What? No free brekky at the Best Western? That's a b*****, having to pay for it for once!!! So we headed off to the famous San Diego Zoo and found it was only a couple of kilometres away - huge free parking lot and after buying our tickets we grabbed a coffee and a bite to eat and then set off exploring. Luckily for us, most of the schools have resumed after the summer holidays, the crowd was light and we were able to get a bus tour around the huge place and ...

Another lazy start to the day with a 9am breakfast after a great nights sleep! This motel has been especially comfortable! Set off following Route 66 through the desert and up through some mountains, passing numerous old mines and then at Goldroad we saw a modern operating mine smack back in the middle of nowhere! How the hell the early settlers got themselves through this arid country and then over a 1,500 metre range is beyond me - man, they must have been toug...

A fine and clear day greeted us, after a bit of a sleep-in we had breakfast and then drove into town and put the car through a car wash and vac to get rid of the tell tale dust after our Monument Valley misadventure! That accomplished we stopped at a Safeway to get some wipes and gave the interior a going over as well - the Dodge was like new again! Starbucks for a coffee and then we had a walk around town, where they have really jumped on the Route 66 bandwagon ...

Awoke to rain and thunderstorms this morning - first we have seen for some time! Had some breakfast and then as we went back to our to get our things for the Grand Canyon Railway, the door to our room refused to open!! We only had half an hour to get to the station so it was a bit of a panic while the maintenance man was called but he couldn't budge the bloody thing! Another staff member had to get in the window and open it!!!! So much for security!!! So it w...

After a lovely breakfast served outside on the lawn area at our motel (the owners are in the process of renovating) and a nice chat with the owner, we set out for Monument Valley, stopping first at the Natural Bridges National Park where we did a 14km loop with some amazing views of canyons with 3 natural rock bridges! That done we headed south for quite a way before turning off to see the Gooseneck Canyons which were quite superb - deep canyons cut into the land...