My Big Utah Road Trip #2

A few years ago (back when our dollars were at parity) I set off on a dream road trip. I'd planned it for months and months down to a ludicrous level of detail. It was the first trip I blogged, despite having travelled quite a bit before that, including Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, three prior trips to America, and Europe. I wish I'd started blogging sooner. It's fun! So if you like short, sharp, humorous little adventures, peppered with respectably good photography (at times), please follow, stay tuned and upvote!

Have arrived in Vegas, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. There are few words to describe that first shower after a long haul flight and a mind-numbing amount of hours awake.

Feeling like a new woman in a change of clothes, I headed straight for The Venetian and Palazzo because shops. It was interesting catching cabs, talking to the staff like I have a vague clue where I'm going, and walking around outside. I don't feel like a tourist here anymore. I've been enough times and know the lay of the land well enough to just hit the ground running now. It's good because you know when the cabbies are trying to take you the scenic route.

My cabbie assumed I'm British. How many times is that now?!??!! Doesn't happen much in LA, but ye gods, the Vegas cabbies get really baffled by the Aussie accent. On my previous Vegas trip with three friends, we had a cabbie assume we were British. When we said he was wrong, he tried to guess again after we supplied a clue. Being playfully facetious, my clue was "a little further south". Yeah, it wasn't obvious enough. He was still a whole hemisphere wrong.

Shopping completed, I came back and had dinner at the Pink Taco. I confess I ate it in record time. It's really, reeeeeeeally good Mexican.

I am nothing if not classy.

I then returned to my room (which as a side note, is big enough to park two modest sized cars in, between the bed and the door) and had visions of shuffling my bags and repacking in order to hit the road tomorrow. But one look at this enormous bed and the fact I've been on the go for 34 hours suddenly hit me. Yes, I had some minor kip on the planes but I was surrounded by a Wisconsin seniors bowling team from Sydney to LA and that's not as restful as you might think.

There is nothing quite like a good sleep!! But that brings me to one of the worst things about America, and it's going to be a daily gripe. COFFEE!!!!!!!! I did buy a latte from the cafe downstairs at the Hard Rock - who on my previous holiday here served BEARABLE lattes - but it was so utterly vile, I had to throw it out. Seriously, three sips in and I just couldn't take it any more. And there's no point taking it back. They don't know any different. So I set off without my beloved coffee. I knew it was going to be this way, but it still completely sucked donkey balls.

Things did improve dramatically when I was handed the keys to my very own Dodge Challenger.

OK, so I don't own it but hiring it cost almost as much as buying and for the next ten days, it is mine to destroy as I see fit. The guy at the service counter handed me the keys and said "It's a bad-ass car." I assured him I would drive it accordingly, more or less like I stole it. I then double-checked the level of insurance I had and was informed that even if I walked outside and found the car on fire, I wouldn't have to pay a cent. Copy that.

I stopped at Walmart before starting my road trip. Now all the Americans reading this won't even blink. All the Aussies reading this will wonder if I saw any "people of Walmart". (Sadly, no.) But the Aussies who have been to America and have been to Walmart are right now, I'm sure, banging their foreheads on their keyboards with excitement. Walmart is sensational. I bought a slab of water bottles for about $3, a bunch of those L'Oreal or Covergirl or Something mascaras for $5 each, antihistamines (box of 120) for about $10. You get the idea. One could gleefully run along the aisles, sweeping armfuls of "things" into your trolley and know you'd still not overspend.

Walmart. Because everyone needs this many Lifesavers.

Finally, I hit the open road. I'm doing this trip without a GPS. Just maps and my super awesome sense of direction. I knew I needed the I-15 and I knew I needed to be going north-ish. In America, that kind of knowledge will actually get you almost exactly where you need to go. Not like in Sydney where you need a treasure map, a compass, planetary alignment, a sacrifice to the gods of traffic, and a prayer to find where you need to be. (And when you get there, there won't be a parking spot for eight kilometres in any direction and you're wearing high heels.) Not the case in America, though. Really super easy. Stopped for lunch in a little town called Mesquite. (Like mosquito without the 'oh'.) Had dodgy Mexican from a dodgy looking place but survived. I understood the girl at the counter with the Spanish accent perfectly. Pretty sure she didn't understand a word I said.

But this little experience reminded me that most Americans are actually lovely people. A guy held the door for me as I was leaving el dodgy Mexicana. I thanked him and he immediately noticed the accent and began chatting. I asked if he was local, he said yes, so I double-checked I knew how to get back to the interstate. He explained a faster route to me, confirmed I had it right, wished me a lovely holiday, expressed jealousy over the car, and sent me on my way with "blessings". Nice people. We forget sometimes.

Back on the interstate, the landscape began to change. Less desert, more mountains. Before I knew it, I crossed the state line into Utah.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, I was swinging into Springdale. Managed to snap a few photos as the sun went down.

Had me an average kind of dinner but in large quantities. If I hike for eight hours straight tomorrow, I should be able to burn it off.

The lack of caffeine has made me tired at a surprisingly early hour. 10pm. That's unheard of!!

Let's see what sort of stupidity I can get up to tomorrow.