Grand Teton and Utah
Two nights in Jackon, Wyoming (a fancy ski town), before heading to Salt Lake City and down to Moab, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.
Distance Update
The mile-ometer or whatever it’s called in our car says we have driven 6400 miles so far. That’s like driving from London to Taipei, or London to Cape Town 😱 Need to think of ways to make up for this environmentally when we get back. (Estimating we still have about 5000 miles to go… so London to Auckland)
Chili Cook Off + More Nature
Nice relaxed day wandering around Jackson Hole yesterday. Stumbled across a ‘High Noon Chili Cook Off’ in the town square and tried 18 different chilis, before voting for the best ones. Then went out on another mini safari. Found a couple of beavers and an owl. Early start today - 4hr drive to Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City
Highlight of Salt Lake City was the North American otter in the aquarium. And this ugly fish. And the drive out through the mountains.
Arches National Park
Drove from Salt Lake City to Moab, checked in and headed straight for Arches National Park. Absolutely unbelievable scenery (pictures really don’t do it justice). An epic drive, and epic walks at each stop.
Canyonlands
Did a boiling hike in the Canyonlands near Moab. Not quite the Grand Canyon (that’s tomorrow), but pretty dang grand nonetheless.
Monument Valley
Caught a gawwwwgeous sunset at Monument Valley, just inside Arizona. You can see ‘Forrest Gump Hill’ (from the scene where he “just kept on running”) in the wing mirror picture.
Dinosaur Tracks
Moanave dinosaur tracks, Arizona. We were sceptical it was a scam but apparently they’re real fossilised tracks from 300 million years ago. Apparently likely to be that velociraptor type thing with the big fan around its neck (can’t remember the name but it’s a cool one)
Rather Grand After All
Mind-boggling sunset over the Grand Canyon. As with every single viewpoint we’ve been to this year, it was complete with someone shouting in French non-stop.