I don’t know what got into me, I felt like visiting the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to see what the Grand Canyon looks like under the snow. The road leading to the Grand Canyon North Rim has been closed for several days, but there’s an alert on their site saying it will likely reopen on November 28 at 9 a.m. This article is part of our series of articles on the American West road trip. If you haven’t read the previous travel diaries, here they are: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Day 14 of…

After a long drive yesterday, we treat ourselves to a well-deserved lie-in. We only have an hour of driving today, and I’m particularly motivated to drive, especially when I see there’s no one on the road. This article is part of our series of articles on the American West road trip. If you haven’t read the previous travel diaries, here they are: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Day 13 of the road trip: I don’t think I’ve been behind the wheel since our Iceland road trip. Driving on a straight road wouldn’t have appealed to me. Driving…

The initial plan was to go to Bryce National Park directly from Moab, but I came across a small flyer about the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Taking the detour via Highway 12 and Escalante adds an hour to our drive, which made me hesitate. Coincidentally, our friend Kevin also drove this route and highly recommends it. So I’d rather we spend the night in Escalante, making a short detour through Boulder and the Burr Trail Road to give ourselves plenty of time. Sleeping in Bryce Canyon would have added another hour, since we already have 5 hours of driving planned. This article is part of our series of articles on…

After driving non-stop from Monument Valley, we arrived in Moab in the early afternoon. Check-in at the hotel isn’t until 3 PM, and we had to keep wandering around. We were a bit tired and stopped for gas (and beef jerky) in Moab before visiting Arches National Park nearby. We spent 5 nights in Moab. Normally 2 nights are enough, but we were right in the middle of Thanksgivingweek, when the whole country is on vacation, and we wanted to be in a small, quiet town (5,000 residents) to recharge our batteries, do laundry, and get some work done. The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, then Cyber Monday, all…

Today, we visit one of the iconic places in the United States: Monument Valley. This article is part of our series of articles on the American West road trip. If you haven’t read the previous travel diaries, here they are: #1, #2, #3, #4 Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Day 6 of the road trip: Here’s what the Visitor Center website says about Monument Valley: Before the advent of humanity, the park was once a low-lying basin. Over hundreds of millions of years, materials eroded from the early Rockies formed layer upon layer of sediment, slowly and delicately solidifying into an uplift, caused by…

We reluctantly leave the Grand Canyon, heading to Page. It’s in Page that we’ll be able to visit Antelope Canyon, run by the Navajo. This article is part of our series of articles on the American West road trip. If you haven’t read the previous travel diaries, here they are: #1, #2, #3 Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Day 4 of the road trip Route from Grand Canyon to Page Right after leaving Grand Canyon National Park, we’re on Navajo land. I’ve seen maps where they mark “Navajo Nation,” which spans three states: Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. There are huge private areas, and…

After seeing the Grand Canyon from above thanks to our helicopter tour, we finally visit the park “from below,” by car. We booked two nights inside the park to make the most of it. This article is part of our series of articles on the American West road trip. If you haven’t read the previous travel diaries, here they are: #1, #2 Part 1: Travel JournalPart 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Journal Day 2 of the road trip (continued) From the helicopter agency, you just keep going straight. With no real choice, we fill up at the park entrance ($5.59 a gallon instead of $3.80). We don’t have an…

This article is part of our series on road trips in the American West. If you haven’t read the first travel diary yet, here’s the link. For our road trip in the American West, we asked several friends for advice. One of them highly recommended a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon, especially the one where the helicopter descends into the canyon and lands by the river. After doing some research, we realized that this tour departs from the North Rim (not on our route) and it’s very expensive. So we opted for a cheaper tour, but still a hefty budget: Canyon Spirit by Maverick which departs from the south…

After two weeks on a cruise where our brains were completely switched off, we return to normal life with great difficulty. JB also has health issues (dental and visual) as we start our road trip in the American West. Fortunately, we booked very little and have the car for 36 days, enough to take long breaks to rest (and work). The cruise ship drops us off at Fort Lauderdale. We spend one night in Hollywood before taking a flight (almost 6 hours) to Las Vegas. Day 1 Upon arrival, we see several casino machines right in the airport, along with ads for the various shows. Las Vegas airport is close…