Day 209: California: Death Valley

August 1, 2016

Well, I know why they call it Death Valley. With temperatures around the 50degree celsius mark, and a dry, hot wind, it was all too fitting!

The park was a little bit boring, just because it was so hot and I couldn't do much exploring, but the colours of the mountains were incredible, with pinks, greens and reds streaked through them, huge salt flats that went on for miles, and salt rock formations that you could literally hear changing - dirt brown on the outside, but brilliant white just below the surface.

As soon as I started driving up out of the valley the temperature literally dropped 10 degrees despite it getting relatively hotter at the peak.

Tomorrow, returning the car and heading home xx

Day 208: Nevada: Hungover and Mindfreaked

July 31, 2016

Today I woke up very much worse for wear. Turns out four locos have 5 standard drinks in them each, not 2.5 like I thought. Well, that explains that.

I did head out and explore the city for a bit though, but by far, the highlight was seeing Criss Angel: Mindfreak. I was astounded!!

His act was a little bit lame in a couple of parts, but there are so many bits I just cannot work out how he did it!! (The levitating being a big one)

I actually got to take part in some audience participation when a wristband got randomly thrown around the room. Before the show, they made a bit act of hanging a box above the stage, and then as the wristband was thrown around, he asked for a girl's name, which state another guy was from, and my lucky number. He then had someone bring the box down, and written on a piece of paper was ALANA - CALIFORNIA - 3

Blown away. (I mean I feel like her name was a set up, but to guess the state and number is pretty lucky)

I got to be up on the big screen and keep the wristband. Winning.

Tomorrow, Death Valley xx

Day 207: Nevada: Las Vegas

July 30, 2016

My bed has leopard print sheets. The hostel is next to a wedding chapel on one side. The other side is a strip club. VEGAS.

I spent most of the day dotting from casino to casino to see all of the crazy themes and designs, and it was far too hot to stay outside for too long! The casinos are huge and walk a very fine line between class and tackiness, and I change my mind about it every 2 minutes.

I am adding this little bit the day after because last night we went out to the LAX at the Luxor - the fanciest club I've ever been to. We got to ride a limo to the front door.

Tomorrow, a Vegas Show xx

Day 206: Arizona: The Grand Canyon

July 29, 2016

You know what? It really is a fairly grand canyon. Completely blew my mind.

I decided I wasn't going to do any hiking today, because I'm so worn out... hiked about 12 km along the rim of the canyon, because it was just so crazy to look into!!

Photos really did not do it justice, but keep in mind those little lines on the floor are ROADS and it is hundreds and hundreds of meters down.

I only walked about half of just part of the south rim. Just look at this thing.

Tomorrow, Hoover Dam xx

Day 205: Utah: Zion

July 28, 2016

Today I got up before dawn and spent the day doing some heavy hiking in the Zion National Park.

I caught the first bus to Angel's Landing and climbed all the way to the top. It is one of the best hikes I have ever done, with 300metre cliffs either side of you, and only chains to hold on to.

The views were incredible too, watching the sunrise with the road, tiny beneath me. It is lucky I am not afraid of heights!

The next hike I did was the Narrows, a slot canyon with a river running between it. The hike was actually through the water, up to mid-thigh. The canyon walls were just towering away above me either side.

I was a little bit tired from the morning though, so I only did 4 hours of hiking (its apparently 14 in total, no thank you)

The chipmunks and squirrels were super friendly at this park too, as you can see.

Tomorrow, the Grand Canyon xx

Day 204: Utah: Bryce Canyon

July 27, 2016

Bryce Canyon is actually huge. These photos do not do justice to its size.

The canyon itself is impressive, but the hoodoos within it were the real standout.

I did just one hike, about 3-4 hours, but it went down into the canyon floor, through some of these huge hoodoos, but then unfortunately back up again.

The night sky was also incredible from my campsite last night, but I couldn't get a long enough exposure to give it any justice!!!

Tomorrow, Zion xx

Day 203: Utah: Arches and Canyonland

July 27, 2016

Today I did a lot of hiking, which is the plan for this whole week!

I need to preface this with the fact these places and things are HUGE. Look for tiny people or roads in these photos to give some context to the sheer scale! It is honestly incredible.

I started off at Arches National Park which honestly, sort of blew my mind! There were just huge arches all over the place. I saw 5 different arches within the park!

Some of the hiking was harder than others, but the best was to the Landscape/Navajo/Partition arches. The hikes were fun and not too far.

I also saw the Balancing Rock and Delicate Arch. It was extremely hot though!!

After Arches, I drove to the next Utah National Park, Canyonlands. Again, it was HUGE. My favourite part was a huge crater that scientists are still arguing over the cause of.

Another highlight was dangling my legs off the edge with a couple hundred meters dropping off directly below me.

Tomorrow, Bryce Canyon xx

Dy 202: Colorado: The Rocky Mountains

July 25, 2016

Today I did some great hiking in the Rocky Mountains National Park.

Once again I stayed at an amazing campsite, this time near a lake.

I did a walk near Bear Lake, about 3 hours round trip and met a lovely family who offered to take me to dinner (sorry again about my terrible lack of phone reception that meant we didn't end up catching up if you ever read this!!)

I saw a ton of wildlife, from chipmunks to elk, and was equally excited by both, and did a great drive over the continental divide where I needed a jacket it was so cold!

I also climbed up a huge rock cliff thing, but couldn't get any good photos of how high it was, but take my word for it that it was high enough for cars to look TINY, and looking down terrifying.

They are really not joking about the altitude thing, as I was light headed doing moderate hiking!

Tomorrow, Utah xx

Day 201: South Dakota: Badlands and Mount Rushmore

July 24, 2016

Today I woke up at the most amazing campsite I've ever stayed at.

It was a free campsite on National Forest land, and when I got in last night, it was already dark, but upon waking up, I realised that I was parked next to a cliff with incredible structures right next to my window.

The steep drop did mean I had to lie back down again for a while though.

The Badlands Park itself was really awesome, with heaps of wildlife, but most of the sites accessible by road, so not much good hiking.

I then headed to Mount Rushmore. Everyone kept telling me how much smaller they were than they expected, but I thought they were huge! I guess I didn't grow up seeing them on TV as much as US citizens.

I was really impressed with the whole area, which was really nice to just hang out in that early in the day, before too many tourists came in.

I spent the evening at the Stanley Hotel (of The Shining's Overlook Hotel fame) and I have a LOT of photos, but I don't want to look through them right now because IF there is a ghost in a photo, I will never sleep again.

Tomorrow, The Rockies xx

Day 200: Wisconsin: Farmer's Market

July 23, 2016

Today I had to leave Wisconsin, but not without seeing Madison and trying some of the amazing fresh fares it has to offer.

We headed to the Capitol Building which was incredible in itself, but on Saturdays has a huge farmer's market around it!

Free samples were all incredible, and I ended up buying a pound of cheese curds, a local favourite. They were fresh and squeaky for anyone in the know!

I then drove for a really long time, and got to just outside the Badlands National Park.