6. Run Forrest Run, Monument Valley & Grand Canyon

As we continually encounter so many different experiences and views each day, we can't help but think that life is like a box of chocolates.  (Who once said that?)
Driving into Monument Valley, we stopped at the scene where Forrest Gump stopped running before turning around and walking back down the road.
We were also presented with so many unsurpassed vistas, it has been so very difficult to cull photos for this post.

" Run Forrest Run!"
At least this is the road where Forrest Gump stopped running, turned around and walked back through his followers.

Note the indentations in the road centre line; a possible cheaper alternative to adhering markers on the road surface.

There are countless miles of incredible rock formations along the way.
Not sure how long this tree stump has been here as most vegetation are smaller shrubs.

First glympse of the mighty Colorado.

Translation: Unsurpassed views in this area. 

The USA known the world over for its freeways and flyovers. 

Flyover by a motorised glider riding the thermals off the cliff face; snapped out of  the bus window as we weaved down towards Monument Valley.
This same glider flew over us about an hour later on the valley floor.

Monument Valley presented another clear desert day and an informative Navajo guide with a great sense of humour and history.
In one large canyon, four echoes could be heard at one stop, echoing back and forth off the solid rock walls.

Straight out of the Westerns. 

The West or Left Mitten

Director John Ford's Lookout, his favourite location from the 1939 movie "Stagecoach".
John Wayne did well in staying on the horse in the above photo.

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt climbed this in the Mission Impossible 2 movie.
We were advised he was put on top by helicopter.
(Incidentally, the top of this butte is the size of two 4WDs, which were lowered on top for a US car commercial.)

Hogan Hogan Cave

A little lie down after a long day.
Navajo guide, Jamie, is indicating which way to look. 

One for the imagination.
A giant eagle's head with the hole as the eye in the top of the cave. 

Ancient rock art indicating how animal design has changed considerably over the years.
The two toed, four legged speckled scrub turkey was once common in this area.  

Jamie, our Navajo guide and dancer.
Full of life, laughter and stories. 

Grand Canyon is surely one of the marvels of the world.  The size is hard to comprehend with so many parts of the canyon we've yet to explore.

One serious case of erosion. 

A mile deep and some of the oldest rocks in the world

Find the soaring raven zoomed in from a distance!

We opted for a helicopter ride over and into the canyon, and were even given a small life jacket in case the helicopter happened to ditch in the mighty Colorado River; which features pressure waves in rapids of up to 30 feet or 10m high.
The life ring would no doubt have come in very handy in event of a ditching.

Our EC-130 Helicopter complete with three pilots for safety.
Two are there for moral support only.

The colours and shapes, combined with immense size of all seen, was hard to take in. 

Just look at the shapes as we look down towards the valley floor. 

Next day, a shuttle bus took us to the old Hermit's Rest before taking a quiet walk back to the main tourist areas.
We met some locals quietly enjoying the solitude of the bush.

Not a bad fireplace for a hermit. 

Morning light made it hard to comprehend the depth of field.

From the rim, the river looks gentle and dead.
This shot is zoomed in 65 times to show the world class rapids. 

Anne Elk and child?

Cute little fellow!
New Zealanders would probably love these as much as they do the Australian possums, which have taken up residence in the land of the long white cloud.  

The views and colours change continually as one walks around the rim. 

The track is largely void of fences despite regularly being close to sheer drops into the void. 

We sensed Darth Vader was following us. 

Safety fencing hasn't kept abreast with much of the world.
Not a place for unleashed toddlers. 

More than 250 people have lost their lives world wide over the last 5 years by taking selfies.
These folk seemed to be doing their best to add to that number. 

As the light faded into dusk, the canyon took on more depth and colour.
Two of our group took eight hours to walk to the end of the track (visible roughly mid-way of the photo) and back up again. 

Night time approaching. 

And finally to look up and see a moon which looks incredibly similar to the one in the southern hemisphere.
: )

A detour off the freeway to Seligman in Arizona (pop 456), one of the Historic Route 66 towns, showed memorabilia and memories of the famed American Dream of the ultimate road trip.
So many towns bypassed by freeways are dying, however, this one is doing its best to rejuvenate and survive.

Tourists as well as Souvenirs are welcome.

We are in the wild west!

Every modern convenience, even new colour TVs. 

To think that so many are afraid of the wildlife in Australia.
At least a crocodile cannot crawl into a sleeping bag without waking the person sleeping in it. 

Then onto Joshua Tree National Park back in California for totally unique flora, and of course, more rocks.

The puppeteer and the puppet.
Life is all about perspective!

Skull Rock is reminiscent of the old Phantom comics.
That must be Dianna Parker at the eye. 

Firstly to the Cholla (pronounced choya) Cactus Garden which has been blacklisted as a landing zone by parachutists.

Cholla (pronounced choya) Cactus Garden, also known as Teddy Bear Cactus, due to their cuddly appearance.

They are more like Grizzly Bears though, as a simple brush against them could result in needle sharp barbed spines breaking off in the skin.
(The local Information Centre, sold colourful plastic disposable tweezers!)

Joshua Trees were named by early Mormons believing they looked like the biblical story of Joshua, reaching his arms up to the sky in prayer.

Joshua trees can take 50 years to reach six metres in height; and can live for 500 to 1,000 years. 

Joshua 1:9
"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

As Dionne Warwick sang in 1968, "LA is a great big freeway", hence it was up the road over the San Andreas Fault (one of the many faults in the US), past 4,000 wind turbines and into LA civilisation proper for a night for the termination of our fantastic Intrepid Tour, before heading east.

Wind turbines of all maturity thrive in the San Andreas area. 

Like sunflowers or Joshua trees giving praise. 

Our time on this tour has been amazing.  It is surprising the diversity of all we have seen in the last 18 days; all with some magnificent people.
We look forward now to some very different scenery as we head east, with a less physical type of travelling.

Since starting our tour in San Francisco, we have covered 7,600kms in our tour bus.
On top of this in the four weeks since arriving in the USA, we have ourselves averaged 18,000 steps and climbed 51 staircases each day. due to some great hikes in the National Parks and many hills in San Francisco.

We leave with the following comments taken from the track at Hermit's Rest on the Grand Canyon rim walk.

Happy ventures.
Cheers, Don and Carrol