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During the August 2007, my wife, our 14 years old nephew and I traveled out and around the west part of the USA - California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. Rather than grouping together 1000+ photos I decided to group them for places we visited.
Outward we left from Milan Linate and changed plane in London, then we flew to S. Francisco. In these pictures you can see the wonderful view from 11km over the Iceland.
San Francisco don't call it Cisco... at least according to our travelguide. Here we visited pretty standard attraction - China Town, Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39, Lombard st. and an astonishingly foggy and chilly Golden Gate bridge.
Sequoia National Park where those giant trees live. It is difficult to imagine how one of this kid is tall, it is something far from my everyday experience, not to tell how long they live - thousands of years!
Lake Isabella an artificial basin on our way from Sequoia NP to Death Valley NP. Interesting contrasts, but it looks far better in these pictures than in real life.
Death Vally National Park according to the name it's not a place where you want to stay longer than what is strictly needed, nonetheless is a place of exotic beauty. Rocks and sands take about any color available in the visible spectrum. The lowest part of the valley is well below the sea level (about 86m) and you'll find there a pond of salted water. The temperature in the valley is really hot, but it is something you can stand for a while.
Las Vegas the adult theme park, where everything is so fake that it shines. We went around the strip for a night (on the same day we paid visit to the Death Valley, so we were a bit... zombied).
Zion National Park our first exposure to the red rocks of Utah parks. Zion is not only a wonderful park, but it is really close to the nice small town of Springdale. The picture have been taken during two trails - the Angel's Langing and the Canyon Overlook.
Bryce National Park is an astonishing park, really a fairy world. Pinnacles, spires, steeples, peaks, needles, arches, bridges, warmly colored in red, orange, yellow, white... a feast for the eyes and the soul.
Escalante National Park We didn't stop in this park apart for the visitor center and a bunch of viewpoints. Too many parks indeed, not enough time to visit them all properly.
Capitol Reef National Park This is a huge park, we visited just a part and we regret not having allocated more time to it. There aren't many pictures because an approaching thunderstorm while we were in the Canyon (and we felt a certain urge to get out of there quickly).
Goblin Valley State Park is another amazing place, a small valley full of mushroom shaped stone and mud formations. We had a walk down there and it was like being on another world.
Arches National Park is the park par excellence, the Delicate Arch is the symbol of Utah itself and, I would add, the symbol of the Natural Park itself. We walked the Landscape Arch trail down to the Double O arch and then we attended a Ranger led visit to Fiery Furnace. At the end of the stay in Moab we succeeded at taking pictures of the sunset at the Delicate Arch. Don't be fouled by the apparently loneliness of the place, it was very crowded.
Dead Horse Point State Park is a small park sitting on the edge of a bend of the Colorado River. The panorama is wonderful. You'll find a composite picture created by stitching 6 photos together.
Canyonlands - Island in the Sky is the first district of Canyonlands NP we visited. It is somewhat similar to the Dead Horse Porse, just larger. We took a look at the Upheaval Dome a strange crater with a dome in the middle that baffles generation after generation of geologists.
Canyonlands - The Needles is another district of the same National Park. On the way we found newspaper rock a giant blackboard where ancient puebloans drafted their art. Needles is quite different from Island in the Sky, more in the scenario, and definitively hotter.
Mesa Verde National Park is in Colorado near Cortez. Here we found the building left from ancient Anasazi (or Puebloans) who lived here around 1000-1200CE. Interesting and fascinating buildings built within slots in canyon walls.
Monument Valley Navajo Nation this is the Far West Archetype. In an indian preservation there is a group of red rocks, parts of an ancient and disrupted mesa. Very spiritual place.
Grand Canyon National Park has no need, I reckon, for introduction. It is just so giant, huge and vast that it is nearly mind boggling. We also went a bit down in the canyon.
Los Angeles is a large city by every standard. We went to the Kodak Theatre and the walk of fame, next day we visited Universal Studios and then we had some good time at Santa Monica.
Our way back home.
