A.R.T.

I'm typing this from our RV - the one we're spending 3 weeks in on our American Road Trip (A.R.T.)  After a sprint to the end, as always, we finally got on the plane on Sunday morning to arrive in LA some 14 hours later - yet before we took off. Weird. All feeling somewhat shattered, we spent the night in an airport hotel.

I was really looking forward to the amazing American service. I have a feeling a few fellow antipodeans may have spoilt it for the rest of us. At dinner on that first  night, the waiter with a quick ear and poor English, seated us and then was clearly at pains to wait on out table. 'Would you like to look at menus?' He seemed genuinely surprised. And yes, we did tip him but cut it shy of the 15% just to reinforce what our fellow Aussies have started.

W collected the RV with much excitement which evaporated the moment we pulled out. Christ, it's huge. And the we're on the wrong side of the road. Again, I've been banned from driving by Geoff - and rightly so! We manage to get to a Walmart with some directions from a limo driver, no GPS, no phone, no map and me gasping more expletives in front of the kids than I think I ever have over their entire lives. But we made it. And it kept them quiet.

Back on the freeways armed with an old fashioned fold out map and you really do have to hand it to the Americans - their road naming (numbering?), signage and directions are brilliant. If we can get an RV out of LA and still not be screaming at each other, well, that was all thanks to them.

It took us all day to do that so our first night in an RV park saw Eleanor hooking up the sewage in the dark. That ought to address her private-school-princess syndrome. I've put her in charge for the entire trip.

The next morning our elderly American neighbours stated to Geoff "You're from England". Actually, Australia. "Hard to tell," she said, "being the same accent and all." Geoff just agreed.

Day three, the Grand Canyon and finally the holiday has started. A chopper ride over the prairie (I'm calling that, okay, it makes it sound more American) and dropping down to the bottom of the canyon was breath taking. A quick trip in a boat up and back on the Colorado River and back in the chopper. Unusually, given the US is unbelievably accommodating of people with disability, the effort to get to the river and back from the chopper with George rivalled some trips we've had in Borneo and Laos, and in honesty, probably didn't warrant it. But as I suffer from FOMO, I had to do it to know that, so no regrets there.

Onto the Skywalk - the glass deck that hangs out over a 1.2km drop to the bottom. Elle did a couple of cartwheels just to freak out some other tourits.

Another huge day of driving today to get to Monument Valley but well worth it. Geoff and Elle had a shoot off - for the best pic. Here's one of Elle's.

And finally, we're tracked back to town to discover the only RV park within a cooee is back out at Monument Valley. So here we are, tucked in a car park behind McDonald's so we can avail ourselves of their free wifi. It's glamour all the way for us.

PS No time to get Penny to proof read sorry...