USA

May 29 to june 26, 1999

Saturday may 29 : take off from Paris airport at 6:55 pm, stop of 3 hours in New York and arrival in Las Vegas by night at 2:15 am. We get the car at Avis rent a car and we go to our hotel : Quality Inn. We go to bed at 3:30.

 

Sunday may 30 : departure from Las Vegas toward Kingman where we book in a hotel with a pool.

  

Monday may 31 : departure for Supaï. After a few miles on route 66, we park the car at Hualapaï Hilltop. Then start the descent, by foot, to the village during about 4 hours. A few more steps and we are at the foot of Havasu falls : wonderful ! We settle our tents and continue our trip to Mooney Falls also wonderful. 

Relax and swim at Havasu. Night at the campground.

 

Tuesday June 1 : return to Hualapaï Hilltop at 5 am. The ascent, 5 to 6 hours, is very hard, particularly the last miles. We get the car and drive toward Flagstaff. Installation at Woody Mountain campground.

 

Wednesday June 2 : It rained all night long. Departure for Phoenix where we will see Richard and Wendy, two American we met in Page in 1998. In the afternoon, we visit a museum of indian arts, base ball stadium and the University of Phoenix. Night at Richard and Wendy.

 

Thursday June 3 : visit of the military base where Richard was working. In the afternoon, « tubbing » on the Colorado river. It's about seating in a tractor's tyre and let you float on the river. That was fun and refreshing.

 

Friday June 4 : we go to Tombstone. Visit of the historical courthouse of Tombstone and it's cemetery. Tombstone is the town where happened the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral opposing the MacLaury and the Earp brothers. In this cemetery, there are all the graves of the MacLaury brothers. Night at the hotel.

 

Saturday June 5 : visit of White Sands in New Mexico. White Sands is located in a military base. They are huge white sands dunes.

 

We are there at sunset and the sand turns in a beautiful orange colour. Night at the Koa campground in Alamogordo.

 

Sunday June 6 : we leave Tombstone to go to Tucson in order to visit the Kitt Peak astronomical Observatory. Night in a motel.

  

Monday June 7 : toward Tusayan and the Grand Canyon. Installation at Grand Canyon Camper Village. Then we go to see the sunset on the Grand Canyon.

 

Tuesday June 8 : walk on the 8 miles trail along the canyon with stops at every viewpoints. 

In the evening we go back to see the sunset again. 

 

Wednesday June 9 : we drive toward Page stopping on the road at the Trading Post in Cameron to buy a few gifts. Installation at the Wahweap Camground. Then relax on the beach of the lake where we can see the sunset on the Lake Powell.

 

Thursday June 10 : we visit Antelope Canyon beginning with the Lower. And we finish with the Upper. 

 

We then go to horseshoe overlook with the car. 

 

Friday June 11 : it's the day of the boat tour on Lake Powell. We pass through slot canyons where the boat can hardly pass. It's very beautiful ! This tour take us to Rainbow Bridge, a huge arch. It's really wonderful !

 

Saturday June 12 : we decide to return to Horseshoe to see what it looks like with the morning sun. It's still less impressive than in the afternoon. For the rest of the day, relax on Lake Powell. And in the evening, sunset again.

 

Sunday June 13 : we are heading towards Monument Valley. We set up camp in the park. And we will do the drive through Monument Valley. In the evening, we see the sunset from the visitors center.

 

Monday June 14 : we drive to Moab where we move to Koa campground. In the afternoon, we go to the visitors center to get some information about the Arches National Park.

 

Tuesday June 15 : we walk the trail in the park up to Double O Arch passing at Landscape and Wall Arches. In late afternoon, we go to a viewpoint to see Delicate Arch from far behind.

 

Wednesday June 16 : we continue our exploration of the park : Balanced Rock, Turret, Windows, Double Arch…

 

Thursday June 17 : we decide to visit Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point SP. Unfortunately, the bad weather forces us to settle for a view point the "Green River Overlook." We then head to Dead Horse where the weather is not better. 

We return to the arches Park to walk to Delicate Arch. We start the climb, but the weather worries us a little and we decide to turn back. Fortunately, because on the return drive, a violent thunderstorm and torrents of mud flows on the road. It's very impressive. There are rain waterfalls falling from everywhere.

 

Friday June 18 : the weather is better today. We decide to return to Canyonlands at the viewpoint where we were yesterday. We then drive the long road to Bryce Canyon. We need the rest of the day to do this road. Installation at the park campground.

  

Saturday June 19 : visit of Bryce Canyon from the various viewpoints and visit Bryce Old Town. 

 

In the evening we see the sunset at Sunset Point.

 

Sunday June 20 : today, we go down in Bryce Canyon for a walk that gives a very different view of the park.

 

Monday June 21 : we wake up early to see the sunrise. It's more beautiful than the sunset. We then drive towards Zion NP. We settle at the campsite. We start to visit Zion but we realise that some parts are covered by water and we are not equipped for this. We only take a few pictures.

  

Tuesday June 22 : drive to Las Vegas. We settle at the Mirage and relax at the pool. 

 

Wednesday June 23 to Friday June 25 : visit of Las Vegas, its entertainment, its casinos… We return to the Quality Inn.

 

Saturday June 26 : return to France.