The US certainly has not disappointed. We ve been amazed by the diversity of this country. The environment, climate, wildlife EVERYTHING can change so suddenly, sometimes within only 25 miles. There is often rich foliage at the higher altitudes, and desert conditions in the valleys. We have had something of a National Parks fest so far: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Death Valley, (Lake Mead a National Monument), Zion - The Promised Land, and now, both the Nort...

A story about a bear! "Pass the bear spray! There s a bear"  Without hesitation, Jen passed it over, but wondering, was it another wind up? The daring duo had only just arrived in Yosemite that morning, and were out for a quiet afternoon stroll to 2 waterfalls near the Hetch Hetchy reservoir.  Jen casually stepped to one side to see around the blouder that blocked her vision of the path ahead, and there, about 20m ahead, a Black Be...

Made it! After 28 hours of travel we are finally in San Francisco. Our journey started at 4.30am (Sunday) from the Youth Hostel in Vancouver with a 40minute walk to the Greyhound Bus. We managed a short sleep before the US border, before the ordeal of immigration and obtaining the 90 day visa waiver. It should have been a very straight forward bit of bureaucracy, but the border guards were far more interested in us than in any of the other passengers. Surely we a...

A very very very very long bus ride from San Francisco to Chihuahua in Mexico. It took over 36 hours in all, and 2 consecutive nights on the bus. As we left SF to LA it seemed like a big mistake. The Greyhounds are compact (crammed), and the first 15 people all pick a window seat. Everyone else has to decide who to sit next to - and pick wisely. The ´gentleman´behind me was drinking meths from a bottle in a paper bag and periodically vomited it back. ...

"Few such moments of exhilaration can come as that which stands at the threshold of wild travel. The gates of the enclosed garden are thrown open...with a wary glance to the right and left you step forth, and behold. The immeasurable world." Gertrude Bell, The Desert and the Sown (1907)It has taken a while to up date these pages. When we arrived, jet lagged in Vancouver 21 days ago we found internet access that cost 75p for an hour. We sent off a couple...