Coast to coast ... oversize

 

After the "usual" troubled pre-weeks vacation, sick with Frederick and then ran to the right and left, including physicians, pharmacists and First Aid, after the inevitable working practices to be closed and the providential recovery in extremis of the small and then after an interminable marriage yesterday committed us into the night ... after all this, though slightly tested, we are ready to leave for another trip, very intriguing but far from relaxing ...
We will not be alone in this upcoming adventure, but in the company of grandparents, so as to repeat the successful experience of three years ago, and today, as then we're going to do in the States, this time, an incredible "coast to coast: in just three weeks, a little madness ... Washington (the state capital of this enormous, as big as a continent), the Atlantic Ocean, Los Angeles, the Pacific Ocean, through fifteen states, touching the north and south of Canada, Mexico, something that, with l ' help of good fortune, may remain an indelible mark on our lives of passionate travelers.
Three hours of sleep and poor sound the alarm, so sleepy but full of adrenaline I get up from bed at 5:15 am, car, grandparents ... He accompanied them to the station and then come home ... Meanwhile, preparations are also Sabrina and Frederick, at 6:00 so allocated, together with other grandfather (we have involved all their relatives!) And reach the station our fellow travelers.
The train arrives on time at track 1 and at 6:30 we ran on the tracks to reach, less than an hour later, just point to the station of Bologna ... From there, after we trudge all the luggage up and down the stairs (living modernity!), We get on the shuttle that shortly before 8:00, get in front of us at the entrance to Marconi.
Embarkation suitcases directly to Boston, we make a quick breakfast and then we go beyond the metal detectors and we started waiting at the gate number 21.
All goes to programs and not have to wait beyond the scheduled time, so, got on the flight AF 1229, an Airbus A318 of Air France, twenty minutes after 10:00 deadlift to Paris ... Get going and crossed the Po Valley, then fly over the still snow-covered Alps (probably the Aosta Valley with impressive peaks of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc visible), so France is waiting on one large expanse of clouds.
We land at Charles de Gaulle at 11:39, in autumn, while rain and greyness persistently dominates uncontested, but we do not care too much about the weather and let us be done immediately to avoid losing the next flight, as the time we have certainly not abundant.
We move from Terminal D to Terminal A and after a mini-interview, for security reasons, we walk past the bar again on American Airlines metal detectors and through port 48A to climb on the Boeing 767 which, identified as AA flight 147, almost right on time, roll on the runway in Paris and share rooms to address the North Atlantic that will lead us once again in the States.
For a moment we see the unmistakable silhouette of the Eiffel Tower and then we dive through the clouds, so the show becomes a single window over the immense expanse of white, blinding water vapor ... Never seen so many clouds in my life: the old Europe it is completely covered, at least the part that we fly over, and also a good stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. I take this opportunity then to fix the clock on the time zone of arrival (six hours less) ... and in the blink of an eye is again morning.
Occasionally one sees a few spots of ocean then, a handful of minutes before 15:00, we begin to fall, and we soon sighted land at 15:12, the wheels of our plane gently alight on U.S. soil ... and for all of us begin a new adventure stars and stripes ...
Face the increasingly intractable problems without U.S. Customs, but time is short because we are facing another flight ... We'll collect your luggage safe and sound and soon embark for Washington, then try and find the shuttle to move from Terminal E to Terminal B ... We have just half an hour at the start, so we are going through a fast track to the metal detectors and arrive at the door just in time to know that ... the flight is delayed ... Indeed, soon to announce even that, like many others, was canceled due to bad weather that has raged on the east coast.
It 'a cancellation: begins a grueling wait, and only after several hours we deliver the tickets of a new flight for tomorrow at 13:15 ... But the problems do not end here! ... There are so at the expense of the American Eagle, a hotel where to stay, but we had to pick up your rental car this evening in Washington, so we go out of the airport at the National of Boston, we explain the problem and we change with them a small premium reserve, then return to your starting point and from there, a taxi voucher and an airline, we reach the outskirts of Boston, the Homewood Suites, we will host for this night out program ...
The kind lady at the reception call even in Washington, at the Days Inn that we had to accommodate, and says it will arrive tomorrow night, then he hands over the keys of our rooms and we can finally go to rest: in the States are 21:30, but past twenty-four hours before our departure, and now we are so tired from not even have the strength to get angry about the awkward situation created.

We wake up in Boston, Massachusetts, where we never expected to reopen your eyes on this trip ... and beyond the window of our room raining heavily, so the concern runs immediately to the plane waiting for us and his departure, which could be called into question.
Because of time zone, we get up pretty early and all having missed dinner yesterday, this morning we grant you a substantial breakfast, before we patiently waiting for the taxi to take us back to the airport.
At 10:00 o'clock we have the same taxi driver last night, when I asked to come back, and half an hour later we are back to Terminal B at Boston Logan Airport, American Eagle the bench, where, however, we note that the Our flight is a replacement U.S. ... Airways pavilion and changing so we are preparing to face a long queue for check-in at the end of which, it seems, we will finally share ...
After two hours we arrive at the sight of metal detectors and we draw for a more thorough check (which ...!) cu ... bear this too and immediately gain the port number 18, from which, God willing, we embarked, at 13:45, on U.S. flight 2037 Airways ... VDU appears however that it is late: first at 14:11, then at 14:30, finally, after being boarded at 15:16, the Airbus A319 finally leaves the floor to Washington!
We climb on top of those damned clouds that have brought us so many hardships and spent an hour at 16:27, hit the ground at the Washington Reagan Airport ... Miracle: there is also a timid sun! ... Safely withdraw all luggage, we go outdoors with the appropriate shuttle reach the National, where we finally deliver our car: a beautiful Toyota Sienna (Florida license plate X84 ECD), and with that, after all happy we leave for our trip "on the road" in the States.
