Up early and heading to Grand Canyon. The original intent was to go to the Grand Canyon then either stay there or go to Flagstaff, spend the next day visiting Sedona then heading north to Mesa Verde. Well plans dont always work out. We headed to Grand Canyon Village early, Arrived about 8.30 and it was packed already, fantastic views but people everywhere. After the obligitory viewing from the various viewing points we decided to check out the accommodation options. We pulled up at xxxx hotel which is right on the edge of the Canyon. Karen went in and was informed that there was no accommodation available within 80k of the canyon (apparently they are all linked up). I then noticed a bloody big shadow go over me, looking out the window I could see two bald eagles flying near the edge of the canyon. Once we got there from the car there was six bloody big bald eagles flying around at the edge of the canyon. They were so close we could hear the sound of the air over there wings (less than 5 m above us). This went on for about 15 minutes and was one of those classic moments. The eagles seemed like they were just having some fun flying around in the thermals.
As there was no accommodation available and we really didnt want to backtrack to Flagstaff we decided to beeline to Cortez Colorado to get ready for our visit to Mesa Verda. By the end of today we have covered 1200km in two days but we have covered some very different landscapes. Today we went from 13C to about 29C in the Mojave country to back to 16C and thunderstorms in the UTE country. We stopped and stood on the border of the four states Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The country is amazing. You can really picture all of the old cowboy movies and country associated with it. I have to comment thought that today I have seen more idiots doing crazy taking over stunts where they only get in just as the other car has to swerve than I have seen in the last 10 years, and I do a lot of travelling. Apart from that it was a fantastic trip. We are in Cortez Colorado for the night ready to visit the Aztec ruins tomorrow. So far loving the trip and the funny stuff we are seeing. We are paying 3.69 per gallon for petrol which works out to about 1.00 per litre. Stuff is a lot cheaper here, Walmart 24 x 375ml bottles of water is 3.75. That is about the price we pay for one bottle. A six pack of corona is $6. More updates tomorrow