Day 22
Woke up at about 10.30am after a wonderful nights sleep and said our farewells to John. Got ready and put all our stuff back in the van.
It didn't start! Flat battery, so we got a jump from one of the Rangers and he charged us $15 for it - bloody cheek! Stopped off at a Western Union to find out if my money had been delivered but they sent me to Valley Branch. Back in the van and disaster! The engine temperature and the oil pressure both soared. We took it to the Chevron garage and for just $12 they sorted the problem out; a frozen pipe coming from the radiator. Then off to the Grand Canyon for a photo's session.
Took some incredible pictures, then after meeting with a couple from Orpington, we went to a gift shop where I bought some postcards, a badge and a yo-yo. I fell in love with a this beautiful suede jacket, a bit like mine but with tassles - very USA! Gorgeous jacket but I didn't have $290 on me - never mind.
Finally got underway to Phoenix and gave a lift to a couple whose car had broken down and dropped them off in Flagstaff. The view on the way to Phoenix was beautiful. The driving was going so well that we passed Phoenix and I drove to Tuscon where we found a dodgy little campsite and as we were all exhausted, we pulled in and got straight into our beds.
Thank heavens we're out of the snow 'cos it's still freezing.
Day 23
Woke up to be told we're not allowed to stay here but we can pay anyway!
We left Tuscon and drove to McDonalds to have somne breakfast. THen to a garage to fill up on our way to El Paso, first town inside Texas.
Fairly uneventful drive down but as we got into El Paso, everywhere we looked, there were people carrying hundreds of pairs of cowboy boots. Not wanting to miss out on what seemed to be the sale of the century, we parked up and found out the source of the 'boot sale' (ahem). It was a huge sale in a hall and there were thousands of pairs of boots, some reduced from $300 down to $75.
George and Kim found a pair each and I couldn't believe that there wasn't one pair I liked out of all of them. FInally found a gorgeous suede pair marked from somewhere in the region of $250 down to $30 - bargain! They match my jacket at home and my bag - cool dude! (note; OH-MY-GAWD!)
Drove through the night until we found the state park. Had a lot of trouble keeping our fire going but finally managed to eat eggs and bacon.
Got into bed after shaving and showering and fell straight to sleep at midnight.
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