It is not easy to get right, soul and body, with visits planned, but we have no choice: we had available a full day to discover all the beauties of the American capital, and unfortunately, it's almost 18:00 and we still do not more than two hours of light.
We go straight for the center of the District of Columbia, where Washington is just a sort of city-states created in the oc, or a limited portion of territory along with fifty other true states of the federation form of united states of america.
After crossing the Potomac River we turn into the Mall, a strip of green along two miles around which are almost all the most interesting monuments of the capital.
We initially a bit 'lost and neglected for the moment the Lincoln Memorial, the first thing that is glaringly obvious is the impressive silhouette of the Washington Monument, which, built in 1885 in the form of an obelisk to commemorate the first president of the United States is the tallest structure in the world in simple stone (nearly 170 meters high). Just opposite is one of the most famous buildings on earth: the White House ... is a real thrill being able to glimpse between the vegetation that surrounds it, although, unfortunately, a little 'for lack of time, a little' to the security measures after September 11 has brought together much.
Then continue along the Mall, flanked by historic buildings, with the bottom of the scenic view of the white Capitol ... The Capitol is the seat of Congress, and appeared in numerous films, is almost as famous as the White House, with which it shares the most important political role in building the country.
Take your photograph taken immediately resume road, past the monumental Union Station before and opposite the Palace of the FBI then we get to park near the westernmost part of the Mall ... Walking distance so the Veteran Memorial, chilling monument built to commemorate the American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War: 58,022 names engraved in a huge V of black granite.
Nearby is also the colossal Lincoln Memorial, the impressive statue, six meters high, homonym president, sitting in his chair. The place is very impressive and it is even more with the setting sun, inexorable but spectacular, igniting the sky behind the monument.
Returning to make use of the car, now in semi-darkness, past all'Arlington Cemetery, where 175,000 American soldiers rest, in addition to former President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas in 1963.
Also head close to the famous Pentagon (the largest building in the world, and the seat of the Department of Defense) and arrive in the land of Virginia at Days Inn Arlington Pentagon, which we will host for the night (to say the truth yesterday evening we had to be here).
Leave your luggage in the room and run to eat since they are already past 21:00, then go back and go straight to bed because tomorrow we expect the stage to just transfer, longer than the entire trip.

The alarm clock rings at 6:00, but favored by the time zone we struggle too much to leave the covers ... Eat breakfast included in the room and then we move to the enterprise are driving in the States, from east to west.
We observe once again in the distance the dome of the Capitol, and we salute the spirit consigned to the periphery of a capital which we expect a
day to visit as it deserves, then, easier said than done, let the state of Virginia ... pass, crossing the hills, for all of Maryland ... a hill after another, cut a piece of Pennsylvania ... and devouring hills and hills still arrive in Ohio, where we stop for lunch in a service area between huge and colorful trucks typically American.
When we resume the road, the landscape becomes flatter and is characterized by vast plantations of maize. We spend close to Cleveland and Lake Erie, on whose shores overlooking also the region of Ontario and then Canada.
We are almost halfway through the stage and Ohio seems to never end, then, in late afternoon, we enter the state of Indiana, through it completely from east to west and arrive in Illinois, now close to their goal, namely Chicago.
We cross the southern outskirts of the metropolis, the Skyway Bridge, impressive iron structure built in 1958 to climb over the Calumet River, and from its summit we see the skyline of Downtown, with its skyscrapers on the banks of Lake Michigan. Intavolata as a race with the sun, which is falling rapidly towards the horizon, and we arrive in time to Navy Pier to capture the majestic profile of Chicago with the magnificent colors of the sunset.
Tired but extremely pleased with the performance end of day we're going to find our hotel that are already long past the 20:00 (and along the road we have also recovered an hour's time zone) ... Fortunately, not far and soon we are faced all'Howard Johnson Inn for hosting us tonight.
The accommodation is pretty spartan and a little 'retro, but goes fine, with a magnificent view of the skyscrapers and even indoor parking.
Take possession of the only room we had booked and then, on foot, we went to dinner at Gino's Pizza, a few blocks away. We taste vaguely Italian food and after going to bed, for the pace of this trip is really hectic!

After the tour of Washington and super fast after the long transfer yesterday we finally wake up to Chicago ready to make the first visit as planned.
We try to leave as soon as possible: even before the 8:00 we have breakfast in a characteristic adjacent room hotel, then leave your luggage in storage at the reception, take off, using public transport season tickets purchased long ago in internet we had even sent home.
Proceed by bus to downtown Chicago, the capital of Illinois and one of the largest American cities, with its three million people (eight, given the periphery), and second only to New York as skyscrapers and bold solutions architectural ... The fortune of the city made it, somehow, a fire of biblical proportions that in 1871 destroyed two buildings on three, so, given the results, it was thought well to rebuild rather than adopting metal structures of wood, and has since started to develop in vertically in Downtown ...
Come a long way from La Salle Street just getting off the bus crossed the Chicago River and first of all observe, along its banks, the huge Merchandise Mart, which houses the store with the largest stock in the world and is currently owned by the family Kennedy, then walk there also to center.
Go under the El, short for Elevated: Metro flyover, rickety, rusty, which is rather 'a symbol of Chicago ... and say that some years ago was saved in extremis from demolition, and would be a shame because it is a real piece of history of this city. Built in 1893, also appeared in several films such as "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford, and more recently in "Spiderman 2", as the scene of the battle between Spider-Man and the evil Doctor Octopus ...
Close to reach the colossal Thompson Center, one of the most recent development of the Loop, that portion of downtown bounded by El, built in 1984 and features a huge hall full height, and then we head, surrounded by vertiginous skyscrapers, the Daley Center, gigantic construction on the square which is dominated by a large sculpture by Pablo Picasso, equally interesting buildings.
