Trek America: Santa Fe, Monument Valley and Grand Canyon

Onto the next part of our journey on Trek America, and we first stopped off in the small town of Roswell. Famous for that 'supposed' UFO crash that the US government covered up, Roswell is full of alien themed attractions.

It was fun to have a look around all the alien memorabilia, and there is an abundance of museums here, but if you have to go out of your way to visit this place then it's not really worth it.

Our stop for the night was in the city of Santa Fe. It was really cool to see the Adobe architecture here, which has a strong Spanish/Mexican influence. We wandered around the stalls looking at the gifts and souvenirs, but if you wander up to the oldest church then you can get some really cool photos of the scenery.

That night we stopped at an authentic Mexican restaurant (we were in New Mexico after all), and stayed in a motel for the night.

After a very long and bumpy 8 hours of driving the following day, we finally arrived at our next destination: Monument Valley.

The scenes here were breathtaking, and it snapped you from reality into the middle of a Wild West scene. A lot of Western films have been filmed here and you really feel like you are in a movie set.

We took a jeep tour with a native Navajo guide around the protruding rock formations, and got to climb them as well as look at a traditional hut that the Navajo tribe would sleep in. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on our side here, and it started to rain which made the jeep journey very cold. It was a lot of fun still and made for some great pictures.

We settled in for the night at a very local motel, which had the best view of the surroundings! Seriously, when I opened the door in the morning, the surrounding rocks looked fake! As we began the next part of our journey, we stopped at the famous Forrest Gump road.

View from our hotel room

If you've ever seen the film, then this is the scene where he is running and suddenly stops and says 'I'm tired. I'll think I'll go home now.' Naturally, we filmed ourselves recreating the scene and running up the road!

The next destination was one I was most excited about seeing: The Grand Canyon!

I have always wanted to experience the Grand Canyon, and oh my, it did not disappoint! Just driving in is breathtaking enough!

Our tour leader blindfolded us and lead us to the edge, before telling us to open our eyes. This was definitely a highlight! I cannot even describe in words how amazing the grand canyon is. The pictures here just do not do it justice. You simply have to experience it for yourself to understand what I am talking about. I recommend that people go to the Grand Canyon at least once in their lifetime, you will not be disappointed.

We stayed in a nearby village in the Red Feather Lodge hotel, which was actually my favourite hotel of the whole trip. No idea why but I just found it really cosy!

The next day we woke up at 4am to prepare for our hike into the Grand Canyon. This hike is dangerous stuff, and people die from the extreme conditions in the canyon! The heat can be unbearable, and it is so easy to slip and fall off the edge, so I was feeling a little apprehensive about it.

Luckily, we had good weather conditions where it was overcast at first and then it rained. It just meant that we didn't have to battle with the heat and dehydration.

Seeing the sunrise is an experience I'll never forget, and even if you just venture a little into the canyon, you will experience the vastness of this natural wonder. Once inside, the views are breathtaking and you can escape reality to appreciate plant Earth and what has formed. Our hike was the Plateau point, which is 6 miles down and 6 miles up. I didn't hike the whole way because it started to rain at the bottom which made me worried about getting out of there!

As the rain became heavier, the rocks became more slippery and it did make me worried about rock slides! At one point, the clouds were so low that I couldn't see more than 10m in front of me, which is a little worrying considering that one step could send you plunging down the edge!

We finally made it to the top though, and it's safe to say we were very sore and freezing! The hotel was perfect to come back to a hot shower and a comfy bed. I got straight into comfy clothes and just rested after an impressive hike.

Of course the hike is optional, but this is called Trek America and it would be a shame to miss out on this experience. Even walking a little bit is worth it.

After an intense day, I had one of the best sleeps of the trip. Maybe that's why I loved the hotel so much.

Stay tuned for my next post which features a helicopter ride over the canyon, Vegas and San Diego!

Trek America: New Orleans and Texas

The next stop of my Trek America tour was New Orleans. This was a place that I had always wanted to visit so I was excited to experience the nightlife and jazz music.

Before arriving, we stopped off to experience the Honey Island Swamp Tour. This was amazing and provided us with a close up experience with alligators. On our tour, we saw so many alligators as well as the inhabitants of a swamp. There were still ruins of houses that had been destroyed by hurricane Katrina over 10 years on which was sad to see.

Next stop was our hotel which was so nice! I was not expecting this level of accommodation on a budget lodging tour! We stayed at Hotel 504, which was within walking distance to the main strip: Bourbon Street.

One thing you must definitely experience in New Orleans is the nightlife! Bourbon street is lined with so many bars and clubs where you can take your drinks onto the street and hop between each one. We ended up buying a drink called the Hurricane, which has 16 shots in and is massive! This drink destroyed me and because I'm a lightweight, I can't remember much of the night. I know that it did end with us going to a karaoke bar and me choosing to sing Party in the USA.

Hurricane

The next day was greeted with a hangover from hell. The only thing for it was an IHOP! New Orleans in the day isn't as exciting as the night, and can be full of some dodgy people. One thing to bear in mind is your own safety, so never go off on your own and avoid the parts of the city that are known for being dangerous. We did wander around to take some photos, before finishing off the day tasting the local cuisine in a really nice restaurant and watching the famous jazz music.

