Gypsies: Western USA Tour

The first part of our North America vacation, 2014, visited some of the iconic areas of Western USA.

(Note on photos. Click on a photo and a new tab or window will open at the flickr site showing a larger version of the photo.)

LOS ANGELES, PALM SPRINGS AND PHOENIX

We arrived at Los Angeles airport at 6:00 am. After finding our hotel and dropping off our bags we took a hop-on hop-off tour of LA. I find most cities and towns that I visit for the first time to be interesting and memorable. Occasionally I am unimpressed by a new city, and unfortunately LA fell into this category. To be fair, Margaret and I were very tired on the only day we had to explore it, so I might not have given LA a fair opportunity to show off its wares.

The next morning we joined the tour and headed for Phoenix (Arizona) via Palm Springs. This was the first time that I was unimpressed by two new cities in succession. Palm Springs has an exotic and glamorous reputation, but I found it dowdy and uninspiring.

Here is a link to our LA and Palm Springs photos.

Phoenix was an overnight stop on the way to the Grand Canyon so we saw little of it.

SEDONA AND GRAND CANYON

During the drive to Grand Canyon we saw Saguaro cacti ...

... growing by the side of the road ...

... and the attractively sited town of Sedona ...

My tired, jet lagged and grumpy demeanor changed immediately we arrived at the Grand Canyon.

And finally a video ...

Here is a link to our Grand Canyon and Sedona pictures .

MONUMENT VALLEY

Our next destination was Monument Valley. The scenery of this location will be familiar to many people as a large number of films have been made there.

Here is a link to all of our Monument Valley pictures .

ANTELOPE CANYON AND GLEN CANYON DAM

I had never heard of this beautiful slot canyon, which is very photogenic. It was a very pleasant surprise to visit it.

We did not see Hoover Dam, but visited second best, Glen Canyon Dam.

Link to Antelope Canyon pictures

BRYCE CANYON

Bryce Canyon was another location that I had failed to research before the trip and so was surprised at the sight of its characteristic formations called Hoodoos

Link to Bryce Canyon pictures

ZION NATIONAL PARK

We spent a few hours in Zion National Park on the way to Las Vegas

Link to Zion National Park pictures

LAS VEGAS

We visited a number of famous locations, including the Venetian ...

... the Bellagio ...

... and Fremont Street ...

Link to Las Vegas photos

DEATH VALLEY

Link to Death Valley photos

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

This waterfall is one of the iconic sites of Yosemite, as is the view down the valley, below.

SAN FRANCISCO

We spent five days in San Francisco, which is a city I immediately took a liking to. We had a chance to have a good look around and a rest from the incessant traveling.

We saw the bridge from many angles, including ...