Over the next 7 days we visited various places in the states of Arizona, Nevada and California and finally reached our destination, San Francisco.
Day 9 : Flagstaff (Arizona) - 280 miles - Antelope Canyon and Horse Shoe Point - Flagstaff (Arizona)
We stayed at Flagstaff for a couple of days and did some day trips nearby. The first day, we went to Antelope Canyon and Horse Shoe Point in Page, about 140 miles from Flagstaff. The terrain was totally barren all along the road with yellow-orange sand dunes everywhere and no trace of any vegetation anywhere!
You approach the canyon by walking through a sandy track. The Antelope Canyon was made by rain and water running over rocks over long periods of time in different patterns. The rocks are red in color and look stunning when sun rays fall inside through the rocks.This place is a paradise for photographers, as sunlight comes into the canyon only for some time around noon. With the movement of the sun, the sun rays fall at different angles and create intricate patterns and colors. You can spend hours taking photographs of the area from different locations and angles, with light playing games with the terrain.
We also visited the Horse Shoe Point nearby where the Colorado river is visible from a height of 300 feet like a shiny sapphire blue in the shape of a horse shoe with orange terrain all around. It was a magnificent sight, felt unreal, just like a painting!All these points of interest are located near the town of Page and one can easily spend a day in and around here checking out these spots. They are a nice place for a picnic day and very close to Flagstaff. We spent sometime exploring these places and returned back to Flagstaff in the evening.
Day 10 : Flagstaff (Arizona) - 140 miles - Grand Canyon - Williams (Arizona)
The Grand Canyon is a unique geographical feature created by the river Colorado flowing from east to west. Its a long and deep gorge about 4500 feet in height. There is not much vegetation there either, just layers and layers of stone in brown, till wherever your eyes can see.
The whole experience was great, standing at the top of the canyon and seeing the wide expanse on all sides. Such a grand structure can only be created by nature. It is otherwise even very difficult to imagine making something like this.We spent a couple of hours there, walking around and admiring the beauty and power of nature to create such wonders. In the evening we came back to Williams, a nearby town and spent the night there.
Day 11 : Williams (Arizona) - 80 miles - Flagstaff (Arizona)
After ten days of driving, we decided to take a rest day in between and relaxed at Flagstaff. During the day, we visited two lakes nearby, the Mormon lake and the Upper Mary lake. These were good picnic spots with lots of shade and tall pine trees around. The Upper Mary lake is good for swimming in the summer as well as some water sports which they have. There are lots of people there with their boats enjoying the cool breeze.
We also went to see the springs in the nearby forests. Its another good site to visit and spend some time. Overall, there are many places near Flagstaff to enjoy a nice day of relaxation and just picnic a bit.
Day 12 : Flagstaff (Arizona) - 250 miles - Las Vegas (Nevada)
Back to our hectic traveling, we left Flagstaff along I-40 and took the state highway 93 for Las Vegas. It was a long and quiet stretch of road with deserted lands all along and no greenery anywhere till you reach Las Vegas. On the way we stopped at Hoover Dam on the river Colorado just as it enters the state of Nevada. It was a nice place for a small halt along the road.
Once in Vegas, we had a nice time. Known as the Sin-City, Vegas has it all. The main street called 'the strip' has hotels and casinos on both sides. The Casinos are open 24 hours. We went and played in the casino to get a feel of it.
We also checked out some of the famous hotels and what they had to offer, the fountains at Bellagio, the Ceasars palace, the Venetian and all. Vegas is famous for its shows and we also got a chance to see on in the hotel Wynn itself where we were staying.
Vegas is sometimes difficult to imagine, a grand city with lights and huge hotels built right in the middle of a desert, its just like an oasis. There is not much to say about the city, its all well-known. Its a city that never sleeps, dazzles its visitors and doesnt let any of them sleep either! It has so much to enchant them all with..Day 13 : Las Vegas (Nevada) - 60 miles - Pahrump (Nevada)
We woke up late as we had spent a lot of time the previous day checking out the city. In the morning also we went to some of the hotels and casinos around, the Ceasar Palace with its delicate landscaping and the Greek experience and the Venetian with their gondolas and experience of Venice.After spending some more time in the casinos, we started for Pahrump along the state highway 93 situated on the border of Nevada and California where we were staying for the night. The terrain along the road was again dry and sandy, just a desert. The weather was again warm and there was no habitation along the route. Once in Pahrump, we just relaxed at the hotel, had a nice swim and since we could not find any Indian restaurant in the vicinity, had a bread sandwich for dinner and retired to bed.
Day 14 : Pahrump (Nevada) - 300 miles - Death Valley - Yosemite (California)
After breakfast, we left Pahrump for the Death Valley National Park. All along the road was just a stony desert. As the name suggests, nothing survives in this area. In the early parts of the last century, Borax mines were very popular in the area but later on the mining was also abandoned.
After death valley, we went to the Bad Waters area of the valley, a place 285 feet below sea level! The temperatures here are hot, when we were there, it was 45 deg C!! Even the vehicles get over heated in this area. For the same reason, there are multiple signs placed along the road warning you to switch off your car air conditioners to avoid engine overheating. In fact we also had to shut off the engine for sometime for it to cool. There is a lot of natural salt available at the Bad Waters. Surprisingly there is also a golf course in the death valley (or that's what it looks like!).
The mountains and the Canyons look desolate and hungry and frightening, as if death is staring at you. The whole region has been aptly named, its so dead! But all in all, it was a unique experience driving through the Death Valley .After crossing the Death Valley we moved on towards the Yosemite National Forests. As we drove, we gained height, upto 4000 feet above sea level. Once we crossed the river Owens, we suddenly entered a green belt with lot of trees and green fields all around. We entered Bishoptown and felt relieved on seeing civilization and habitation finally!!
As we moved on further, we gained height and the vegetation also changed to pine trees and other high altitude trees. At 9,990 feet, we crossed the Tioga pass with snow still visible on the mountains peaks even in the month of June. The whole area was pretty and worth spending time just admiring its beauty. There were many lakes around and the drive through the forest was refreshing. We spent a part of the evening walking and exploring nearby and spent the night at Yosemite.
Day 15 : Yosemite (California) - 170 miles - Death Valley - San Francisco (California)
The moment you enter California, you see greenery. A well developed agriculture and a good irrigation system by way of canals. While driving from Yosemite to SF on the I-580, you come across lots of fruit orchards also along the highway, a complete change from the states of Nevada and Arizona which we had left behind.
Once in San Francisco, you are back to civiliation, you see a well developed city, with concrete and tall buildings and roads going up and down along the hills in the city. The climate suddenly becomes cooler and the vegetation greener.
It was different than the US we witnessed along our long trip. Felt like a different world altogether. The trip was long and fun. We saw a lot, explores a lot, saw the many different faces of this huge and vast country called the United States. It was a fun experience for us, tiring but once in a lifetime experience. Would definitely recommend it to anyone fond of exploring the world and experiencing different worlds.