French Quarter

With New Orleans ticked off my bucket list, we continued our journey across the country through Texas, arriving at Houston!

We didn't really stop over for long in Houston, as we were spending more time in Austin. But we did stay at a really cool hostel which was basically a house!

HI Houston 

In Austin, we explored some really cool shops and made our way to the Hope Outdoor Gallery. I found the cutest puppy in the world here! Afterwards, we went to the Barton Springs which is a really cool place to chill and sunbathe.

Later on in the evening, we witnessed the largest amount of bats in an urban area awakening and flying out from under the bridge. This is worth watching if you ever are in Austin. 

Of course, we couldn't leave Texas without sampling the nightlife, so we made it to 6th Street to hang out where the college kids go to party and play beer pong. Feeling hungover and very tired from the crazy nights we had, it was time to make our way into rural Texas where we stopped over in San Angelo.

We visited an old whore house which was quite funny, but I was feeling so tired after a crazy week of not much sleep that all I wanted to do was nap. After exploring the local town that looked like something out of a western movie, we headed back to the hotel for a well deserved sleep in a double bed.

San Angelo

The final part of this blog post is our stop to the Carlsbad Caverns. This is a national park and it was pretty cool to see the natural structures inside the cave. A word of warning, it gets very cold inside the caves so make sure you take a jacket! It was cool to explore the stalagtites and stalagmites!

Later that evening, we went to a drive-in movie and watched Suicide Squad. This was actually really cool and reminded me of that scene from Grease. It was a great way to spend an evening without hitting the clubs or bars.

The next day it was onto our next stop: Santa Fe! Keep posted for the next installment which will feature Santa Fe and Monument Valley.

Trek America: Washington, Nashville and Memphis

In an earlier post I mentioned my travel plans to join onto a Trek America tour called the Southern BLT.

It's no secret that my favourite country in the world is the USA. I have fond memories of holidays in Florida and New York. I have even worked in South Carolina in 2015 for 3 months, however I still yearned to see the rest of this diverse country.

Southern BLT (NYC to LA)

One of my ultimate places that I have always wanted to visit in the world is LA, so it made sense that this tour ended in this city. Starting in New York and making my way across the country through the southern states, I would end up in LA after three weeks of exploring the USA.

So, on an early morning in September, I hopped on a plane (to LAX... not quite, but to Newark) and began my tour with Trek America.

An early start on our first day involved meeting my new tour group and leader, and loading our luggage onto what would become a place we would spend a lot of our time: the trek van.

Before going on a Trek America tour, it is important to realise that there will be very long drives, sometimes up to 8 hours long, so if you get bored easily or travel sick then this might not be the best tour choice for you.

Our first stop of the tour was in Philadelphia, where we ran up those famous Rocky steps, and tasted the famous Philly cheese steak. After a quick stop to see the Liberty bell, it was time to move on to our destination for the next two nights, Washington DC.

Rocky Steps

World famous Philly cheese steak

Washington DC is a city that I can only describe as serious , very clean and oozing history. Home to the Whitehouse and a lot of monuments, it is the heart of US politics and a great city to visit. A recommendation to do is go to the Smithsonian museums (which are free) such as the Natural History museum and the Space and Air museum. There are so many that you could spend days wandering around the exhibits.

Hello Obama!

Our first night was spent doing an illumination tour of the main sights, which are great to visit in the day and the night. Washington is the scene of so many movies, so it was great to be able to witness these iconic monuments in person. After spending our free day wandering around the museums, we checked out the local nightlife by going to Rocket bar to have some group bonding time.

After a whistle stop tour of Washington and a night stop over in Virginia, it was time to move onto our next big destination: Nashville!

Nashville in one word is crazy! It is bursting with live country music and line dancing. Although we were only in Nashville for less than 24 hours, it didn't stop us from partying the night away in the Honky Tonk bar, which has 3 floors with different live music on each one.

We stayed at the Nashville Downtown hostel which is amazing and around the corner from all the madness.

The atmosphere in Nashville is incredible, especially as we were visiting on the 9/11 memorial weekend. There was so much patriotism in the air which made everyone extra friendly and upbeat!

After a crazy 24 hours spent in Nashville, it was time to move on to our next destination: Memphis!

Compared to Nashville, Memphis is a little on the quieter side but still bursting with soul music. Our first stop was at Sun Studios, where the likes of Elvis and Johnny Cash have recorded songs there. To experience even more of the rock n roll music and southern food, we headed to Beale Street to get a taste of southern style ribs in BB Kings. As we were there on a Sunday night, it was a little quiet but was much needed after a crazy night in Nashville.

Graceland

Beale Street

Our full day in Memphis was spent exploring the home of the king of rock n roll: Graceland! This is Elvis' home and is fascinating for anyone who loves his music. I had obviously heard Elvis' songs but didn't know much about him as a person, so this was great for me to broaden my knowledge and really appreciate him as an artist.

Later on that day, we headed to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous march of the ducks. This is a daily tradition that is famous and well worth watching. Rather than explain it, I've included a video of what happens, but you really have to witness it yourself.

Our time in Memphis sadly came to an end, but our next stop was the crazy city of New Orleans, which will be featured in the following post!