Wednesday 11 June – Zion National Park, Utah

We have an early breakfast, as we are going to Zion National Park, in Utah, and it's 3 hours drive (about 150 miles) away. “She-who-must-be-obeyed”, the sat-nav app on Reg's tablet, gets us to the start of the “freeway” without too much difficulty, and soon we are on our way. Once we leave Las Vegas (the city in the desert) behind, the scenery is just that – mundane desert scenery, sometimes with a backdrop of craggy hills, for mile after mile – no towns at all. Gradually the landscape changes to canyon country; before we enter the Zion National Park, the canyons, craggy peaks and plateaus formed millions of years ago – are mainly a sandstone colour. It seems to us that the road has been carved through the canyons, and even outside of Zion, as we approach the National Park, the scenery is arresting.

We stop for lunch just before the entrance to the park, and have our first taste of American “crepes”. Reg asks for just sugar and lemon on his, but both plates arrive with a huge dollop of whipped cream in the centre of the pancake. Reg tells the waitress that he ordered his without cream - she offers to scrape it off, but he declines; he would rather have a fresh one with just lemon and sugar. The “crepe” is quite nice actually, and Reg enjoys his when he finally gets it, especially when he's been able to squirt a liberal amount of fresh lemon all over it. To show the waitress that there's no hard feelings, we still give her a tip, and have a chat with her about Pancake Day in the UK; we talk about New Orleans and their “Mardi Gras” (literally “Fat Tuesday”) festival, the day before Ash Wednesday.

The Mormons were the first white settlers in Utah state,in the 1860's, and even today, 70% of Utah's 2 million population are Mormons. This explains some of the biblical names in the National Park.

It costs $25 to take your car into Zion National Park, and $12 each for those on foot. We think the $25 is money well-spent, as the scenery is spectacular. We drive through the gorge, or canyon, with steep orange-coloured rock cliffs and plateaus (sometimes with white peaks and cliffs behind them). We are told that the orange-colour is due to the presence of iron-oxide in the rock. Every so often there's a viewpoint, where we can park and get out to survey the canyons and peaks surrounding us.

The temperature must be above 30º C and despite the air conditioning in the car, I am wilting, although Reg is still enthusiastically taking photos. I'm not the best car-passenger traveller, and not relishing the thought of the 150 mile drive back to Las Vegas.

“Are you glad we came here?” asks Reg.

Yes, I am; it would have been a shame to come to Las Vegas without taking the drive out to experience this unique scenery. The additional short scenic drive to the Zion Canyon can only be done by shuttlebus; we hop on and enjoy an icecream and a cuppa at the café halfway around, then it's into to our car for the long drive back to Las Vegas. Reg prefers to do the driving in America, and I'm quite happy to let him, although I am insured to drive if necessary.

We're back in our hotel by 9.15 pm; we visit the hotel pizzeria, then just for fun we put my $2 “winnings voucher” from last night, in a different one-armed bandit. This time it's no fun as the machine gobbles up a dollar without giving me any winnings at all. We take a voucher for the remaining dollar to use on a different machine – maybe tomorrow.

We haven't even been to see the the other hotels on “the strip” yet – which we're told should not be missed – in fact we haven't visited the top of the Stratosphere, which is free as we're hotel guests. As we've said before – so much to do, and so little time to do it in! We've also found we need to allow for rest and relaxation periods.

I think today has been one of those days when I've thought about home a lot - Elaine has had car problems, our niece Sarah's baby is due, Arlie is changing and growing - and laughing and smiling a lot from all the lovely videos Marianne and George have sent us!  We're having a wonderful trip - but at times it's natural to feel far away from what's happening in "real life".  Travelling emphasises the fact that it's people - and especially loved ones - who matter in life, wherever you are in the world.