en-route which was also closed. Only in America can you close-off a canyon or a crater. We then zipped the final bit of road to Flagstaff. We've checked into a small motel and gone for a walk around the town. Great place, lots of nice restaurants and bars. We are just about to eat in one which has more TV's than wall space.

Highlights - Eating 3 giant chili gherkins for breakfast (Jaffa only), chocolate-chip icecream sandwich, Petrified Forest, Scenery everywhere, Window Rock, spending time in the Navajo Reservation, lots of walking and exercise making up for all the unhealthy food and beer.

Lowlights - Jaffa's gut-rot following gherkins, Jaffa picks a motel between a train-line and a very busy road, getting sunburnt, Jaffa making me walk into the desert (proper desert) when I was wearing sandles and we had no water - the signs warned of rattlesnakes and some lizzards ran across my feet.

Tomorrow - Grand Canyon.

Jaffa and Spiro.