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Vegas

Map of the day:

We wake up at 6AM to get the sunrise on the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately we just have the clouds… We start the day with a small breakfast in the lodge.

We then go on a little walk on the canyon rim (2 hours). It is so cold, 20-25°F (something like -7 -5°c), but the views are worth it! Adie played the Maya great priestress!

After the walk we enjoy the real fire in Bright Angel lodge before taking the road. So many animals along those roads!

We are heading to Las Vegas, aka Sin City! The road is long, but the sky is pretty nice, and we have our coffee to keep us busy!

Then we stop at Hoover Dam. So big! I am sure it’s a secret base! Look at all the rail tracks and tunnel going through the moutain…

Then, Sin City! We have booked the smallest room of the Venetian…

Amazing! They have created a small Venice inside the hotel!

We are so tired! After a pizza we end up in the casino, where we gain 100$ at the blackjack! not so bad! Time to sleep!

Grand Canyon

On the road again! The goal is to reach the Grand Canyon village tonight.

Map of the day:

We wake up at 6h30 am, just to catch the sunrise!

We stop at a 7-ELEVEN gas station, fill up the tank, take some coffee and tea for the road. We then head towards Mojave Natl Preserve, via the Amboy Rd. This road is amazing! So wild!

Yeah, the traditionnal picture of road trips in Western USA… We make a stop a little later as we are crossing a small sea of salt! On the last picture the clouds are really interesting.

We then cross the old 66 Road at around 8:30 AM.

The road that leads to the Mojave preserve is again full of wonderful scenaries. We have the luck to have a beautiful sky!

We do not take a lot of pictures inside the Mojave preserve as we are pretty busy with the road itself. The 10 miles non-paved trail is quite difficult for the car… and us 😉 But at last we manage to get to the visitor center, to find it closed for the season…

We then take the road again towards the Grand Canyon. After a few hours of driving we stop in a small town with some nice little buildings! But it is freezing! 32°F! 0°C!

After peeing, refilling tank and coffee cup we continue our journey. We soon start to have some snow on the side of the road.

At around 5PM, we arrive at the Grand Canyon! Photo time!

Finding a place for the night is not easy! El Tovar hotel is really appealling, but 300$ for the night is a bit expensive, even for Valentine Day! So we end up in a room without shared bathroom at Bright Angel Lodge. The room is better than expected. We have a very nice evening with a fine meal in El Tovar dining room, in front of a fake fireplace!!! A guy from the hotel tells us they replaced the real fire with a fake one due to many uncontrolled fires…

Joshua Tree

On Monday, the real adventure begins! A road trip isn’t a road trip if we stay in the towns… We don’t know it yet, but we will spend a lot of hours in the car, on the roads.

Map of the day:

The begining isn’t really exciting as we have to leave LA, which means huge freeways and a lot of traffic. I can’t say that people drive better in California than in Florida…

Finally, we start seeing wilder scenaries. This is Palm Springs area with its wind turbines, impressive how many they are and how they are aligned… In the US, everything is huge, as always.

We stop at the entrance of Joshua Trees Park for a lunch. It is a small saloon recommended by the California guide we have. From the outside it is not really appealling, but the inside is rather cool and the food is more than correct.

After that we enter our first national park, Joshua Tree. The trees:

We have taken a map at the ranger station, so we start with a short walk (1 mile) to see Barker Dam…They probably try to make fun of us, not a single drop of water in this dam…

Next, Salton View. It is the highest point in Joshua, giving a full view of the South.

On the map there is a trail for an abandonned gold mine, either a 6 miles loop or a 2 miles one-way to the mine. We decide to do it.

On our way towards Twenty Nine Palms we pass next to some BIG skulls.

The night is already falling, it is too late to push really far so we start to look for a motel in Twentynine Palm. We find one quite easily, 50$ for the night. Small dinner in an asian fast food, and time to bed!