Awoke to more snow in Salt Lake, but the day was brightening as I set off for the nearby Copper Mine. Sadly that was closed due to the weather at the peak (yeah, you have to go up to get into the mine), so I took advantage and set out for the Arches National Park. The drive was a mere 3 hours and the roads got nicely twisty through some mountainous regions. Slowly the snow receded from the hilltops and the rocks turned a burnt orange colour. Arches is a fairly sm...

Yesterday Yellowstone was bright and chilly, this morning the snow had arrived and 3 inches or more covered everywhere. I set off towards Salt Lake with some caution. In fact the drive was pretty uneventful, but stopping to fuel I realised I had no idea what to put in. Turns out it's a petrol engine, but I probably looked a bit of a weirdo sniffing the fuel tank then the pumps to work that out. Nothing unusual there. By 2pm I'd covered 250 miles and was in Salt...

300 miles down and 2700 to go, I've made it this far in a car that turns like a bowl of soup and rides like a waterbed. The flight into Billings was over some great countryside and I couldn't wait to get on the road. It was with great relief that the car rolled onto the Interstate on the right side of the road, and I ploughed on to Gardiner, just North of Yellowstone. The further down the route, the taller the countryside became, until the mountains on either s...

The train to DC was enlivened by a happy guard who virtually sang the names of the stations as we drew into them. As the train passed on low bridges over the Delaware river The scenery passing the window gradually became more leafy. Arrived in DC just after midday and set off from the hotel for a walk round the nearby Arlington Cemetary. Along the way I passed the immediately recognisable Iwo Jima monument which had some great views over the river into the hear...

Arriving in Philadelphia I was immediately confronted by a man spreading cream cheese on a bagel. This couldn't have gone better if I'd tried. First stop on the tourist trail was the Art Museum, notable for its appearance in Rocky (the montage in which he studies the impressionist movement to suitably stirring trumpets), a fact commemorated by a suitably grotesque statue of a triumphant Balboa just outside. Next up the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Thankf...