Continuing our walk we go again on the banks of the Chicago River to see the Marina Towers, twin towers of the curious architecture, to their features have also nicknamed "corn cob turkish" ... We enjoy excellent panoramic views, characterized by the greenery of some well-tended gardens along the river and then back toward the center to get on the El and go around the loop by a very special vantage point ... Flows so the sides of the street raised the skyscrapers of Chicago and clattering to finish our race we end up right next to "her majesty", the Sears Tower.
The tallest building in Chicago and the United States, with its 442 meters, 110 floors and 100 lifts, was completed back in 1974 and over a long period was also at the top of world ranking ... In the project there is another that will arise in the area by 2009, but 610 meters dell'avveniristico Chicago Spire will not be sufficient to recover the record, which will probably Asia.
In our very own Guinness the Sears Tower instead it becomes a full on, so I take the opportunity to take the elevator to the rooftop terrace of the 103 th floor, from which the view is breathtaking, too bad only for the dense fog today.
Forgiven his feet, we reach by public transport, almost on the shores of Lake Michigan, Millennium Park, opened in 2004 and placed in the middle of a magnificent backdrop of skyscrapers, which are reflected on the amazing cluod Gate sculpture, an enormous work of Anish Kapoor, contemporary artist to whom we must give great credit for having entered into a genuinely unique ... How impressive is the close and eccentric theater.
I spent unforgettable moments in the futuristic Millennium Park, about noon, we start our walk along the so-called Magnificent Mile, aka North Michigan Avenue, one of the most interesting walks from the architectural point of view of the city ... Bypassed once the Chicago River, in fact, parry before our eyes the splendid views of the white Wrigley Building, built in 1921, and the gothic Tribune Tower, four years younger and location of the first news organization in Illinois.
The road, which runs parallel to the lake, is very long, so once again we take advantage of our subscription and soon we find ourselves, a few blocks further north, at the foot of Hancock Tower ... The second highest building in Chicago, from its 96 floors (344 meters antennas) dominates this area of the city, including the strange Water Tower, which is not a skyscraper, but one of the few buildings survived the fire of 1871, and built entirely in pale stone, in Gothic style Rococo, served in its time to distribute drinking water.
Completed in practice visiting in downtown Chicago, also by bus, back all'Howard Johnson Inn, where we find waiting for our bags and loaded everything into the car once we leave to the suburbs.
Traffic light after traffic light, block by block we arrive in the neighborhood of Oak Park, where there is the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District ... The well-known architect, who had his studio here, erected in the early twentieth century, many buildings are still on display along with many others, typical of the period, including the birthplace of the famous writer Ernest Emingway.
Take some photos and lunch, as usual quickly, parked in the tree-lined streets of Oak Park, before leaving permanently behind at around 15:00, the beautiful Chicago, who never forget.
We follow the number 88 and Interstate 80 west, crossed the Mississippi River (the longest in North America) and enter the state of Iowa. We walk endless moors planted with sunflowers and peanuts and now we arrive at dusk in Des Moines, the capital of this state deeply continental and flat. We go there so stop at the Quality Inn, on the northern outskirts of town, where, after a dinner of pasta Italian-American, we are preparing to spend another night, comforted by this endless starry sky country.

We expect another long step approach to the mythical West, for which the alarm that sounds good now is a must.
During the night the sky has become, unfortunately, cloudy and rainy weather did not exclude the ... shame, because there is a scheduled visit to the nearby Madison County, with its covered bridges, made famous by the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" with Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.
We have breakfast and then a quick but essential spending, then take Interstate 35 south to exit number almost immediately after a handful of miles, as if by magic, the sky opens and out comes the sun.
Just off the motorway, already within the boundaries of the county, we encounter the first bridge, Imes Bridge which was built in 1870, appears to be the oldest among those still exist. The building, entirely painted in red, is very characteristic, even though today it can be explored on foot and with good reason, given the historical importance. Before him only question is what were in those days, why not cover a certain aesthetic bridge and the answer lies in the fact that the wood used for flooring was much more expensive than that used for cover and sides, as to make convenient protection from the weather.
To drive back to Winterset, the county seat, we follow a dusty dirt road along which we meet the Hollywell Bridge, the longest of the series (less than forty feet), so now the outskirts of the town, the Cutler-Danahoe Bridge surrounded by a small public park.
On the streets of Winterset were filmed several scenes of the film that made famous the region, but the town has a more solid link with the world of celluloid. In a modest house in wood, painted white, a short distance from downtown, 26 May 1907, in fact, the legendary John Wayne, a true giant figure of film stars and stripes on his long career, not at all played well 250 films, mostly westerns.
Paid tribute to the most famous inhabitant of the county go to the west of the town, along another dusty road, until you reach the Roseman Bridge, perhaps the most famous and scenic bridge, which appeared in various clips from the film, then spotted a nice venison , back towards the capital and continuing our journey north we follow yet another dirt road. So we come in sight dell'Hogback Bridge, the last bridge of the series, which stands out, as usual, all painted red in the bucolic landscape.
Extremely satisfied original tour just ended back on the asphalt road, with cars that have hardly changed color is so dusty, so we continue to regain the Interstate (this time the number 80) and following it take to get shipped to the west since the morning is almost completely gone and we have an infinite number of travel miles.
By now the western border of Iowa we stopped for lunch at a rest stop very well equipped and when we resume in the early afternoon, traveling along the number 29, we enter the state of South Dakota.
After reaching the city of Sioux Falls we stopped to see, more than anything to break the monotony of the motorway, the Falls Park: nothing special, just waterfalls that descend through some red rocks ... Moreover, we are virtually on the plains and you could not expect anything more spectacular.
Almost immediately resumed our journey we take Interstate number 90 westward and a little later we go out into town to see Mitchell's curiosity: the Corn Palace, which can be considered a real American! It 'a large building, architecturally a bit' tacky, complete with onion domes and minarets, which is renewed annually with murals and decorations all done with lots of cereals, especially maize, and the effect it brings is truly unique and enjoyable. All this emerged in the late nineteenth century to advertise the products of the surrounding lands and over built between now has become an occasion of celebration rooted in local traditions.
