Day1. Hangzhou - Los Angles

It took us a long time, as well as a long sleep to get to Los Angles since we transferred at Xiamen and stopped at Qingdao. After all the flights and shuttles, I thought I would be tired and not mind sleeping for another seven hours. But after finding myself being awake at two or three in the morning, I realized I was totally wrong. Maybe first-class tickets do not worth that much money since my cheap ticket already could bring me enough high-quality rest.

Day2. Los Angles - Palm Spring - Kingman

Jeep Ranger rocks! I mean we rent a Jeep Ranger Sahara, not Rubicon aimed for rocky roads, but the car did rocks! Although I preferred a red one, the prepared white one is handsome enough for me. The front space looked a little bit tight at first glance, but it turned out to be fine during our trip. JJ liked the vehicle very much, saying it gave him a much better view since it was taller than others. Since we only drove on paved road for the first few days, the four-wheel-drive function didn’t impress us at that time. We’ll talk about it later. We were supposed to have a nice lunch at Red Lobster on our way to Kingman this day, but it took us too much time on the road and in the outlet stores. This was the day we started to skip our lunches and dinners and live by the breakfast buffets. I did the most embarrassing thing this day: return and purchase the same products again to use a $30 off coupon!

Day3. Kingman - Grand Canyon - Williams

Lack of money, we booked a hotel far away from Grand Canyon National Park. So you can imagine how envy we were when we saw the people lived inside the park, or people lived in Tusayan, a small town near the south entrance. We managed to purchase an Annual Pass, which turned out to be not that necessary. The Grand Canyon was totally worth a visit. In this season, some paths were shuttle only. So tourists had to take shuttles from one viewpoint to another. The weather was hot, and that was the reason we went to far fewer trails than at Yellow Stone National Park, not that we got lazier than last year. There were kadakada noises all around the park. Until today, I still don’t know what they were. It was pretty scary looking down the canyon. I had absolutely no guts to step near the edge.

Day4. Williams - Grand Canyon - Horseshoe Bay - Kanab

It was a long way from Williams, where we lived near Grand Canyon National Park, to Kanab, where we had to participate in a lottery for the permit to the Wave. We changed our plan of going to Kanab, stopping at the north rim. Instead, we went to Horseshoe Bay. The view magical and was amazing and totally worth a long trail to get there. Thanks to me, we chose a rather cool time (after 4 p.m.) and didn’t even spend 2 bottles of water. Literally, I could sit there for an hour just staring at the bay, if there were not that many people and not that dangerous. Hoover Dam was not interesting for me. But a viewpoint for the dam not far away was great. The stones were like pancakes, and really red. No wonder there was a sign in the hotel saying “Red dirt in Arizona doesn’t wash”.

Day5. Kanab - Antelope Canyon - Grand Canyon - Kanab

I never won a lottery, neither did I this time. But we had another place to go. So it’s OK. Antelope Canyon is very amazing in pictures, but less amazing in retinas. But still, it’s worth a visit. I couldn’t help but wonder how cool it would be if I got a place like there in my neighborhood when I was a little kid. I could run around and play all kinds of games like “hide and count”. Our mother planet did a splendid job to provide those magical views. After leaving Antelope Canyon, we went to the north rim of Grand Canyon. It was much quieter than the south one. We took a fairly easy trail there. Unfortunately, all tables of a rather fancy restaurant were reserved. As we headed back to Kanab, the sky got dark quickly.

Day6. Kanab - White Pocket - Kanab

Although we didn’t get the chance to visit the Wave, JJ found out that the White Pocket near it was also worth a try. The only problem was that we couldn’t switch our car to four-wheel drive. For our safety, we decided to give it a last try in the morning. If it still didn’t work, we won’t take the risk to go to the desert area with two-wheel drive. Now I can assure you: The gear is indeed hard to switch when a Jeep is new! Don’t hesitate, just pull it while driving at a really slow pace. JJ was nervous since it was really hard to drive on the sands. But I was excited to feel all the bumps and dips. The White Pocket was different from any place I had ever seen, although it didn’t remind of the Mars as others said. Thanks to the cloudy weather, I got to spend two happy hours walking and climbing around. Just before we left the parking space, I did the second embarrassing thing in this trip: peeing under a tree. This day, we had our first fancy dinner just beside the lobby of our hotel. The chef had watermelon cooked with pork and it turned out to be delicious. The whole meal was satisfying.

Day7. Kanab - Zion - Las Vegas

We drove across the Zion National Park and took a bus tour in it. The road near the entrance was unique and paved with red material. A little waterfall was interesting. Many kids were playing there, not worry about getting their clothes and hands dirty. Leaving the park, we continued our road trip to Las Vegas. It was a pity that I didn’t get to know the smell of the “sandwich”. The buffet was good, but not amazing to me. We booked a room at Paris Hotel; so did the security inspector lady in the airport. Paris has a big fake artificial sky. Walking under it, I forgot the time. It was indeed a good place to spend money.

Day8. Las Vegas- Mojave - LAX

We drove across another famous place this day: the Mojave National Preserve. There were many cucti on the roadside, as well as other strange trees. I think those are unique and only grow in desserts. Desserts were hot. Having a large bowl of ice cream was cool. This day, we had our second fancy dinner: Red Lobster! Ever since I heard about it from Missy (Sheldon’s sister), I wanted to have a try so much. Finally, we squeezed a little time to have it. You know what? It was really good, although we had to rush to the airport then.