We flew from Merida in the Yucatan to Mexico City, and had a much better stay this time. On one morning the streets were completely empty of the street sellers, and the city felt completely different. We visited the key temple outside the City - Teotihuacan - and I´m pleased to say this was a much better experience than Chichen Izta. The temple is famous for its pyrimads - they are second in size only to the Cheops in Egypt (I believe) AND tourists were able...

As I was saying...  The snow was now coming down harder, the ABS brakes were employed as we successfully got over the col, and made a very slow decent down the other side. At last, the road was flattening out, but the snow coming down ever harder. The road conditions were now of packed snow and ice, and with little idea of how far we still had to go and the gradients up ahead, we pulled in. It was time to have a think about what to do. We were next to a ...

Well, we headed north in the end, despite the snow covering the mountains around the valley of the Great Salt Lake. We hoped to see the Tetons, which had been reccommended by many fellow hikers in the other National Parks - particularly by Matthew. If we could see the Teons, we could then drive up through Yellowstone, hopefully have a walk there before heading back west to the coast, weaving our way through Redwood National Park and the beaches to the North of SF...

The travels continue with more National Parks. We don´t seem to be spending very long in anyone place. We´ve now been to the Arches, Capitol Reef, CanyonLands and enjoyed the impressive red rock Colorado plateau. After experiences in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas we have also learned to avoid the cities. The crazy grid system means traffic has to stop on traffic lights on every single block. The US of course has far too many cars and a huge environment...

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...