Time to leave Vegas, and move on. As always, it seems to take longer to pack up our rucksacks than it really should. In fact, its probably the job we all look forward to least. Because we have the car, some of our stuff stays in the boot permanently unless we need it – things like sleeping bags, fleeces and sheet sleeping bags (for hostels where they provide the blankets, and you provide the rest). But there still seems to be tons of stuff to load/unload at each new motel. As well as our 4 rucksacks (although Emily’s is the size of a dinner party handbag!), there’s a laundry bag, a coolbox for drinks and things like milk, a food bag, with the essential basics (cereals and cereal bars for midnight munchies for the girls, and tea bags for Sarah), and a security bag that contains the Tablet PC and our passports and tickets.

Anyway, by the time we’ve loaded all of this, and had breakfast, we tend to get away around 10:30, when the sun’s managed to really warm up. We left Vegas as the thermometer went through 93-degrees, and headed north east into the desert, towards Arizona and Utah.

We left the Interstate at one point to drive through Fire Valley, and saw this dust devil making its way across a car park. They are mini-tornadoes, that spiral upwards, lifting up dust and small stones. We watched this one for a while, as it inched past our car – it was quite fascinating, although we don’t really know how they come about, and how they move. We’re hoping somebody else will know something about them?

We then drove on, through Arizona (hmmm, dry desert), into Utah (hmmm, dry desert), and through Zion National Park to get to Kanab, a small town north of the Grand Canyon. Zion Park is amazing, with dramatic canyons alongside the road. We only drove through it, and didn’t stop too long. However, we did take a photo, as after miles of desert it was dramatic to see. Most people visit the Grand Canyon at the South Rim, but we’d read that the North Rim is as dramatic, but a lot quieter and less commercialised, and that’s why we were heading to Kanab. It’s close to the Canyon, but also in the middle of triangle with Zion, Bryce and Lake Palmer National Parks. Over the next 3 days we hope to see a lot!

We found ourselves a brilliant hotel. Although it’s more expensive than the others we could have chosen, its also much, much, much nicer. More of that later. As it was late, we ate at a local fast food place and went to bed. Today we’ve driven 250 miles, bringing the total since we arrived 12 days ago to 1,200 miles.