I think of this trip as a bit like my 'baby', because I created it myself. Evenings and Sundays spent in front of the computer and over the maps to work out the best itinerary, helped by my faithful friend: the Lonely Planet. Over 2 weeks we'll cover 4,200 km on America's roads, crossing California, Arizona, Utah and Colorado and just brushing New Mexico. We booked everything online: flights, hotels and the car. The route is Bologna-Rome (1 hour), Rome-Los Angeles (12h15) with Alitalia, paid €1,200 with health insurance included for €50,000 (absolutely recommended). We booked the car with Thrifty and picked it up at the airport garage, where we arrive by the rental company's minibus. Waiting for us is our mega DODGE DURANGO 4X4 (€1,750 with collision insurance). It's really big and beautiful! The hotels, mostly Best Western, are all clean.
Here begins our travel diary, which I've divided by date below:
We're a bit dazed from the journey and immediately heading onto the streets of LA with 6 lanes per direction of travel in a car that isn't ours is no easy thing..but don't worry, we have Puddu, a driver by trade, and Ro, a latest-generation "navigator", who will take us, map in hand, to the hotel, the Ramada Plaza in the West Hollywood area. We arrive when it's already evening, and after a dinner at a fast food place we collapse onto the bed!
A day dedicated to visiting LA. We head straight to Hollywood and start with the Walk of Fame, famous for the brass stars set into the pavement and dedicated to more than 2000 stars. We took a stroll through the Moca & Highland shopping centre, which houses the Kodak Theatre, where the Oscars night is held. Outside, strange characters like Wonder Woman, Batman, Nightmare pose for a souvenir photo.
The 4 of us look at each other and think: IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME A HOLLYWOOD!And precisely for that reason we go looking for the sign on the hill, a not-easy feat, and when we find it we think of all the times we've seen it on TV!We pass by Griffith Park and head towards Beverly Hills.I was eagerly awaiting visiting it because when as a child I used to watch the famous TV series I had always dreamed that one day, when I grew up, I'd be able to go there!And here I am, I've grown up and I'm here.Beverly is a green oasis with its splendid villas with manicured gardens.Then it was Rodeo Dr.'s turn. The street of chic shops, and we had fun playing the Pretty Women of the situation (without however buying anything, given the prices!)
Today we dedicate to visiting S. Monica. I was left in ecstasy by this beach. The waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing on that vast expanse of sand, the lifeguards dressed in red, the light-blue lifeguard towers and the yellow jeeps driving back and forth, everything just like in the TV series! The air you breathe is crisp, it's California! People are constantly in search of the perfect physique, some train with a personal trainer, some bring their own dumbbells from home, some simply run. On the pier there's a playground and several souvenir shops. Then we went to Venice Beach, which I think is the nerve centre of California. The strangest people are concentrated right here. The seafront street, Ocean Front Walk, is full of shops and street artists who give full rein to their madness here. The centre of S. Monica is a very charming pedestrian area, full of nice shops and restaurants.
We take advantage of the low dollar and…unbridled shopping.
A day of travel through the Mojave Desert and an overnight stay in Needles......HERE ADVENTURE OF ADVENTURES....but it will stay between us!
A day of travel, setting off from Needles, a godforsaken little town in the middle of the Mojave and for that reason very characterful....here it's insanely hot, you can't breathe!! It must be at least 50°. We head to the Grand Canyon and stay overnight at the Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn. It took us forever to get here, we took it easy between one photo and another! We arrive when it's already late and we're not hungry. To bed without dinner! Tomorrow a wonderful day awaits us!
We visit the South Rim of the Grand C. in the morning. The entrance is €25 per car. We decide to visit it by car on the 2 available routes: Hermit Road and Desert View Drive. At the 1st viewpoint we stop, curious to finally see the G.C. An unexplainable spectacle unfolds before our eyes. The immensity and depth of the canyon unsettle our stomachs and we remain speechless before so much wonder. 1.5 km deep and 16 wide, at its bottom flows the Colorado River. I never would have imagined that the G.C. was in the mountains. The contrast is strong: the rocks of the canyon are the protagonists and all around, as a frame, the forests of pines and junipers from which squirrels and deer often emerge. We stop at every viewpoint and the view is unforgettable everywhere. We head toward Lake Powell, going deep into the Indian reservation which makes one a bit sad.
We visit the Glen Canyon Dam and here we finally are. We stay inside the park, at the Lake Powell Resort with a view of the lake.
The entrance costs €15. The things to do here are several and I recommend 2 days. You can join a boat trip on the lake or rent any type of boat or kayak. There's a little beach where you can relax and swim. We opted for the visit to the famous Antelope Canyon, whose excursions depart from Page (€32 each, organized tours only). We went with Roger Erik's Antelope Canyon tours. The visit to this canyon is something unforgettable. It lasts 1.5h and there are several departures; I recommend the one at 12, when the light filters straight down inside the canyon. A tripod is necessary for photos. The walls are wavy and look like spirals reaching toward the sky. When the sun filters through they light up orange and create an incredible play of light that I will never forget. Then it's time for Horseshoe Bend, which is between Page and L. Powell resort.
