Hi there!

How are you all doing? I apologise for not been posting a message on my blog for so long, but when you're camping in the desert it's pretty hard to find an internet connection:) So it's time to update you i guess and with the help of my little diary i'm keeping that won't be a problem. I will give you a short summary of each day, so let's go back to where i finished my previous message.

October 8th: New Orleans, Louisiana
We just spent our last night in New Orleans and as we left the town the following day i was shocked by the damage that was still visible from the hurricane three years ago: houses were broken, roofs were gone... That night we arrived in San Antonio, Texas.

October 9th: San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is considered as the birth place of Texas. Before it belonged to Mexico, as well as Utah, California and Arizona. Through the town a little river flowed (i thing it was an artificial one), giving a really nice atmosphere! At night we did some pumpkin cutting using certain Halloween patterns. It was much harder than i thought it would be, but at the end i succeeded to cut a spider web and we had a lot of fun!

October 10th: Del Rio, Texas
We crossed the border to Mexico and although it was only a couple of miles away from the US, it seemed like we found ourselves in a completly different world: mexican hats, cowboy boots, taco restaurants as far as you could see! In a local park, we ate nacho's (with a lot of cheese on top of it!), had the best taco's ever (they were totally different from those we ate before in america, these were crispy, rolled up very thin, stuffed with beef and a dressing on top) and how could we not end drinking a tequilla :) Entering back in the US took us over one hour and we ended up setting our tents in the dark and having dinner at 09.30 PM.

October 11th: Carlsbad, New Mexico
Because this was our first night in the dessert, me and Lucy were so looking forward to the sunrise that we decided to wake up at 05.30AM to enjoy the wonderfull upcoming sun! At 06.00AM it was still dark... Finally at 08.30AM it became lighter but without a rising sun! It turned out to be a cloudy morning :) In Carlsbad we visited a beautiful cave with a lot of stalagmites and stalagtites. A little bit further away there was an other cave and every summer 400.000 bats are coming over from Mexico! Every evening at 06.00PM they come out of the cave, looking for insects to eat. It was amazing to see them and hear their wings flapping!

October 13th: Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah
Monument Valley is the largest indian reservation of America. Years ago the Navajo people came from Asia, through China, Russia and Alaska to Canada and made there way to the US. They don't have any electricity or streaming water since they wanted the area to stay as natural as possible. Fourteen families are living their, having their own believes and religion. I will try to tell you how this valley looked like but i allready know that this will be impossible. You have to be there to experience the beauty of this scenery, it was absolutly amazing! We arrived at 05.00PM and start discovering the reservation by jeep. Massive red rocks as far as you could see and this in combination with the light of the undergoing sun made it perfect although it was really freezing out there! I've never been this cold and the wind felt like cutting in my face.. Once we arrived at the hogan (name for the Navajo hut made of clay on the outside and wood on the inside with a fire place in the middle), there was a fire to keep us warm. Later that evening they did some traditional dancing for us and at the end we joined them because it was too cold to sit down and not move.

October 14th: Grand Canyon, Arizona
At 06.30AM we woke up and the jeep took us to the perfect spot to watch a real sunrise :) At first it was still pretty dark but as soon as the first sun rays showed up, it didn't take long for the sun to come up and shine! In the afternoon we arrived at the Grand Canyon, having our first views from inside a helicopter! These mountains together with Monument Valley are the two most beautiful things i've ever seen!

I promise to tell you later about the Grand Canyon, Zion and Las Vegas but right now i'm pretty tired, so it's time to go to bed now.

Good night and see you later!
X