Our last day in the USA. I get up and buy breakfast; ‘everything’ bagels and strawberry cream cheese. It’s a weird combination. I hadn’t realised ‘everything’ includes onion and garlic. Strawberries and garlic, not a pairing I’d recommend, although Heston Bluemthal probably has an ice cream that flavour. We start the day at the brilliant Getty Museum - an example of what you can create when money really is no object. If J P Getty had been born a century later and not struck oil, he would probably have ended up on one of those TV programmes about hoarders. But instead, he became the world’s richest man and amassed a formidable collection of art. Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Turner, Monet, Manet, Degas. It’s all here. The highlight of the collection; Van Gough’s Irises. There’s also sculpture, furniture, stained ... read more

Today is our longest drive. 380 miles to Los, 366 on Route 10, so my awesome navigational skills will not be in great demand. As most of the day will be spent in the car, I get up at 6 am and head for the gym. GCU’s colour is purple and they’ve not skimped on the colour scheme. I run 5 km in a haze of purple motivational quotes before we set off for LA. Soon we are back in California and off the map in ‘Lonely Planet Southwest USA’. I’m not sure how California is not in southwest USA and there has been correspondence on the matter. I pointed out that it’s about as south and west as USA gets, but Lonely Planet stood firm. I ended by telling them I hope Donald Trump doesn’t ... read more

Last night we slept well. It may have been minus 14 outside but the central heating means our room is like a sauna and it’s quiet like you only get miles from the city. I take a shower and count the towels. There are 15. I’m tempted to return to reception and discuss the environment some more. We leave our room to discover a herd of deer in the car park trying to work out why their food is covered with weird white stuff. After a tantalising glimpse last night, today we have a full day to explore the Canyon (from the top – it’s way too icy to consider going down unequipped). We take a shuttle bus to its furthest destination then walk back along the rim trail. There seems to be two sorts of ... read more

Las Vegas day 2 and tbh my tolerance level for this place was one day. We go down for breakfast at 8 am. The restaurant is in the corner of the casino which is already full of gamblers and a surprising number of people drinking beer. Even in my hardcore student days, I don’t recall having beer for breakfast. The hotel breakfast consists of a ‘basket of pastries’. I haven’t seen a fruit or vegetable since we entered Nevada. Junk food consumed, we take the monorail to the top of the strip to Stratosphere and pay $57 to spend 30 seconds in a lift to the top of the tower. Then to Circus Circus to watch a man ‘free ladder’. People around us are excited – they recognise him from America’s Got Talent. I assume he ... read more

I wake up and check the old man has survived the night, despite his encounter with a power cable. He is feeling better so we set off for Death Valley. The road climbs and climbs until we reach the top of Towne pass. We’re at 4956 feet and it’s zero degrees. Then we descend into the valley on a road that it is more like a roller coaster. By the time we reach the bottom, we’re below sea level and the temperature has risen by 18 degrees. The variation in the landscape is astounding. We pass the sand dunes of Mesquite Flat, walk through the yellow rocks of Golden Canyon to Red Rock Cathedral and wander across the salt flats of Badwater Basin. Next, the stunning Artists Palette with layers of rock in every imaginable colour. ... read more