Desert Canyons, Monumental Mesas, Spanish Cities, Bat Caves, Alien Landings and a whole lota heat!

What a week for the Adventurous Duo!!! From hiking into the Grand Canyon, to Jeep riding with the Navajo in Monument Valley, to Salsa dancing in the streets of Santa Fe, walking into one of the biggest Caverns in America and avoiding skunks in Texas, it has been a fun fuelled week!

So from where we left off.... Grand Canyon day 2 saw Serena heading into the Canyon down the Bright Angel trail. Heidi opted for the more ‘cultured’ option of wondering the South Rim into the Visitor Centres and Observation Viewing points having done the hike a few years earlier... and feeling rather lazy after the big hike in Zion! Luckily for us the sun was shining making the Canyon look absolutely stunning.



Heidi and Rachel complete the South Rim walk of the Grand Canyon

The mighty Grand Canyon - a camera simply can't capture the enormity of it!


Later that evening the group decided to participate in an ancient Traditional American custom called Ten Pin Bowling. The battle between the tour leader Brian and Heidi commenced immediately but due to her generous nature, she decided to give her pride away and make the 6’5 giant, the winner. How embarrassing to be beaten by a 5 foot nothing girl! Such thoughtfulness indeed.

Serena 'strikes' a pose in anticipation for some big scores

Heidi lines up the ball to strike those pins - but the lane is in the other direction!!!

Showing off the latest fashion trends of American Ten Pin Bowling Foot attire.

The next day we travelled the highways of Utah and Nevada via a stop at Lake Powell with a massive Dam starting at the beginning of the Grand Canyon and ended our day at Easton's Ranch. An ex Trek Leader, Easton started a camp ground for Trek American groups and offered horse rides into the desert. Like true pros, we all jumped on the back of a horse and trotted off for a 2 hour trip across creeks, through brushland and over sandy dunes. That night we were offered a treat of a home cooked meal by Easton's partner of Steak and Veges followed by Chocolate Brownies - yummo! However the next morning we were all walking a little too much like cowboys!!!

The enormity of Lake Powell and it's dam

Serena and Sina get aquainted for the long trail ahead

Heidi and 'Jerry' can't work out who's backside is bigger!!!

Just cruising the desert like true Cowboys

It was back in the van again the next morning and off to one of the most beautiful parts of the States – Monument Valley. This is the area made famous by being featured in the film Forrest Gump. It is the long straight road into the desert where he decides to finish his long run and decides to go home. No photos can fully capture the beauty of this area. We headed into the desert with our Navajo guide Richard (traditional name? Maybe not!) who was very knowledgeable but not just in all things ‘Native American’ but very much in the area of AC/DC and Vegemite! After roaming around the floor of the Valley and visiting all the beautiful natural monuments with their changing colours in the dying light at sunset, we were treated to a taco dinner and story telling/dance evening. The evening included a dance/marriage ceremony so mum, I am now legally married in a Navajo tradition to Brian, my fellow Korean Trekker and Serena had her nuptials with Tour Leader Brian. Makes it easier for us to remember their names! Don’t worry though as we had it annulled shortly after as Serena wants to get married in Vegas by Elvis! It was such a great evening and later headed back to our campsite to sleep out under the stars amongst the tarantulas.

Displaying the 'Mits' of the Mighty Mesas

The Trek Group gather in the Desert

Lying on the Rock to get a few of the 'Eagle's Face' Rock formation

Crossing the trecherous mud of the flooded desert plains - and trying not to get our shoes wet!

Heidi taking in the spectacular view from the Valley Floor

The perfect reflection

Serena has her finger right on the spot!

Sunset in Monument Valley - our shirts match the colour of the desert sand!

Enjoying the delicious Taco dinner laid out for us by the Navajo people

Richard performs a traditional Navajo dance for the group

Sunrise the next morning saw us already up and into the valley to check out the spectacular colours again changing behind each monument as the sun rose. Heading out to the ‘Forest Gump’ Road and taking a myriad of running photos we were soon on the road for our longest day in the van yet.

Sunrise over the Mesas

Serena was thrilled to get up before sunrise.... in the cold desert.... No really, she was!

Reaching for the skies along the road to Monument Valley

Run Forest! Run!

Heidi crashes out... the ONLY way to sleep comfortably (enough) in the middle front seat

Serena gets cozy in her corner of the Van

8 hrs, 4 toilet stops and one lunch break later we rolled into Santa Fe. Interesting fact:
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city of any town in the US. Founded in 1610 by the Spaniards, the town still remains as it did all those years ago with the city posing strict building restrictions to maintain the heritage look of the town. A person wishing to build a building in the town centre has a choice of 1 of 23 shades of brown to choose from!

After our MASSIVE fill of Mexican food costing a total of $5 per person, we headed into town. Playing out on the lawn on the Plaza was a Latino band singing Jazz/Salsa music with people just dancing around the park which was filled with fairy lights and colourful flower pots. It seemed like a scene out of a movie. As the sun set at 9pm (loving the summer twilight over here!) we wondered around the streets, into the old cowboy style buildings.

We then headed home for another night out under the stars, tarantula free. However at 2am we were hit with a rather large lightening, thunder and worst of all.... RAIN storm. 12 bodies scuttled under the only shelter out there which was a large metal tin shed. It might have seemed the worst place to be in a lightning storm, under a big sheet of metal but thank goodness for the rubber mats we were all sleeping on. We scrambled onto, around and under the park benches and tables in the hope of staying dry but woke in the morning to sleeping bags full of puddles, travel pillows soaked through and mats red with the mixture of the desert sand and the rain. Noice! Gave the Poms in the group a real feel of the outdoor camping experience!

