I'm officially National Park'd out. In the past week I've visited Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Add to that Olympic, Redwoods and Yosemite and my Parks Pass has had a run for it's money. I have to admit though when I drove into Denver today I hugged the asphalt and gave praise to the hot and cold running Starbucks, but the last week or 2 has been the highlight of the states so far. Colour me gobsmacked, the landscapes and scenery are epic and amazing - on par with the stuff I saw in Iceland. Those of you who remember my blog from there will understand what I'm talking about. Grand Canyon was awesome - photos do not do the vastness of the canyon justice. Zion is random with giant pink/yellow/grey mountains, a cool narrow canyon and obscure slickrock structures. Bryce is a massive eroded hillside with hundreds of spires/mesas and hoodoos everywhere (don't ask me). Canyonlands feels like a massive prehistoric time capsule. You can imagine dinosaurs roaming around and the place feels like its slowly crumbling and decaying. Arches, well, has lots of sandstone arches. Way cool, and way cooler than any man made arch. Lots of column and spires here too makes for lots of rock climbers. Also the massive white granite cliffs, waterfalls and pines in the glacial valley of Yosemite, the moss covered fairylands on Olympic (I know, I can't believe I said fairylands either) and the massive old trees in Redwoods (a hippie haven). It makes me glad I went through the hassle of getting Esme. Any more Parks? I have Rocky Mountains, Great Sand Dunes and Joshua Tree (where U2 recorded their album!) planned, but a massive snow dump forecast for tomorrow might make Rocky inaccessible, and the other 2 are a little out of the way. I'm also pretty keen to get to the beach and warmth of San Diego. According to Esme its 0 Celsius at 9:30pm which will get old fast, but we'll see.