We stay just long enough for Mitchell to take some pictures and then return to grinding miles on number 90. We climb over the Missouri River and bring the clock back another hour (compared to Italy are now eight) ... We continue to move steadily towards the west, while changing the landscape and take over the prairies on crops, giving it a more appropriate environment to the great West.
Now in the evening we arrive at Kadoka, a remote village with a few motels, including the Best Western H and H El Centro, where we take accommodation ... Take a shower and then go to dinner while the few places in the neighborhood are already closing their doors ... We find one still open, rather spartan, but we must content ourselves, then we're going to give us his well-deserved rest, after more than nine hundred kilometers today in the heart of the United States.

When the curtain in our room curse me out a little: the sky is dark and a light rain falls ... and think that we expected a busy day, with so many beautiful things to see, but do not despair and hope for a quick improvement.
We go to breakfast in a room adjacent to the hotel straight out of an episode of "Happy Days" and Frederick has a little accident with a jug of maple syrup ... "Oh ... Mommy!" ... exclaims ... remove the handle and all the contents on him and ends on the floor ... is the apotheosis dell'appiccicoso and nothing left to do but go into the bedroom to change from head to foot, but we must do so while also unleashed the "Flood" ... good morning and if you see the morning I do not think that this might be an exceptional day.
Tremendous delay in the end we leave and soon after we introduce ourselves in front of the "gate" of the Badlands National Park, while the rain stops but the gray still dominates uncontested. We buy the Golden Eagle Card, which will allow us to enter all areas of protected national States and then crossed the entrance of the first park of this trip.
The Badlands National Park, established as a National Monument in 1939 and elevated to the park in 1978, covers a vast area of great geological and naturalistic interest, in particular, offers imaginative scenarios consist of pinnacles eroded from the elements, with shades of many colors, and large grasslands in which they were filmed scenes from the film "Dances with Wolves" with Kevin Costner.
A scenic road is spread through the zone of pinnacles and is what we are going to go. On foot we set forth along the wooden walkways in the Window and Door Trail, we pause to the many overlook along the track, but unfortunately we can not fully enjoy the beauty of the Badlands and that the presence of the sun to bring out the colors, would could offer a truly first-rate.
We left the park when they are already past 11:00 and again using the Interstate number 90 and walk to Rapid City, west of South Dakota, while teasing, the sun comes out and then disappear again beneath heavy clouds laden with rain ... acc ... and double acc ... We are going in the direction of the famous Mount Rushmore and the sky does not seem to escape ... Instead we stopped at a supermarket for a quick shopping and when we go over our heads there are large patches of blue.
Although it is now lunchtime run to Mount Rushmore and when we got there the sun is beautiful (that crazy time!) ... Park your car and a few minutes later we are faced with the four presidents carved into the rock of the Black Hills, that emotion, they seem fake and instead they often are!
I work for the construction of Mount Rushmore National Memorial began in 1927, with four hundred workers agl'ordini by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and lasted for fourteen years until his death in 1941, but in the end faces of George Washington, first President and father of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, third President and author of the Declaration of Independence, by Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth president and advocate of American economic development in the early twentieth century, and Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president and a supporter of freedom and equality during the civil war hard parentheses, were etched on the rocks of South Dakota until (Borglum's words) "... wind and rain do not take me away" ...
We walk along the avenue with all the flags of the fifty states of the union and come to the panoramic terrace on the enormous monument. We stay for a while 'to see what we had hitherto seen only in photographs and then, leaving behind a veritable icon of the U.S., we return the car and with our quick lunch sandwich.
Given the good weather conditions do not waste time and as soon as we resume the street so we can not help but notice the huge quantity of motion (especially Harley Davidson) circulating ... clearly the area is a cult for fans of this genre.
We are moving towards the heart of the Black Hills, between endless grasslands, not coincidentally, the region was the set of a television series very well known to our generation, because "Little House on the Prairie" has definitely part of our childhood.
We climb a winding among picturesque mountains and enter the Custer State Park, a reserve of nearly three hundred square kilometers in what seems to be very easy to encounter wildlife. In fact along the Wildlife Loop to see deer and antelope, the immense herd of buffalo for which the park is very nice and famous prairie dogs, so we are really satisfied to leave the Black Hills ... and come down to tight bends along the Needles Highway, between narrow galleries, incredible narrows and the impressive granite peaks of the Cathedral Spiers.
Now it is evening, and while the sky darkens again, we are content to watch from afar the Crazy Horse Memorial, another large sculpture that is taking shape among these mountains. Conceived by Korczak Ziolkowski, assistant to Gutzon Borglum of Mount Rushmore in the work, to honor the Indian chief Crazy Horse, was started in 1948 and its implementation has always been going very slowly and with such problems, especially after the death of sculptor in 1982, but when it is completed will be the largest sculpture in the world-wide, 195 meters high and 172 (the four presidents are high "only" 18 meters!). For now, though, is distinguished not only the face of his proud character ...
Taken a few photos we sent to the end of the section, because the sun, which appears and disappears in the clouds, is rapidly waning.
Along the last stretch of road we leave behind and enter the South Dakota, Wyoming, and then, shortly after 20:00, we arrive at the town of Sundance, where we stop for the night at the Best Western Inn. Now we go to dinner in what appears to be the only restaurant in town and then we retreat into our homes: it was really a beautiful day, intense and full of emotion, too bad only because of bad weather at the Badlands National Park.

The sun filters through the dawn from the window of our room, and while the alarm sounds, because even today we go over seven hundred miles, thus completing the march to the Rocky Mountains.
Within the geographical area of the Black Hills, there is still an important visit to be done, so chores morning and loaded into the baggage car, we go a few miles northwest of Sundance to see the amazing Devils Tower.
