Location: Utah

Weather: Warm to Hot, 10/12C Night – 35/38C Day

We had the truck serviced and diagnosed in Denver, Colorado at MIT Auotomotive. The problem is definitely with the glow plugs. Rob the owner at MIT pulled the glow plugs and only one and a half of the four appeared to have any glow in them at all. Have ordered some more from Shaun at Rover Parts Ballarat to pick up at near Loredo at the Mexican/USA border in Texas.

Can highly recommend Rob at MIT Auto, he, his wife Corey and assistant Ted were great. If you are headed that way they are at 30735 Bryant Dve, Unit 601, Evergreen, Colorado, Phone 303 679 1610.

Whilst on the subject of vehicles, we try to stay of the Interstates. One rarely see any troopers on the roads so the locals do what they like. I find it bloody stressful as I can't/won’t push so hard to keep with the flow of traffic. There all in such a bloody rush. However, the interstates do keep the trucks of the minor roads that we try to use most of the time

As far as accommodation goes our truck/camper combo is our preferred place to be. Staying in accommodation, as was necessary in a suburb of Denver while getting the truck serviced, just doesn’t work for us. This one had an air conditioner that must have been made by Boeing judging by the high pitched whine it emitted. It also allowed dogs into the rooms. I thought hotels were only for two legged animals. Some may disagree!
Our preferred places to be at the end of the day are on National Forest Land. These appear to be the only places that allow dispersed camping (camping by yourself). Because the road systems in these parks can be a bit rough by American standards the big 5th Wheelers and Bus/RV’s won’t risk it. Other options are State Parks, and National Parks campgrounds that herd you together, or the dreaded RV Park with its design based on a gravel pit.

In a campground in the Arches National Park the other night (no National Forest around), a bozo in a bus pulled up across from us just on dark and fired up his generator to run their aircon. With the generator and the aircon running it was like camping beside a contruction site. At 10.15pm Gael thumped on their door and told them to rejoin the human race (why Gael I hear you ask!!!, because men who thump on doors at night in the U.S.A, could end up in the local mortuary before daybreak). The parks here have a 10pm quiet rule which these two would have happily ignored if nothing was said.

The things to see in the National Parks in the good old US of A are fantastic. The further we go the better it gets! We have been in the area around Moab in Utah for the past few days. The Arches National Park in Utah stands out as the highlight so far in this area. It’s hard to put the experience into words. Visually it is just the most amazing thing we have seen on this continent so far. And we are still to see the Grand Canyon down the road in Arizona!

The weather is warming up as we get further into the Southern States. It hit the old 100F/38C for a few days and any longer walks we have planned have to be done in the morning. It will get increasingly uncomfortable if we decide to head further south into Mexico and beyond. The weather is another thing that has to go into the mix along with driving an unknown brand vehicle in the Americas. Gael suffers in the heat, so we don’t want it to turn the trip into a test of endurance.

We ended up doing some unintended heavy duty 4x4 driving on the way to Bryce’s Canyon. One of the local Park Rangers said that the track we intended to take would be a breeze if we weren’t towing a trailer. Well, I if you weren’t towing a trailer behind your Sherman Tank you would find it a breeze. We, on the other hand, felt that by the end of the relatively short track that the closest the Ranger had got to this track was the map in his office. So, no more 4x4 short cuts in foreign lands!

But for the moment we are 'kicking ****’ over here and enjoying all that the USA has to offer. Currently at the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon. Will report further later.