USA roadtrip recap - Part 4

Mesa Verde National Park, CO - Having travelled to cities for most of the trip we decided it was time to get close to nature and started going to national parks. Mesa Verde was our first stop. We went up 8,500 feet in elevation and were awestruck with the expansive views. We then went to the cliff dwellings where pueblo Indians lived until around 1300.



Four Corners, CO, AZ, NM, UT - We then made our way to Four Corners, which is only place in the US where four states meet. This is where we went to Utah even though we spent probably 5 minutes there, on the very corner of it but it counts as one of the 21 states we went to. The land is on an Indian reservation and the Four Corners site is surrounded by Indian stalls. They also charge you $3 each to see the Four Corners but we thought we might as well seeing we might not do it again.



Whilst driving through the Navajo Indian reservation towards the Grand Canyon the exhaust pipe and muffler of the van came off and started dragging along the road. We then spent the next half an hour trying to get it off as it was very rusty and kept getting caught on the rear axle. We had a steady flow of traffic pass us including a couple of cops but nobody stopped. Nice, friendly Navajo.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - Next stop was the Grand Canyon. It truly is vast and you can't get a good perspective until you see a helicopter fly across it. By the time the helicopter is on the other side it is a mere dot. Tim and I also remarked at how calm a small stretch of water we could see in the bottom was. We then read a notice that said the stretch of water was a mile long and had grade 4 rapids but because it was so far away it didn't appear that way at all. I also had a wee mishap when walking too close to the edge.


A wee mishap at Grand Canyon

On from the Grand Canyon we kept heading west to get to Las Vegas. On the way there we went across the Hoover Dam.

Las Vegas, NV - Due to a crash on the freeway, we didn't get into Vegas until it was dark and all the lights were on. We stayed in Circus Circus and got an awesome deal from the check-in lady we had. She charged us for only 2 adults and gave us a room on the top floor. Over the next three days we hit the town during the day to see the shops and attractions and during the night we walked along seeing free shows and checking out the casinos.



We didn't gamble big, I think I spent a massive $15 on pokies and eventually lost it all. Jess made $24 on a $1 in the 1c machines. We again stuffed ourselves on buffets. The Monday and Tuesday weren't too busy. On Tuesday night we stayed out until 5am but there weren't many other people out except the Cops film crew who were videoing a segment for the show. We watched as they did several takes of the police car screaming along and got a hooker to sign an indemnity form after the cop told her off for something. By Wednesday it was very busy with people everywhere as I expected I would see.