Six Sioux girls were picking flowers when they were attacked by some bears ... The great spirit, to help them, then lifted the ground beneath them and the bears trying to climb the sign left of the claws on the rock, but had to give up ... Thus was born, according to Indian legend, the Devils Tower ... In fact, one of the largest monoliths of basalt in the world, has been created thanks to a volcanic phenomenon and stands, impetuous, with its 263 meters, among the rolling hills of eastern Wyoming.
Observe the "Tower of Devils' a bit from all angles ... I must say, is photogenic, for that matter also appeared in the famous motion picture film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", directed by Steven Spilberg, back in 1977 ... and still we are winning the sympathy of many prairie dogs, which teem in the surrounding meadows and pass to our stand on hind legs.
Already before 10:00 regained Interstate 90, which we follow shipped to the west, among the vast prairies and numerous deer graze in the grass alongside the road ... whose presence now no longer news.
Past the town of Sheridan we leave the highway and there also, through the Highway number 14, among the high mountains of the Bighorn National Forest. Almost reached ten thousand feet of altitude, and after a break for lunch al fresco, we make a slight detour along a dirt road to get to see the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, an enigmatic stone circle dagl'indiani used for ritual reasons for over seven hundred years, but the parking lot at the end of the cart there are still three miles to be traveled on foot and, although it may seem attractive, we must give up because, above all, there is sufficient time available.
Regained asphalt quickly descend from the mountains and back, almost two thousand feet below, to the prairies, the temperature goes back more than ten degrees.
Achieved in this way the location of Lowell quick detour to the right, just before the town, to visit the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, a protected area was established in 1966 around an artificial lake and along the Bighorn River.
Just follow the path of the park the sun, unfortunately, disappears behind thick gray clouds, but we do not lose heart and we visit a place called Horseshoe Bend, where the river forms a lake surrounded by red rocks ... In the meantime, get up out of nowhere very strong gusts of wind that cleans the air in minutes, and magically light up all the colors of the landscape ... incredible: we are in the north of the U.S., not too far from Canada, and here the atmosphere is much like the desert that seems to be in Arizona, but we move a little further north and we get even a few miles in the state of Montana.
So we reach the amazing Devil's Canyon Overlook, vertiginous vantage point that allows us to observe from the bottomless pit into which flows the Bighorn River ... beautiful, very beautiful, but of course we can not dwell too much because it's getting late.
Returning to Lowell and Wyoming back on the road to the west, a road strewn, its sides, feature extraction pumps for the oil in a charming landscape, and in this way, transported by taking photographs, rather than going in the direction of City of Cody (founded by the legendary Buffalo Bill, aka William Cody), we are much farther north, in Montana, and instead of going back improvise an alternative route.
The error cost us no more than twenty miles, and then, perhaps, not all evil comes to harm, because we have to go for the entire Beartooth Scenic Byway, daring road opened in 1936 and, it is says one of the most spectacular of North America.
In fact we begin to rise between tall mountains, which exceed four thousand meters above sea level, on which here and there is still a few spots of snow, and after an infinity of curves, including beautiful scenery, touch what almost certainly will be the roof of Travel: the Beartooth Pass, which rises to 10974th feet (3345 meters!) above sea level ... with the outside temperature a few degrees above zero and with his grandmother, who he shows it, but a little worried about his high blood pressure ... Fortunately in a few tens of miles and then halved the quota and, even touching an accident with a little boy appeared suddenly in the middle of the road, we reach for the evening in the remote town of Cooke City, now the gateway to the famous Yellowstone National Park.
We placed in a Super 8 motel chain and right after we go out for dinner in a very Western, with old tools and hunting trophies on the walls, ending this way a good day, considering he had to be in character, more than anything else only transfer.

In exactly one week from the start the sun shines through the glass of the window and in our hearts we feel we have now completed the most difficult part of the trip, with the conquest of the Rocky Mountains, a magnificent ridge north-American who now follow from north to south. .. but not before visiting one of the symbols of stars and stripes for excellence: the Yellowstone National Park.
He definitely cold in the early hours of the morning when we leave behind Cooke City, but the sky is clear and confident in a rapid rise in temperature. We walk a few miles and we are facing the entrance of Yellowstone, which quickly pass through the Golden Eagle Card, so it is a great emotion lie within the boundaries of the most famous wildlife park in the world.
The result of an apocalyptic volcanic phenomenon occurred about six hundred years ago, and nine thousand kilometers square wide (just over Umbria!), Yellowstone National Park was founded in 1872 and is the oldest national park in the United States and the entire planet, declared "World Heritage" by UNESCO in 1978.
Now we are reminded of Yogi, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith, famous cartoon characters here are ideally placed ... degl'orsi but, for now, not even the shadow. In contrast, the road that follows the Lamar Valley, we encounter many herds of bison imperative, grazing quietly in the huge field at the edge of the roadway.
Traveling thoughtlessly, immersed in nature at this lush green plateau over two thousand meters of altitude, this brings us to the first place of some interest: the curious Petrified Tree. E 'petrified trunk of a tree older than fifty million years ... nothing special compared to the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, but this one is particularly nice to still be upright and rooted to the ground.
Taking the road to the south of the park we stop to see the vantage point on the Yellowstone River that Calcite Spring, and the near Tower Falls, the jump of 40 meters that make the waters of the Tower Creek to jump in the river that the name of the park.
Back in the car and we came close to taking the Mount Washburn in Canyon Village to visit all the vantage points on the extraordinary Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, because in this area the river flows into a deep chasm between 250 and 400 meters, between the walls of the incredible shades of yellow ... why the stream is called, precisely, Yellowstone.
We stop at Inspiration Point and then to Grand View, where you can see the spectacular Lower Falls, while unfortunately the weather conditions change rapidly and the sky is covered with heavy clouds ... Everything is in the shade when we visit the Upper Falls View and even after we give up on a journey through Uncle Tom's Trail, to the base of the falls, because it threatens seriously raining.
