The Grand Canyon and Zion National Park

Thanks to our American friends, Laura and Ida above, we spent a wonderful 2-3 weeks in and travelling around Utah and Arizona in 2008.

In Utah, we encountered some stunning scenery.  The first of the two pictures above is of the incredible rock formations from Cedar Breaks, while the second one is from the mountains high above Salt Lake City.  In these mountains, we were honoured to see several small woodchucks (groundhogs) who came out of their holes to see what we were up to.

However, possibly the most stunning place we saw in Utah was Zion National Park with its distinct red rock formations.

Walking round Zion National Park was quite clearly thirsty work, but our American friends, Laura and Emilia (in the first picture below) were well prepared.

Another highlight of the trip was stopping off at St. George, then driving over the Utah-Arizona border (I think?), and watching a truly massive and incredible stage performance of 'Les Miserables' out in the desert (the picture above).

However, perhaps the pinnacle of the trip was the visit to the Grand Canyon in Arizona (in the picture above).  Of course, the Americans are always incredibly well-organised, and, in the location in the picture below, there were massive log cabins; souvenir shops; a pizzeria; and, believe it or not, a saloon bar selling Real Ale.  Yes, I'm happy to say that Real Ale seems to have taken off all over the US.

What a nice experience it was to have a pint of Real Ale at the side of the Grand Canyon.  Unfortunately, I haven't got the picture.