Wow!!! We arrived at the Grand Canyon on Thursday, and the sheer size and aura of the place is just unimaginable – but more on that later.

On Wednesday we left Los Angeles and crossed the San Gabriel Mountains and the Mojave (pronounced Mohavi) Dessert. We couldn’t get over the way the desert looked – quite green due to the profusion of sagebrush, and very sandy. It was on to Lake Havasu for the night. We stayed at the London Bridge Resort, so named because the original London Bridge was purchased by a local, each stone was numbered as it was being pulled down, then it was reassembled in Lake Havasu. It was right next to our resort. We managed to walk across it on Wednesday afternoon, and took some very good photos. We went for a cruise around the lake at Sunset, and took amazing pictures of the mountain ranges and the lake surrounds. We were free for dinner that night, so met up with a lovely couple from New Jersey for dinner.

Thursday morning it was an early start from the hotel (8am). We drove north and saw the desert gradually give way to greener land until we reached the national forest in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon. The land in northwest Arizona is richer than we expected due to its altitude (almost 2000 metres) and better rainfall than the southwest.

We visited the south rim of the Canyon and were overwhelmed by its beauty. It is something to which photos alone cannot do justice (and believe us we have hundreds to bore you silly with!!!). Before that we saw an IMAX movie about the Canyon that was awesome but included many nausea-inducing flight sections. (Phil noticed Sue’s eyes were shut during several of the more graphic “drops” down into the Canyon!!) Many on the tour were to take an optional helicopter flight over the Canyon straight after that. We were glad that we were not joining them!

We also encountered and photographed squirrels and elk – the latter just wander around the tourist area eating the grass and no-one gets in their way (those antlers are big)!

On Friday we drove through the spectacular Painted Desert (so named for the rich colours streaked through the rocks) to Lake Powell. Lake Powell is formed by the damming of the Colorado River by the Glen Canyon Dam and spreads in many directions like spiders legs forming different canyons through which you can travel by boat. Like the Grand Canyon the rocks are stratified and very colourful. Dinner was great last night, not just for the food but also the company. We ate with new friends from New Jersey and North Carolina who are great examples of how friendly Americans can be.