The day could also be irreparably damaged ... This is the thought that goes through your head when you go west, towards Norris, and down a small flood, but the time passes quickly, and having seen in the distance a bunch of deer, we stop for lunch in a ' picnic area for picnics (I wonder if Yogi is already lying in wait, ready to get their hands, that the legs on our picnic basket?).
When broken down in the early afternoon (without having received a visit from Yogi), heavy clouds are still all'arrembaggio ran away from Norris to the north, where the sky seems to offer a few spots of blue more.
Along the way we stop to photograph a beautiful deer with huge antlers and then look at the interesting Roaring Mountain, a steep cliff dotted with fumaroles, and Sheepeater Cliff, a rocky ridge basalt columns formed by curious shape incredibly smooth, finally, while the sky is darkening rapidly, we arrive in Mammoth Hot Spring: it is said one of the most spectacular of the park.
Entire side of a mountain you experience one of the most stunning geothermal phenomena in Yellowstone: the depths of the soil resulting numerous springs of hot water down the valley to form a series of catchment-scale, stacked one on top and made of white travertine , a limestone rock that sometimes is combined with micro-organisms, bacteria and algae of all kinds are taking drugs shades of color from green to orange, through yellow, pink and brown ... a true wonder, really! ... but the gray clouds that hang over our heads does not always give us a truce, so we decide to wait in the parking lot of the best times to visit the site.
Expect more than an hour, then the clouds begin to fade slowly, letting through some timid ray of sun, then there also walk along the wooden walkways and we can observe the limestone terraces of Mammoth Hot Spring in all their extraordinary beauty: white falls of rock on which a painter seems to have distracted unhand cans of paint of the most varied Tonle. In particular, we leave the areas, referred astonished Canary Palette Spring and Spring in the Lower Terrace Area and the Orange Spring Mound Upper Terrace Area, which is visited comfortably seated in the car.
Although affected by the extreme variability of the time, armed with holy patience we were able to successfully complete the exploration of Mammoth Hot Spring, and resumed our journey, we have tried to adapt to events, we head back south to get to see the Norris Geyser Basin, which we had left out a few hours before.
When it comes to Yellowstone first comes to mind the wildlife and second, of course, the geysers ... in the park there are more than three hundred (the highest concentration in the world!) and in the Norris Basin they can already see some (most of them we'll see tomorrow), along with many other geothermal phenomena, such as fumaroles, springs d 'hot water (Hot Spring) and pools of boiling mud.
Along the path so the Black Norris Basin we threw ourselves into a landscape of Dante, on the edge of the real world, between puffs of steam and bubbling pools, fed by the heat of magma, which at this point is very near the surface.
Besieged by the usual time, which is pressing from the south, completed just in time the intriguing trails in the Norris Geyser Basin and soon after we start to West Yellowstone, a town in Montana just outside the western boundaries of the park, under a violent rainstorm.
Only when it stops raining we arrived at their destination and we are greeted by a beautiful rainbow, which appears to be the ideal output port from Yellowstone.
We take possession of our room at the Comfort Inn and then we go out for dinner in a typical western, putting an end on this first day of sightseeing in Yellowstone, which indeed is an extraordinary place, perhaps unique in the world ... Shame about the chiaroscuro dictated by the weather, it seems that tomorrow will be better, indeed ...

When we wake up and look out the window we have the feeling of being in the middle of the Po Valley in the middle of November, with a dense fog that shrouds everything ... A bit 'sad we have breakfast and sadly left in Comfort Inn back towards Yellowstone.
Follow the trail that slowly rises toward the center of the park along the Madison River, whose water must be very hot because they smoke heavily, giving the impression to generate the hateful mist around us ... Do not despair though, because on our vertical occasionally glimpse the silhouette of a pale sun.
Arrived at the intersection of Madison go south, we travel in a muffled the Firehol Canyon Drive and then, shortly later, we take too Firehol Lake Drive, which she advanced along the so-called Lower Geyser Basin, but it's almost 10:00 and above us is some good wishes flash of blue. We stop so close dell'intrigante White Dome Geyser and there we start waiting for the sun ... Expect a good half hour, but finally we are rewarded by a beautiful clear skies and a spectacular eruption of the geyser.
Shooting finally street accompanied by good weather, we spot in the bush on either side of the road two beautiful coyote wandering probably looking for food ... Somehow managed to capture and then complete the diversion, back on the main route of the park that we continue to follow towards the southern exit of Yellowstone.
Let's leave out the part of the Lower Geyser Basin on our right to come, a few miles ahead, at a much more interesting Midway Geyser Basin, where is the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest source of hot water in the park, with nearly one hundred meters in diameter and the second in the world.
On foot we make our way along the wooden walkways and we can observe it closely, with its wonderful shades of color ... but we are not satisfied. We climb in the car, take another short stretch of road, and crossed the pedestrian bridge on Firehol River, we went along the path that leads to Fairy Falls.
After 15 minutes of walking, we're back to the Midway Geyser Basin, but on the other side of the river and near the Grand Prismatic Spring going up, not without difficulty, on the opposite hill to see the place from ... a charm, with all the valley at our feet and the source that seems almost an abstract element, with its almost perfect circular shape and edge fading, all colors, from green to red to yellow, which stand out among huge toothpicks charred (the result of a fire several years ago that devastated the park) ... an exciting scene ... perhaps the most beautiful view of Yellowstone!
It 'almost noon when the car regained, we continue south and still excited are we going to stop before the Biscuit Basin, another area rich in geothermal phenomena of interest, which develops around all'azzurrissima Sapphire Pool, and then in large parking lot of Upper Geyser Basin, the most famous of Yellowstone with regard to the hot springs, with their most varied rumblings and jets of hot water coming from underground.
