The View From Here: "Once in a while you get shown the light..."

"...in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

15. Friday 21st September - South Rim of the Grand Canyon
CB got up at dawn to watch the sun rise over the Monument Valley Buttes, and I hear it was fantastic. I woke up long enough to look out the window before going back to sleep for an hour. I would love to be a morning person, but I am a Philly and mornings are difficult for Phillies!

On the drive to the canyon we stopped at an ancient Puebloan cave dwelling - well not actually there, but the closest viewpoint. I could say this about every picture from the holiday, but honestly the photo just doesn't do it justice.

This houses 125 people in its hey day and is amazingly still in such good shape it looks as though people could move in again tomorrow!

The South Rim of the Canyon was just as spectacular as the North. We found a little-used hike to an amazing viewpoint, which we had to ourselves for half an hour. Considering how busy this tourist attraction is, I would say it was a miracle!

16. Saturday 22nd September - Sedona, Jerome and Lake Havasu City
I though Sedona was going to be a soulless highway of concrete and malls, but actually found it to be kinda funky and cool. Great hippy vibe and kooky little shops to walk around and point at the weird yet horrendously overpriced crystals and junk. Brilliant.

Jerome was nearby, up in the mountains. It used to be a ghost town until a load of artists moved into the crumbling houses in the 1970's. Now it is an odd mix of artsy stuff, touristy stuff, and ghost-themed stuff!

We then carried on to Lake Havasu City, which is famous for little else but having London Bridge! I'm not sure whether Robert P. McCulloch thought he was buying Tower Bridge or if he knew exactly what he was doing, but he bought the bridge from the City of London Corporation in 1967 and it was dismantled and transported brick by brick to be rebuilt in Arizona. It's kind of brilliant. Obviously I've spent a lot of time in London, walking up and down its bridges, and I felt strangely at home on this one. I sang as many typically English songs as I could at the top of my voice whilst strolling along it. I'm sure the locals loved me!

17. Sunday 23rd September - Joshua Tree National Park
Wow this place is cool. Incredible and other-worldly. It somehow managed to be both desolate and lush at the same time.

Absolutely boiling hot though, and no water anywhere other than at stations on the outskirts of the park. And we drove through the whole park. And it wasn't small!

Driving to Palm Springs from Joshua Tree we got into a huge traffic jam for hours, and by the time we made it to our motel no restaurants were open. Luckily I NEVER eat fast food so when we had to go to MacDonald's I actually found it quite fun!

18. Monday 24th September - LA (Anaheim)
The drive from Palm Springs to LA gave me little to report, other than the fact that freeways are terrifying! We stopped at Walmart for an extended pootle around it's hallowed aisles, ended up buying a little bluetooth speaker. Walmart really is amazing.

We found a cool mini-golf course in Anaheim where I proceeded to throw a huge tantrum because I was losing. Not my finest moment. In my defence, I think I was overtired and dehydrated. But then after showering my bad mood away, I realised I had lost my bag with my moisturiser!

Not a good day for Philly...

19. Tuesday 25th September - Disney
Oh. My. Dear. Lord. I love Disney.

We got there for about 8.30am (to be there when it opened) and we left the Park at about 10.20pm (as it was closing).

It was SUCH A GOOD DAY!

20. Wednesday 26th September - LA (West Hollywood)
After a harrowing drive to the California Science Center, we had an absolutely fantastic day.

First we saw an Imax film about space travel and the plans for going to Mars, then we spent a few hours in the King Tut exhibition. We only got tickets as we were going to be at the Center anyway, but oh wow was it good. There was about 166 pieces from his tomb, 66 of which had never been outside of Egypt before. And I am now very much hankering to go to Egypt!

Finally we then saw the retired Space Shuttle Endeavor. This is my second space shuttle, and I really like them.

They are just overwhelming in size. And engineering. And the knowledge that they have been to space! Plus learning about the shuttles, the missions and space travel in general is always a win for me.