Tuesday was always going to be a day of travel, but we managed to squeeze in a bit of site seeing along the way. The drive itself was eyepopping in its dramatic changes in terrain and elevation. We'd be looking out across vast plains, driving across them as straight as a die, and then be dropping 6,000ft in twisty mountain roads cut through solid rock faces of reds, oranges and browns. We'd pass through a small town and then have to climb thousands of feet again,...

We had arrived at the Grand Canyon at around sunset the previous night and the thunderstorm had followed us up from Sedona, so there was no real opportunity to get a first glimpse of the canyon. That meant the helicopter ride I had booked for Ailsa and I on Sunday morning would be Ailsa's first viewing of the Grand Canyon. Our alarm was set for an early check-in but I think a very excited Ailsa didn't have too much sleep ... maybe I should have waited until morn...

I'm starting to loose track of which day of the week it is, but I'm fairly certain it was on Saturday we drove from Scottsdale to the Grand Canyon via Sedona. I'm reminded it was Saturday by the huge crowds descending on Sedona for the day: loads more picnic-ers and sightseers than have bothered us at any other time this week. I'd planned a nice quiet and reflective trip up to the peaceful Chapel of the Holy Cross which nestles up on a hill, set into the rock, o...

One of the highlights of Arizona are the scenic drives and the most recommended one in the Phoenix area is the Apache Trail. It should have been a simple task of heading east out of Phoenix from Apache Junction ... but it seemed to take us nearly two hours to navigate Scottsdale/Phoenix and get to the start of the trail ... and it was supposed to take that long to take the trail in one direction from Apache Junction to its finish at Roosevelt Dam. It was getting ...

Heading from Oceanside to Scottsdale, Arizona will be the longest single journey of the trip and one that took us from the coast, over the mountain range and into the desert. We hadn't been driving long when the temperature started to soar, rising from a humid 75 degrees in Oceanside to a steady 100 degrees of dry heat as we climbed the mountain roads. By the time we arrived in Scottsdale at 4:30 in the afternoon the car was noting a sweltering 104 degrees Farenh...