Lunch at a picnic area for picnics in the early afternoon and then leave on foot to explore the area with the greatest concentration of geysers in the world: 75 in an area of approximately six square kilometers (one quarter of those on the planet ), in addition to 600 hot springs.
First of all we stop in front of "Her Majesty", the "Old Faithful, probably the most famous geyser on the planet, whose eruption is expected in less than half an hour, at 14:55 ... The "Old Faithful" (This is the literary translation of his name) is renowned for its punctuality, and throws her jet of hot water and steam up to 55 meters in height, at intervals of between 45 and 110 minutes, with a forecast error by about 10% ... In fact, shortly after 15:00, before a large audience, he performs in his proverbial breath ... perhaps not one of his best performances (he could do much more), but definitely exciting!
After the show we continue the exploration of Upper Old Faithful Geyser Basin, bypassing the first time on Firehol River to roam between the puffs of steam and gurgling of Geyser Hill and a second time to get close to the stunning Castle Geyser, one of the oldest and most scenic of the park.
Time flies and we are forced, against our will, to leave behind even the Upper Geyser Basin to resume the route, which is still very, very long to reach the end of the stage ... but not before he had even taken a look at the nearby Black Sand Basin, where stands the beautiful Sunset Lake, shimmering crystal.
The main street rises gently towards the Old Faithful Craig Pass, at 2500 meters above sea level, and past them in just a few miles, twice the Continental Divide, the ideal line between Atlantic and Pacific watersheds, and after we arrive at West Thumb, on the shores of Lake Yellowstone, which occupies an ancient volcanic crater and is the biggest stretch of mountain water throughout North America.
To go to West Thumb Geyser Basin to see another, but perhaps the fact of being an accomplice to drunk now fumaroles and bubbling pools, it disappoints a bit ... We were not disappointed at all, however, Yellowstone National Park, which probably alone worth the trip and soon after we leave behind his door out of the southernmost ...
In the midst of a great storm crossed into another National Park to Grand Teton, almost a natural progression from Yellowstone, established in 1929 to preserve an area rich in wildlife, studded with lakes and dotted with high peaks (the Tetons, fact), that parade on our right, but controsole and shrouded by clouds, then PHOTOGRAPHS. Weather permitting, perhaps, come back tomorrow morning ... Meanwhile, the night we arrive in the beautiful town of Jackson Hole, consider hiring in the local Super 8, we have dinner from Pizza Hut (a chain is particularly dear to Frederick) and so we conclude an amazing day, never forget!

After a small flood in the bathroom during the night, we get that outside the sun shines, we will do some 'miles back to see the Tetons with the right light.
Even before the 9:00 we travel to the National Park and a little later on the shore of Jenny Lake Placid fifth to photograph the magnificent natural rock that well over four thousand meters high.
In the quiet of the morning and then went back to Jackson Hole and we spot a beautiful herd of deer ... Then, in the distance, a bear running towards the bush ... Bingo! Just the animal that we kept most of all meet ... Unfortunately, however, disappears quickly between the vegetation and do not see you: there have been only a few moments but fantastic!
Arriving back in town we spent visiting the historical center, built at the end of the nineteenth century where once you held a fair of trappers, and all made of typical western style wooden buildings, built along the roads to the board that develop around Town Square, the main square, the four corners marked by monumental arches made of antlers of deer and elk.
We cheated by the many souvenir shops and fascinated by a huge buffalo skull to hang on the wall, but they ask $ 600 for single shipment in Italy, plus the cost of the item, and although disappointed we abandon the idea .. . and also in the late morning Jackson Hole, that we leave behind heading south on Highway # 89.
There are over five hundred miles to go again today and a little later, when we turn into the valley of the Green River and Highway number 189, the landscape suddenly becomes arid, almost desert-like. We are practically in the middle of nowhere, and it is getting late and my appetite is growing, but along the way there is not even a tree to shelter from the sun and the sites marked on the map are insignificant, so we reach well beyond the 14 : 00 in the town of Green River.
Parked near a small public park, we can finally have lunch while we realize that the stone thrown by the wheel of a truck along the highway has splintered the glass of the car ... hopefully the fissures are not reached over and that the damage is included in the insurance.
At about 15:00 we share and we go a little further south of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, established in 1968 along the banks of a very attractive section of the Green River. Leaving Wyoming and enter even in Utah (which had already been touched on the journey of 2004), surrounded by beautiful views of the river and the red rocks along its side. Then we go up to Red Canyon, a spectacular vantage point here on the Green River that runs between high walls, over three hundred feet below in a quiet primary, because the place is not well known and are, in practice, the only tourists there.
Resumed our route passes a step at 2800 meters and then descend between Bella Vista, the city of Vernal, where we will stop at nightfall, but not now ... and continue beyond, for the westernmost section of nearby Dinosaur National Monument.
National Monument, established in 1915 to protect the world's largest in the world of dinosaur bones, it was subsequently extended by incorporating large areas of purely landscape. The most famous area of the park, the Dinosaur Qarry, where you can observe various fossils still embedded nell'arenaria, however, is closed for renovations, and we knew right from home, so we dedicate ourselves to the natural beauty and reach the so-called Split Mountain, a spectacular rock peak (needless to say) on the Green River.
Park the car we prepare to walk toward the river, where some rafting enthusiasts are reporting dry their rafts, we spot a snake and a few moments later a small accident happens ... A chip this time is the head of Frederick, against the projection of a metal container ... a cut is not deep at first, but enough to make us fall Precautionary Vernal Econo Lodge and we will host for the night.
We pay some attention to the small and then we go out for dinner from Pizza Hut again, to comfort him, so we spend an hour inside a huge supermarket, before dragging tired in the room for a well-deserved rest.

