Horse Shoe Bend & Grand Canyon

22.11.14

I definitely consider myself to be someone that LOVES surprises, so when I heard that there were a few surprises along the way it just made the trip that little extra special. I didn't even want to spoil the surprise, so when we stepped out of the car, I kept my head down and tried not to read any of the signs; and was I thankful that I did. The view was so incredible and my first thought was, this belongs on a computer screensaver...

Which in fact it is.

"The Horse Shoe Bend"

23.11.14

I can honestly say that I haven't had a colder night sleep in my whole life that the night we camped at the Grand Canyon, the night previous where we camped at Monument Valley was also a very cold night but I was so tired I managed to sleep the entire night.

But! To wake up in Grand Canyon National Park quickly helped me to forget about the cold, you always have a preconceived idea of how everything should be, but I couldn't begin to explain how incredible it was to finally be standing at the rim of something of such a grand scale; it took my breath away. 

Hiking down into the Grand Canyon was absolutely amazing, I am so glad that we actually took the time to go, it was early in the morning and it was extremely cold at the beginning, but as we were warned by the people hiking back up to enjoy ourselves because walking back was going to be the "fun" part; and I can certainly say that it was interesting, I know that next time to go, I want to make it all the way to the bottom so this was a good sample of what was to come next.

To top the day off we got the bus out to a view point along the rim to watch the sunset, and what a sunset it was.

Sums up the bunch of crazy's I spent 10days with. Loves them

First Stop Monument Valley

21.11.14

We left Durango on friday evening and headed straight to our camp site, to make the most of the sights we decided to camp before reaching Monument Valley on the Friday night since it was already dark and we wanted to spent the entire day exploring. Lets just say it was possibly the coldest camping experience that I have ever had, in my life... Although this made the experience even more exciting and we were sure that we wouldn't forget our first stop in any hurry.

Monument Valley was definitely on the top of my list of places I was most looking forward to visiting on the trip; watching old western movies and one of my all time favourite Disney Movies 'Cars' is based on the landscape of Arizona, so just like the big child that I am this got me super excited.

                                   

                                   

First tick on the Bucket List

Thanks Giving Road Trip

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to go on a road trip; especially in the States. Just the thought of heading out on the open road with endless places to visit, it's not like home where you drive for six hours and you've seen the top and bottom of the country. It has most likely been all those movies that I watched, of friends heading off on spring break or for a crazy weekend in Las Vegas but it has been on the bucket list for a long time now. 

So when the opportunity to head off and explore the wild western states of america with seven of my friends came up there was no chance of me missing out. After nearly two months of planning, a lot of research, debates and excitement; everything managed to fall into place. A ten day road trip over Thanks Giving, starting in Durango, heading to Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, LA, San Clemente, Las Vegas and finally back to Durango just in time for class. 

Colorado

Utah

Nevada

California

Arizona

Thanks to a friend that knows his way around, a few treat spots along the way thrown in for good measures. Excited was hardly the word I could use for how I was feeling.