3 week road trip through 4 states…

First time taking a trip to the west side of USA? Nevada, Arizona, Utah and California in one go? Check out what to see in 3 weeks :)

First stop… #LasVegas - Nevada, first destination is of course optional. This option was the cheapeast one (most afordable flight during the „high” summer season). Renting a car in Las Vegas for 3 people around 250 euros per person for the whole trip. A lot of people might think that Las Vegas is only known for it’s party culture or being the prime place to shoot notorious American movies. A fair judgement. But personally I was’nt so mesmerised when I landed and came out of the airport. My first impression was a cartoon city with every country inside (Egyptian pyramids, Eiffle Tower, Little Venice, NYC Statue of Liberty and many many more). Either way it’s a city with plenty to see and experience. For instance, getting stuck in the casinos, playing till late night or even early morning (perhaps not the best experience depending on your serendipity), visiting the city during the night surrounded by crowds of tourists. You may even discover that Las Vegas turns into one of your favourite places that makes you itching to return and experience the Vegas freedom once more.

On to… #Hoover Dam - one of the worlds biggest Dams. Making quite an impression when you first enter it and stimulating your fear of heights by 3000%. It’s safe to say that everything is gigantic in this country and the holes (whether natural or man made) seem 10x times deeper than anywhere else. The Hoovers Dam is definitely not one of the places where you spend a whole day, but it makes a good first impression of whats coming next and also a good stop to straighten your legs before the next destination ;)

#GrandCanyonNationalPark- just WOW! Extremely beautiful and breathtaking, you can either see the canyon from the bottom or from the top (we took the top trip around the canyon due to our limited stay in USA). Sometimes there are things in the world that you can’t describe with words, and believe it or not, but the Grand Canyon is one of those places. The amount of colours during the sunset are incredible - sandy yellow to vibrant greens and pink. If you think photos give away the beauty then wait untill you see it alive! Free-roaming is also no problem around the #canyon allowing you to see it from any angle you wish (just watch out for the edges ;)).

#Antelope Canyon, #Arizona - there are a couple of tours available in the Antelope Canyon: hiking tour inside the canyon, kayak tours, joined tours with horseshoe bend and many more. We decided to take the lower canyon tour. Ticket prices start from around 45$ up to even 200$) and the best thing about the tour is that you always get a local tour guide (local indians), who drives you through the desert and shares all of the information with you about the place. To be fairly honest with you, it’s one of the places where a lot depends on how you manage to photograph this place (in my eyes it’s one of this places that look better through camera than in real life, NO JUDING PLEASE). Gladly our tour guide, who was a big fan of chicken little, made nearly all of the photos for me, showing me at the same time all of the natural sculptures with their own names (heart cave, Lincolns face, mummies, dragons eye and many many more.) I Wonder if you can guess from the pictures which one is which?

#Horseshoe Bend - it’s one of the places that I was quite excited to see because of my geographic books in highschool (the cover page always had an image of the Horseshoe Bend). In order to get there you have to hike a bit (not too long) and you can see the large abyss full of beautiful colours. However, due to my large fear of heights, I didn’t manage to go too close to the hole (I begin tremble and my hands get so sweaty! Therefore, shaking hands with anyone is a ‚no’ for the next 30 mins) but still the place left quite an impression. I still can’t get over the fact that there were people lying on the edge of the canyon just to get an instastory! I guess I’m both surprised and not at the same time.

Moving on to #Monument Valley, #Utah - Run Forest, Run! Have you ever watched the movie? If yes you’ll definitely recognise one of the most symbolic scenes that have been videoed exactly from this Valley (picture below). Definitely a place you shouldn’t miss. Filled with orange sand and large rocks that managed to form into numerous different figures (all with different names, signed in the park), a place that also gives away the magical native indian vibe, where you feel peaceful and calm. With the ‚Amercia Beautiful' Pass you have an entrance to nearly all National Parks (only some of them are exluded like Antelope Canyon) as well as full entrance to Monument Valley. I do reccomend investing in this pass if you are renting a car, it will save you quite a lot of money and it gives you a quick passage into the national parks (no queues!).

#Zion National Park - Angels Landing Peak. Overexcited to hike there, we swiftly discovered that when we arrived the Peak was closed due to wildfires >.< Well, well, well guess that’s bad luck :). Nevertheless, we took the #Sinawava Trail which is the trail below water. I do recommend renting hiking shoes if you didn’t take any with you to USA because in this trail you’ll certainly get wet. Going bare foot…well, for those who are brave enough, feel free to do whatever you want. We ended up hiking half way bare foot and then went on the Lower Emerald Pools Trail which is very easy, but also gives away the whole beauty of the park.

Unexpected #Bryce #Canyon - it’s one of the places that we weren’t sure if to visit or no. We ended up going there and being as mesmerised as everywhere in #USA. I was laughing that it’s a little dick canyon because of the sculptured shapes (you’ll understand if you see it). Again the canyon is available from the top or from the bottom and provides a staggering view. Going a bit further down through the shapes is quite a serene hike untill you realise you have to eventually go back up. Still I do reccomend „wasting” some time on seeing the canyon both from top to the bottom.

Back to #Nevada, #Valley of #Fire - I really thought that the weather was pretty drastic there when we saw the sign „Heat Danger Extreme Today” untill we moved on to Death Valley where the temperature was even higher. For those who don’t have strength for hot temperatures (im talking here about 48 Celsius degrees or more) I don’t reccomend stepping out of the car. For those who don’t mind the tempreatures it’s an interesting place to see and you should go through at least one trail (e.g Rainbow Vista or The Fire Wave). Hiking a bit further alows you to see all the rainbow colours naturally made by the valley. It’s something quite remarcable because it literally looks like rainbow inside the ground made of stones.

#Death Valley - there is a reason behind the name; the temperature was 51 Celsius Degrees. Not to mention that the world’s record temperature measured in the Valley was 53!!!! HOT HOT HOT! Perfect weather to cook your bacon and eggs ontop of your car (and yes this really happens there). Entering the valley makes you feel as if you were entering a different planet. Always when I imagine #Mars I imagine it as Death Valley. One of the coolest trails in Death Valley is the #Badwater Salt Flats 855 meters below sea level. The shape of the ground is totally unique, but unfortunately my photos don’t give away the unusual look of this place.

Finally…

Death Valley was the first stop in #California. I decided that I’ll do a seperate post about California because of the amount of information to give away. It’s impossible to provide all the information in one small post because you would most probably get fed up with the amount of reading.

I must say that all of the routes through #USA were easily accesible. The roads are totally empty (which may seem uncommon) and the landscapes change every 500 meters. I do recommend driving at least through the famous Route 66 because the villages are one of a kind and the food restaurants on the trail are just DELICIOUS! I might do a little post about some tips & advice on how to move in USA but before I’ll finish on California and perhaps later turn on my tips & advice section. Feel free to visit my #instagram page where you can see all of my instastories about USA States!