Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Forget everything you have read and appreciate this. Today was probably our biggest day so far and probably my favourite. We went to 2 National Parks and hiked about 15km all up.

Bryce Canyon National Park was our first stop. I don't know how to describe this place and photo's don't do it justice. At 8100ft, the canyon is formed by the natural force of water, ice and gravity that forms the 'hoodoos' of Bryce Canyon which makes it so unique. For 200 days each year, snow and ice will melt in the afternoon and freeze at night. When the water freezes, it expands and pushes  the rocks apart creating the different hoodoos and windows that can be found in the Bryce Canyon amphitheater. We hiked 4.6km throughout the amphitheater and then hiked further along the rim of the canyon. It was incredible, it topped the grand canyon by far! With every twist and turn came a new angel of the canyon. It was like a wonderland. It would be incredible to see it when there is snow scattered throughout the amphitheater.

Stomping Bryce...

We came from down the bottom...

View of Bryce Canyon

Bringing back the hurdling

Anyway, that is Bryce. If you ever plan a trip to the USA, include Bryce Canyon! Next stop, Zion National Park.

Grand Canyon, AZ

We packed up our belongings and headed for Arizona, "the Grand Canyon State."

For those of you who have not been to the Grand Canyon, I will start with some 'fun facts' that may help you try and visualize the canyon:

• The Grand Canyon is 447km's in length
• At the widest point, it stretches 29km across; at the narrowest, only 6.4km
•  The Grand Canyon is approximately 1.8km's deep
• The rock found at the bottom of the canyon is about 2 million years old, compared to the rock on the upper rim which is said to be 230 millions years old.
• Despite the Grand Canyon not being the longest, widest not deepest canyon, it attracts 5 million tourists each year. 

We headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon which is where most tourists flock to. Since the Grand Canyon is so...'Grand,' shuttle buses service the south rim of the canyon which allows tourists to hop on and off at certain viewing points. You can also walk along the rim of the canyon between the viewing points which we mostly did. We decided to head down one of the hikes that takes you into the canyon and the views were amazing. I can't actually describe them, so here are a few photos. We were in the Canyon for sunset too. It was a little cloudy and photos didn't quite capture how beautiful it was, but enjoy these photos of us and the canyon. We also encountered some Elks and squirrels on our journey. They were adorable!

Spot the Strelan...

It was a hard walk up.

Colorado River through the Canyon

Las Vegas, NV (take two)

What happens in Vegas doesn't have to stay in Vegas. It's the town of neon lights, fake tans, hummers, limos, bleach blonde hair, nails that are too long to be remotely useful, girls that can hardly walk in their shoes and drunk men yelling out of taxi's saying, 'she's hot...you've done well!'

Fun Facts:

• There are approximately 200,000 slot machines in Las Vegas. They start as you disembark your plane and continue in various locations such as the grocery store.
• There are about 6,000 live gambling tables throughout the main strip.
• There are about 300 weddings per day
• At any major hotel, around 15,000 pillow cases can be washed per day

We arrived Las Vegas around 4pm. It is a desert oasis. Apart from the main downtown strip, there is nothing. You can see the mountains that surround the city from pretty much anywhere. As a result, it was ridiculously hot. Every day the weather has been anywhere from 32 degrees in the morning to about 40 degrees from about midday onwards, although it feels hotter than that due to the very dry heat. We are nearing the end of the summer season, and I would hate to think of what the temperature can reach out here in July. We did a tour of Hoover Dam and the tour guide said it can reach around 50 degrees in the summer out there!

Hoover Dam was massive. It was built in 1931-1935 and has enough concrete to path a 4 foot path around the earth's equator. We went on a tour of the power plant and that n itself was amazing. There are 17 generators throughout the dam and during peak electricity periods enough water to fill 15 average sized swimming pools can run through each one in 1 second (approx 75,700 litres).

Us at Hoover Dam

Generators in Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam

Las Vegas, New York New York

Las Vegas, Paris

Las Vegas, Bellagio Fountains

We hit up the casinos every night. I read somewhere that the average amount people spend in Vegas per night is about $500. We were not one of them. We were putting in $20 dollars hear and there and we always managed to come away with a profit. Our best feat was putting $1 into the pokies and cashing out with $30. We also went to a show which was pretty fun. Going into hotel lobbies with like entering a different world every time. There are rainforests, underwater oceans, things that look like they come from alice in wonderland, scenes that make you feel as though you are in Paris, New York, Rome, Disneyland. You name it, it's probably here. Seventeen of USA's 20 top hotels are situated on the main Las Vegas strip.

You can drink anywhere. You can buy a daiquiri from the endless amount of bars that have girls in their bikinis along the main strip and just keep on walking to the next club/casino. It's incredible. If you want it, you can have it, maybe that is why the have that famous Vegas saying.

That is pretty much it. We originally only came to Vegas as a half way point between the Grand Canyon and some National Parks we are heading to in the next few days, but I can honestly say I'm glad we came. It was so much fun, and again, I don't think there is any other place that quite resembles it.

Next Stop: 4 Days to do Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Zion National Park & Bryce National Park.