Zion

We stayed the night in Las Vegas, which was everything we expected it to be... Sam had heard about this hotel called the Stratosphere, which was basically like Centrepoint Tower, but with a couple of rides on the top (ahem scary rides like over the edge of the 108 stories screaming rides)... so it was fun for the night, bit of a lame casino, like hanging out in a Bowling Club, but back in the days where you were allowed to smoke everywhere... so I was coughing my lungs up basically the whole time... There was a really yummy Italian restaurant, but it was like all of Las Vegas- lame, over the top and hilarious, with spanish speaking waitstaff and painted murals of 'Italian' streetscapes...the hotel was kind of out of the way, so we didn't even walk down the strip, but drove through it the next morning, where it looked even more bizarre without the flashing night lights and craziness that you see in movies... we drove to Zion in Utah... and stopped for Maccas in what must be a Mormon community... the poor girl who served us had about 2 teeth... but as always in USA everyone was so friendly, and interested in hearing about Australia...

Zion national park was incredibly breathtaking, and definitely my highlight of the national parks that we saw (including Grand Canyon)... I would love to go back there and do some walks in warmer weather- there was still snow on the ground and a chill in the air... we stayed the night in Tuba City which is in the Navajo nation.  I didn't realise you could drive onto reservations in the states, unlike in Australia where you sometimes need permission from the owners... anyway here are some photos of Zion and the drive through the Navajo lands...