San Diego, California
We went for a walk along San Diego beach. There were so many people riding the most awesome bikes, but we had a limited time parking space so unfortunately couldn't join in... Hopefully I will get the chance to retro bike my way around an LA beach. Fingers crossed.
I also made a shocking discovery... I thought it may have just been a few retarded pigeons on the east coast that got confused and found their way onto the beach, but no. San Diego has enlightened me with the horrific fact that US pigeons like to hang on the coast.... not where they belong, in the city! Go home you stupid birds... this is the SEAgulls territory!
I have also come to the realisation that the Dutch (or German, i haven't really figured it out yet) will use any excuse to take off their shirts in public as evident in a San Diego National Park.
Phoenix, Arizona
In regards to major tourist and nature destinations, Phoenix seemed like a bit of a dud. We looked into some museums that we could go visit, but by the time we arrived, we figured it was probably a little too late to bother… so instead we decided to go to the mall, buy some hiking shoes and go to the cinema and watch The Hangover 2.
On the Drive to Phoenix, we had our first real desert experience, saw our first lot of cacti and even got a peak at the Mexican border.
Something burning in Mexico
Sunset Crater, Arizona
Our first lot of hiking began here. Feeling a little over confident about our trek, we decided to start with a ‘strenuous’ category climb. Admittedly, I was probably a little cocky thinking I would be able to keep up with boys on a steep walk through ash from volcano. It took about 20 meters before I started getting left behind…
Sooooo I made my way back down the hill on my own to wait by the car until they returned.
we cant all be superstar nature climbers... so i made the guys downgrade their hiking level so that i could join in, and with that, we casually strolled n a zero incline track to visit a crater and wreckages in the middle of the park.
Grand Canyon, Arizona
The Grand Canyon was amazing. We decided that this was not a hiking opportunity to be missed and got our hiking gear on. I Crocodile Dundeed myself up (there’s just no other outfit that’s more appropriately), went back to my scroggin days (the good old seymour way) and off we went. The Track was 3 miles one way then 3 back. The way down was amazing. Perfect views and the perfect breeze.
On our way down we met a ranger who suggested we stop at the 1.5 mile mark and head back up from there due to the time of day… challenge accepted ranger lady, the 3 mile hike was on like donkey kong! After a good hike and a nice lunch stop, it was time to go back up, and when better to head up thousands of steps than the middle of a hot day in an area surrounded by signs warning people not to hike up the canyon between 10-4. Well, I quickly discovered why they suggested not to do this… it was so freaking hot! I was so hot, I was getting cold flushes. I was so thirsty that I couldn’t physically consume any water. I was so freaking exhausted that I had picked out a spot for the boys to bury me. But after 2 gruelling hours of stumbling through the heat being encouraged by the guys, I made it out alive…. Where is my trusty Spaniard or equally pale aussie buddies at a time like this!
The views were spectacular though, and as painful as it was… I would probably stupidly do it again!
Monument Valley, Utah
Utah was another desert adventure. We took a 3.5 mile walk around a giant rock in the middle of nowhere. This was our third hike... and the third time a failed miserably. This time a went down on the flattest part of the walk. It was more of a fall and then a slow motion roll where my head ended in a bush and my feet up in the air. It was very graceful. What can I say, coordination is definitely my strong point! But we are all clearly he hiking geniuses as this time it took us about 15 minutes to find the actual trail. go team go!
There's the trail sign!
But where's the trail?
There 'tis!
Denver, Colorado
Dinner in Denver ended with a few drinks, a bar hop, drinking and dashing, a one and a half hour stumble home and an attempt to find where we dumped the car in the morning…. Need I say more?
Driving to Denver through a winter wonderland
Attempting to locate the car the next morning
Devils Tower, Wyoming
After a 6 hour drive from Colorado to Wyoming, I was pretty much done with driving. While the boys decided to drive on a further one and a half hours to Devils Tower and hike around it in the rain, I decided to have my very own girls night. While I was washing my hair, painting my nails and wandering around the tiny town of Newcastle, here are a few pictures of the boys adventure.
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Mount Rushmore was pretty much my dose of American political history for the trip. The mountain was, however, pretty amazing. It was definitely interesting to see what they planned the sculpture to look like and what it ended up as… Just putting it out there, if I had invested money in this thing expecting it to look like the original plan, I would be pretty damn pissed off with the end result.
Custer National Park, South Dakota
Our Custer hike has, by far, been my favourite hike of the trip… not just because this was the first time I haven’t bailed, killed myself from dehydration and exhaustion or been highly uncoordinated and stacked it. Custer Park was more of a forest environment where we were able to see deer, chipmunks and climb over rocks and rivers throughout the hike. I’m crossing my fingers that a few more of the parks will be like this one.
...we coordinated our outfits for the day
So now that I'm completely exhausted, I'm off to bed! Nighty nighty loved ones xx
