We were delighted to have the chance to visit the western USA once again, having made two pretty extensive visits there in 1975 and 1981 when we were young and restless and had a base in Orange County :-). But we’d missed a few places, and really wanted to revisit some fantastic places we’d already been, so off we went again!

We hired a truck camper and headed north first into Oregon. We wanted to avoid snow driving and camping, and the weather to the east in Wyoming and Colorado had already become very wintry, so we reluctantly gave up the idea of visiting those states. We will try to get to Yellowstone and the Rockies again another year. As a result we were able to spend more time in Utah, Arizona and California, managing to drive 5400 miles (8690 km) in four weeks.

We had fantastic weather almost everywhere. Nights were often very cold, but our camper was pretty cosy, and we loved being able to camp in the campgrounds at National and State parks, where we usually had plenty of space to ourselves (and the bears thankfully stayed away).

Our trip began and ended in San Francisco, the only city we spent any time in, and an interesting place to visit. Highlights were just about all the parks we visited but if we had to choose, I’d say Yosemite National Park followed by Zion, and Pete would say Bryce Canyon followed by Yosemite. The landscapes are just so grand – we’d forgotten how beautiful and impressive that part of the country is.

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