Everyone loves a Road Trip. There is something special about having the wind in your hair, radio on, singing along, leaving all your troubles behind. But if a trip is not well planned it could fall flat. So here are a few Rules simple principles to help you have a great trip.
Rule 1 – Pick a good travel companion.
Whatever happens on the road – good or bad – it’s great to have someone to share it with. Ideally someone who doesn’t annoy the crap out of you. Continue reading
Before we went on this trip, my BF’s boss was asking me about our plans. “Will you see Monument Valley at dawn?” he asked. “Oh yes” I said confidently “we surely will!”. Did we? Hell no! Reality intervened – we struggle to get up for check-out, let alone dawn. Humph. However we did get there, which is the main thing, right?!
On the road going into Monument Valley we passed a few large natural sculptures of red rock. We kept stopping the car for photos; the conversation reflecting our natural intelligence…
“So is this Monument Valley or just some rocks?”
” I dunno. We better take a photo just in case”.
We needn’t have worried – we knew Monument Valley when we saw it. Continue reading
After going to bed in flip flops, we were surprised to wake up and find snow! Being a genius, I got in the car and decided the best way to clear the window of snow was to roll the window down… I did not think that through! The window was indeed cleared but I had a snow all over myself for the rest of the morning.
After panic-buying an extra layer of clothing from Walmart, we headed towards the Grand Canyon, excited! We have been to the West rim of the Grand Canyon before but not the South rim, which is meant to offer the most spectacular view of the Canyon. The snow was falling but drive-able so we decided to go for it.
Unfortunately after a while the snow was getting thicker and thicker on the road and the car kept started skidding Continue reading
Our aim was to drive from Las Vegas to Flagstaff, which would give great access to the Grand Canyon. However, after we saw a place on the map called “London Bridge”, who wouldn’t stop?! Well, maybe someone who wanted to get to Flagstaff before midnight, but we were not that person.
London Bridge, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was one of the most bizarre places we’ve ever been. Obviously we’ve been to the “proper” London Bridge – the one that’s in London. Who knew that there was another real London Bridge in the middle of the desert in Arizona?
Apparently London used to have a smaller London Bridge, but when cars were invented and what not, they wanted a bigger bridge, so, they, um, built one. Meanwhile, some Americans bought the old bridge, took it to America (not in one piece – I imagine it wouldn’t fit on the plane) and re-built it. Continue reading
The night before I was terrified. The plan was simple – we were to hire a car to drive to the Grand Canyon. But this was the first time I had hired a car, and the first time I had driven an “automatic”! The man at the car rental place just gave me the car and I had to ask for advice as to how to actually drive it! To make matters worse, the brake was very reactive so every time I touched it the car did an emergency stop. My boyfriend likes rollercoasters but I think this was his first truly white-knuckle ride! I was concentrating on the driving when my boyfriend reminded me that in America you drive on the right. Humph! I should add that the car rental place was in a small back-street with no other traffic, so I had it figured out by the time we got on the main roads – promise!
We drove out of Las Vegas, and over Hoover Dam, heading to the Grand Canyon. The last 17 miles to the rim of the Grand Canyon were on a dirt track which was so bumpy I can only describe it as being like corrugated iron. We were a tad worried that the car would fall apart!
At one point we went over the top of a hill to find that a coach going the other way was overtaking a car so it was in our lane, coming towards us. Continue reading
Big Fat Tourist 