Live Latino music in the fairy lit Plaza in Santa Fe

Tour leader Brian finds his inner cowboy with this hat in a Santa Fe shop

The Van shines in the light of the rainbow AFTER the rain storm washout the night before

So wet and a little miserable, deciding to skip breakfast and just have bagels in the van, the motley crew piled into the van for another long day in the van. After a few hours of bobbing heads falling all over the place in deep slumber, we rolled into Roswell, New Mexico. It was easy to find. We just followed the spinning disc shaped object hovering in front of us! After passing loads of tacky gift shops selling all things extraterrestrial, we headed into the Roswell Museum of Extraterrestrial stuff. Getting our fill of history, we soon learnt that sighting of UFO’s increased in the area shortly after the US Government had finished testing the explosion of the atom bombs in the region. Hmmmm, coincidence? Fully convinced that we could not find any signs of extraterrestrial beings we headed into Walmart to stock up on supplies for the next couple of days and BINGO! We hit the goldmine. Now we are certain that all staff employed at Roswell Walmart cannot be from this planet as they are all 4.5’ tall with beards and cross eyed – and that’s just the women!

So with our blow up Alien dolls, Alien shot glasses, postcards, frisbees, lollipops and other strange paraphernalia purchased, we roll back out of town just as fast as we had cruised in. Another 4 hours of head bobbing later we turned up in Carlsbad. The only thing to report about Carlsbad is that they had a very nice grassy patch for a campsite which was quite welcome compared to the stony ground we had previously been sleeping on! Oh and they had an indoor pool and in 37 degree dry heat it was very welcome! Our team leader Brian decided he needed to get in touch with his childhood and jumped on the swing and proceeded to swing so high we thought he was trying to catch one of the UFO’s on its way to Roswell. Now, considering the guy is 6’5, he isn’t the average weight of a 6 yr old child and within minutes the entire group was rolling around on the ground with laughter as the swing came down with the full weight of a fully grown man and the seat snapped in 2 sending Brian rolling through the dirt. We now have to create an intervention each time with come into view of a children’s playground as we do not want to leave the children of America swing free as we make our way across the entirety of the country!

That night was Barbie time! After all, being this far south and so close to Texas we needed some meat! The only problem being that the flies were quite rife in the area. As we all sat down to chow down on our feast of hamburgers, sausages and barbied salmon, the swarms came in. Our poor little pommy friends went running for cover and as Heidi and Serena sat there slowly doing the Aussie wave and swatting occasionally, we realised that we were suddenly on our own. Yet another harsh reality of camping thrown in the face of our English friends. At this rate, they would have them being fully blown Aussie campers in no time. It was then off to the Drive In. Yep that’s what I said! We packed up our sleeping bags, got into our PJ’s, bought an icecream and sat out on the dirt watching a movie under the stars! Absolutely loved it! However the following morning when we woke up, our poor English cousins were covered in welts from the mozzie bites. Not a mark on us Aussies though! Think they probably saw our crocodile tough skin and buzzed over to the nice soft, sweet skin of the English. Let’s just say that we have been through half a bottle of Tea Tree Oil and half a tube of Stop Itch having lined them all up and administered the medication to them all.

Yesterday we ventured down the 700 ft deep Caverns of Carlsbad which meant Guano! Yep bat poop. Apparently 300 000+ bats live in the cave and all come out at sunset each night. The caves are so large that we didn’t even see the bats (smelled them though!) as they roosted in different areas of the cave. It was the most beautifully decorated caves all lit up the full 2kms of the trail that we followed. Being 13 degrees it was a nice cool change from the 38 degree desert heat outside.

Serena goes underground

Was this the male part of the cave?

Was this the female part of the cave?


We then made like Willy Nelson said, and were On The Road Again. Opting out of our usual salad and ham wrap healthy lunches, we pulled into a servo for a toilet break and filled up on hot dogs, chips, M&M’s and soft drink! Love that healthy kick but it gave us all the sugar rush we needed to get through the next 3 hours in the van, mostly head bobbing again! And then.... we crossed the border into TEXAS!! Where their slogan is ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’.

Brian, the tour leader, and I discussed going shopping to get him some cowboy boots being the country boy that he is. I then suggested that we get him ones with turquoise rhinestones, matching Cowboy hat and belt, buttless chaps and spurs for his boots and possibly even a stockman’s whip. He didn’t look impressed for some reason??? Mid afternoon we headed into the big smoke town of Fort Stockton. ‘Where?’ I hear you ask. Exactly. The middle of nowhere. I taught our English friends the meaning of Woop Woop which as inspired by Fort Stockton. We did have a great swimming pool though so spent the afternoon cooling down and then heating back up whilst sunbaking in the 6pm heat! Heidi was on dinner duty so cooked up a nice Savoury Mince and mum’s famous Noodle rice dish which was well received. Later that night, a local skunk made an appearance, and Heidi, realising the other’s non-realisation of the consequences of a experiencing a skunk’s full force sent the friendly fellow very quickly on his way.

So once again we find ourselves in the home away from home, ‘The Van’ today on our way to Austin Texas (please say with broad Southern State of America Accent) where people are so much more friendly! We will get more fill of culture – dad I might just come back cultured! But don’t count on it. We are off to the Alamo, the scene of a big fight between the Yanks and the Beaners for unfertile, virtually inhospitable land. Why? Don’t think they really know either. Until then, we hope you’ve had fun reading our latest update.

H and S