Tour America

So after an emotional departure from San Francisco we headed out to Yosemite National Park, about a 4 hour drive. We found the visitor information and got some tips of where to go, then drove through the park to our B&B on the other side. The B&B was a real hippy-ish place and the buildings were all painted purple and orange! It was really cool!

We got up early on the first day and headed back into the park. Aparently we timed it just right because earlier in the year teh park is snow-bound and the trails aren't open, and later in the year it all dries up and becomes scorching. We did a good hike with millions of switch-backs up to the middle of the Yosemite Falls which were in full flow and stunning. The sheer size of the valley walls and the steepness are what really blows you away. On the second day, we went up to the quieter end of the valley and walked upto mirrow lake where you can sea the mountains and scenery reflected in the still waters. Its a really peaceful place to be and makes the valley seem twice as tall. Me and Dad aslo did a 'Ranger Stroll' in the afternoon and learnt all about the glacial geology - woopwoop!

We then flew from there down to Las Vegas to get at the other National Parks we were planning to visit. The airoplane must have seated about 20 people and has propellas on the wings - it looked more like a lego toy! We spent one night in Vegas on the strip in the Flamingo Hotel, which is the oldest casino. I didn't really leave the room and went to bed early in our maaarr hoosive room! Vegas isnt really my scene!

We then headed out towards the Grand Conyon and stopped off at the Hoover Dam. Again, like everything else in America the dam is soopersized. Someting like 400ft across at the bottom and 450 feet tall, it took five years to build, and holds back stupid amounts of water from teh Colorado River to stop it flooding in winter and the drought in summer. We did the tour round the inside of the dam which was really cool, we saw the hydroelectric generators and walked round the observation tunnels where the egineers have marked all the cracks! Nothing to worry about though!

From there we headed out to the Grand Canyon. It was too late to go into the Park when we got there so we found our motel and caught up on some sleep. In the morning we got up early and booked ourselves onto a tour run by the National Goegraphic. The guide was called Jason, or 'Tank', had long hair in a ponytail and liked to drive the bus with no hands. There were only 7 of us on the tour so we really got the most out it. Also, Tank knows all the really cool spots and told us loads about the plant life and wildlife aswell as the Geogrophy and Geology. The Canyon is a real spectacular site, and everyplace you stop at you see it differently. Climbing right out to the edge and dangling your feet over the 2000ft drop is a real thrill! One that Mum refused to even try! Unfortuantly in the afternoon it decided to snow so we couldn't see anything as the clouds were in the Canyon and on top of it, so we headed home and planned our journey to Bryce.

Its important to remember that most of these places are all in the middle of the Sierra Nevada and the Navada Desert. So even though its cold and snowy at the moment, there is very little water in most places and the freeway cuts across some of the hottest and freakiest looking places on earth!

We stayed just outside Bryce Canyon National Park at a B&B caleld Buffalo Sage, run by a lovely lady called Alice. She makes waffles for breakfast. Enough Said. We only had one full day so we made the most of it. Bryce Canyon isn't really a Canyon its just named after a section of it. Its more like cliff face which has been eroded into wierd spits, stacks, collumns and arches which look like soldiers stood to attention. And they are all made out of a bright red limestone that really stands out from the reast of the scenery. We got up early and did a hike which went down into the canyon and weaved in and out of the collumns which are called Hoodoos. Getting up close and personal with them is so much better than seeing them from on top. After a minor detour up a section of trail that we thought was the right way and turned out to be a dead-end at teh top of a very steep and crumbly path, we finally made it back to the car. We spent the afternoon doing the scenic drive and stopping at all the 'vistas'. The sheer number of Hoodoos and the vidvidness of their colours makes Bryce my favourite stop on our tour!

Our suposed last stop was Zion National Park. Its much smaller than the others but is still stunning. The Canyon is sandstone whihc has been eroded by the River which runs through it. We did a gentle hike up to small water falls which fall in three stages and have 'Emerald Pools' at the bottom of each step. We then walked up to the end of the valley where the walls of teh canyon become really narrow and the hike any further you have to go through the river! Dad was well up for it but unfortuantely the trail was closed as the spring floods were in full flow.

All four national parks we visited are completely different to each other and the diversity amazed all of us. Even within each park you can see different levels of development and different plantlife and wildlife. Also, I never really appreciated how huge America was before now. If I was going to sail across it would probably take about 4 weeks! And now we are still stuck in Las Vegas waiting to be told when we can fly home. The boats will be leaving tomorrow evening at 6pm thier time and heading off to the tropics (Jamaica leading of course) whilst we wander around watching all the free stuff and trying not to be conned into loosing fortunes! Unfortunately we have to eat but my tan is getting back to buisness! Have that, Pacific Ocean! xxx