Colorado to Quebec

We drove a lot for the last few days of the road trip. We did around 1000 km a day to get to our destination and didn't have anything else we wanted to see along the way.

Highway in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado Mountains

From the mountains to the plains. It is really cool how different it can be. You have the mountains with white peaks in the morning and fields as far as you can see in the afternoon.

The Plains

Bonjour Québec 

We are almost there. Just a few hundred kilometers and we are taking a break for 2 weeks. We found that idea really relaxing.

Arches and Canyonland National Parks

The road in the desert offers a great view of all those rock monuments sculpted from the erosion. It is an endless view with red dust and red rocks everywhere.

Desert Road

Arch

This is the first arch we saw. We had to stop as Seb was too tired so we picked the first spot to stop on the right. As we got off the Jeep that is what we found behind. Impressive and unexpected.

The two last pictures reminded us of a circle of people having a discussion... you need some imagination.

Balanced Rock

It is balanced until it falls. Its "neighbor" doesn't exist anymore as it fell in the past.

Balanced Rock

Turret Arch

South and North windows

Delicate Arch

A 4.8 km hike leads to this viewpoint. A must see. It is possible to see it from the road, but we strongly suggest walking to the top as the scenery surrounding the arch is breathtaking. Plus it is a good exercise!

Us with the Utah symbol 

Canyonland view

Canyonland

Canyonland

Mesa Arch

 

We really enjoyed the views in those 2 parks. The hikes are also really rewarding when you get to those viewpoints. A must see in Utah. We would like to go back with the Jeep and spend time doing some off road driving around Canyonland. We though we would visit those 2 parks in a few hours but ended up spending 2 days in Moab just for this. It is a good thing we don't travel on a schedule and can stretch the trip as we decide. 

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is really impressive. Even all the pictures we took don't give it justice. It is so big you can't realise it until you stand 2 feets from the edge. We were there for the sunset and the next sunrise. We camped in the camping close by. We got up at around 6 AM to see the sunrise. It was amazing.

Sunrise

There is no word to describe how beautiful and grandiose these views are.

Road 66

We followed it really close for the major part of our trip. It is one of the oldest and most historical routes of America: Road 66. It goes from Chicago to the west coast of California. It is filled with old dinners and motels.

 

You definitely have to love driving to decide to make this road a destination in itself. It stretches a long way with 3945km. We just did some small sections for fun. We also saw a presentation on it in Baie-Comeau, Qc at the end of this trip which made it more special for us as we saw some of the things discussed in the ''Grands Explorateurs''

Alcatraz

Since we were in San Francisco, we decided to also visit Alcatraz. It is in a lot of movies and everybody heard of it but seeing it in real is almost unreal. Especially in a foggy morning. It gives it a special mystery atmosphere.

The Cells

We did a self guided audio tour of the cell house. The tour brings you back to the past at the moment when the place was a prison. This period was only from 1933 to 1963. It was really interesting and we learned a lot about the history of The Rock. 

San Francisco from Alcatraz

I always thought that the island was further away. When you are there in person you totally understand why some of the inmates tried to swim to shore.

San Francisco

It is everything you expect it to be. Green and innovative. Everybody seems in a very good shape and healthy. There are dog walkers in parks, and everybody else is walking or jogging with their own dogs. There are also solar panels on quite a few houses and on parking meters.

Golden Gate Bridge

There it is, waiting for us, the famous bridge that everybody pictures when you mention
San Francisco. Did you know that there is a team of people working full time to keep its international orange color perfect. This was the original goal of the trip, even if we enjoyed every stops so far, we are really eager to visit this nice ''town''.
  

Us and ''the'' bridge

The Crookedest Street

This is quite special. You have all the tourists driving down, and all the pedestrian tourists in the middle of the street taking pictures.

Palace of Fine Arts

San Francisco

San Francisco

 One good tips for whoever likes to visit a city like we do is to bring a good pair of walking shoes. As you can see, walking around is more walking up and down in San Francisco.