To reach it you have to walk 2 km through the clearing, and then suddenly the clearing ends and below you there's an abyss, a horseshoe-shaped hole through which the Colorado flows and in whose center stands a very tall rock that looks like a unicorn planted in the middle of the river. The colors of the water are very particular and intense, difficult to describe, with shades of gray, green and blue. We are speechless before this spectacle created by nature. We head back and drive toward Kayenta, and we have dinner at Pizza Edge. Set the clock forward one hour. We sleep at the Best Western Wetherill Inn.
The most beautiful day spent in the US, the one I will never forget in my life, the most awaited. Driving along I-163 I felt the emotion rising as I saw, at the end of this legendary road, the first rocks of the Monument; as soon as we passed the V.C., there they are, those formations seen over and over in 1000 western films, they are here before me and no matter how many times I had imagined them they were never beautiful enough as in this moment when I had them before my eyes. I am immersed in my own personal western film and I give free rein to my happiness. We go deep along the driving route (27 km) and at this magnificent spot, in front of the Mittens, we are alone, I put on my cowboy hat, Ro the Indian wig, and we turn on the stereo with the soundtrack of Trinity at full volume and start jumping and dancing before this wonder in total freedom.
I will never forget it! Very beautiful are the Three Sisters and the whole route; the orange sand and the blue sky with a few white clouds create a feast of colors! We have to get to Cortez and along the way we stop to see the 4 Corners, the point where 4 states meet, the only one in the US. You can stand simultaneously in Arizona-Utah-Colorado-New Mexico. I recommend doing your shopping here, cheaper than at the Monument. We sleep in Cortez at the Best Western Turquoise.
The entrance is €15 per car. Wrapped a bit in mystery and very fascinating is also this park, in which the ancestors of the pueblo built their homes by carving them into the rock. At the V.C. there is the possibility of buying the passes for visiting the 3 mesas at €3 each, which are Balcony House, Cliff Palace, Long House. We went to Cliff P. with the ranger who took us down, but my advice is not to go because in any case the site is clearly visible also from above and moreover you can visit another mesa, Spruce Tree House, for free. This site struck me very much, it looks like the landscape of a nativity scene. We continued to Moab where we took a stroll through its many shops and restaurants, very nice. We stayed overnight at the Moab Valley Inn.
It's Arches' turn today, which is 8 km from Moab. The entrance is €10 per car. It's the park with more arches than anywhere in the world. A scenic paved road runs through the park. Some arches are visible from the road, others are reached along marked trails. The most beautiful are Delicate Arch, Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch. Besides the arches, which are the main attraction, another 1000 bizarre rock formations rise in the middle of this park. We head toward Bryce Canyon and pay a visit to Capitol Reef, which is on the way but which doesn't impress me that much. Having arrived at the Ruby's Inn hotel, we decide to have dinner in the nearby restaurant of the Bryce Canyon Resort with some excellent meat! In front of the hotel the rodeo takes place every evening and there's an old western village where you can take some nice photos and do some shopping.
Bryce is a wonderful park made up of pink and orange pinnacles called Hoodoos. A 30 km road follows the whole canyon. The most beautiful view of all is Inspiration Point; also very particular are Rainbow Point at 2800 m altitude, Natural Bridge and Ponderosa Canyon. We visited it in 3 hours. Now it's time to head toward Las Vegas; we took Route 12 which cuts through Red Canyon with its incredible orange rock formations resembling "whipped cream," and Zion with its massive pink and red rocks that seem to swallow the road cutting through them. After 4 hours of scenic road and desert, there it appears on the horizon like a mirage
Las Vegas, the sin city… Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. We stay at the Luxor, in Egyptian style, and they give us rooms in the pyramid. L.V. is incredible, when you think of something unreal and exaggerated it's never enough! Every hotel has a casino and is entirely focused on gambling. Every hotel has a theme. The most beautiful are the Venetian, the Caesar Palace and the Bellagio. The 1st reproduces Venice complete with Grand Canal and gondoliers, the 2nd Rome with the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain, and the 3rd with Lake Como where the fountain show set to music takes place every 30 minutes. Also very beautiful are the Paris, the Treasure Island, MGM, Flamingo. From the outside the Excalibur is very beautiful, inspired by Merlin with its fairytale castle; then also the Mirage and the Mandalay Bay. All the hotels prepare delicious buffets at very affordable prices.
A little train goes around all the hotels. A must is an evening stroll along the strip to see Las Vegas lit up, and the Bellagio fountain show at night. 2-3 days are enough to visit it. I don't believe there exists another place in the world like this, it's worth setting aside a few days to visit it.
On the 14th and 15th of August we decide to spend them in Santa Monica, the call of the Ocean is irresistible. We go around many hotels before finding a place, everything seems full, then we find the Royal Motel Santa Monica (1 room for 4) run by Chinese people which is just perfect for us!! Cheap, no doubt about it, and after a peek at the rooms Sibi and I decide yes. We spend the 14th in S.M. and on the 15th we put on our 4 identical T-shirts, USA 2008, YES WE CAN, and go to Venice beach to capture with various photos this long-awaited moment, with cowgirl hats for the women and wigs for the men amid the amused looks of passersby!! Our vacation is over and tomorrow we return to Italy. This trip of 4200 km on the American roads was an unforgettable experience; we saw magnificent places and met extraordinary people.
I dedicate this diary to my fantastic travel companions Puddu and Sibi! Annalisa
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