Almost half of the journey, but already more than half of the course, we wake up in Utah, the nation par excellence of the Mormons, even though this area of the state is particularly famous for the finds of fossils belonging to the great reptiles of the Jurassic, thus, closed the Dinosaur Quarry, we console dedicate ourselves to the interesting Museum of Natural History in Vernal.
In less than an hour though with the help of beautiful reconstructions, the geological and paleontological history of the region, so we are starting to see the car in the middle section of Dinosaur National Monument.
Following the Highway number 40 to the east we enter the state of Colorado and arrived in the small cluster of Dinosaur (where few streets named after prehistoric reptile) we venture into the park along the Harpers Corner Drive ... We walk nearly thirty miles up the Island Park Overlook, but we could spare us the way, because any other hike in the area would offer the same views ... not bad, but not exciting.
Back at the Dinosaur then we follow the road number 64 and 139 south. We pass a pass at almost three thousand meters and arrived in Grand Junction climb over the Colorado River, which brings us lots of good memories to mind, to reach almost to 14:00 at the east of Colorado National Monument.
Lunch in the area for picnics and take off in the early afternoon to visit the park's origins as a national monument as early as 1911 in order to preserve one of the most classic landscapes of the American West.
We climb with spectacular hairpin bends of the Rim Rock Drive over the plateau (the Colorado Plateau) and then begins to follow the edge, made of rocks eroded by weather and by the extraordinary colors (red, purple, orange and brown) due to the abundant presence of iron and other minerals.
We stop at various vantage points marked along the route, surrounded by a sublime landscape, from the Red Canyon Overlook to get a splendid Artist Point and Coke Ovens Overlook, characterized by a curious parade of rocks, while a mischievous sun plays hide and seek clouds that appear among the many swabs ... Proceeding without haste then come to the exceptional Monument Canyon View, Grand View and the Independence Monument View, all wonderful views of the valley below and on the highest spire of the park.
Past the Visitor Center we carry out even the little detour that leads to very short and the Book Cliff View Window Rock Trail, the path which we can enjoy the magnificent overall view on almost all the rock formations of the Colorado National Monument.
Coming down to narrow bends towards the wide valley of the Colorado River, then look at the precarious balance of the Balanced Rock and then immediately leave the park, which has really delighted us with its broad vistas, and pleased beyond measure, all points of view .
Spend now resume at 18:00 on grinding kilometers to the south (now this is the cardinal sign of prevalence) and follow the road number 50 in the evening we get to Super 8 Montrose. We go out for dinner at Denny's (another good fast food chain) and as usual we retreat room to meditate on the beautiful day just passed and the trip ... far tiring, but at the same time full of satisfactions.

There is a beautiful sun today in Colorado, and we can be lucky because last week it rained a lot.
Eat breakfast in the hotel and we leave behind to go in the nearby Montrose Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park ... Created in 1933 as a National Monument to protect 12 miles of the most spectacular canyons formed by the Gunnison River before emptying, in Grand Junction, Colorado's waters, has been elevated to a national park in 1999 and perhaps rightly so given the impressive size of the chasm, the most stunning in the world.
We enter the park along the road which climbs over a mountain range cut in two by the river and we arrived on the South Rim to stop at various Overlook, starting from the extraordinary Gunnison Point and then the Cross Fissures View ... The light is not always optimal and the bottom of the canyon often in the shadows, one of the reasons why it is called Black, in addition to the dark color of the rocks that form ... E 'creepy but the Painted Wall View, the most impressive views over the park wall, streaked with beautiful grain and practically vertical: a single jump of more than 700 meters from the edge to the bend of the Gunnison River below!
Having traveled too short but fascinating trail that leads to Dragon Point unhurriedly back towards the entrance of the park and thinking of shortening the route descends steeply along the East Portal Road to the River to the Rio, then to make us realize that road was dead, but still show ... therefore not a waste of time.
Now take the right path back, satisfied, on Highway # 50 and go east a few miles after we enter the Curecanti National Recreation Area: Here the Gunnison River, dammed, creating a beautiful lake, surrounded by equally beautiful hills, among which stand the spectacular Dillon Pinnacles, silhouetted against the azure of a cloudless sky today more than ever.
Lunch at a rest area on the banks of the lake, proceed along from west to east, then turn right along the road number 149, going south, climbing the mountains.
Past the town of Lake City, at 2700 meters of altitude, the ribbon of asphalt goes up again, a hairpin bend after another, and then again ... to touch the 11530th feet (3514 meters!) of Slumgullion Pass ... believed in and around Yellowstone to be climbed on the roof of the trip here and instead beat the record!
On the way down we see the edge of the roadway, some nice marmot and then we stop to see the spectacular Clear Creek Falls, a jump in the water a hundred feet of a stream running in a magnificent background of green mountains on which there still, here and there a patch of snow.
Coming down again turning into the valley of the Rio Grande river in the historic West, along the Colorado, which finishes its run in the remote Gulf of Mexico, and came to a vast plateau on which lies the Great Sand Dunes National Park, we are going to visit, while we see the glass of the car a second Cepol due to a rock and we let out of his mouth a few curse ...
Transformed from Monument to National Park in 2000, the Great Sand Dunes encompasses an area extending to the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in which, for an odd combination of wind, it came to creating the most impressive sand dunes of all the States, which reach a height of almost two hundred meters ... Indeed they appear on the horizon when they are still several miles away and once wade a stream on foot and try to climb ... How much work, but it was worth it: even if you have not reached the summit, on which are several hours of walking, we were fully immersed in the environment and we have enjoyed beautiful scenery.
Already with the first light of the sunset we leave behind the Great Sand Dunes National Park, a piece of the Sahara between the Rockies and the night we reach the Days Inn in Alamosa, a city of southern Colorado. We have dinner in a pizzeria with lots of Italian memorabilia on the walls, but there is another Italian, apart from a distant descendants of the girl who serves at the tables, and then we dragged into the room, putting an end to another beautiful day .

It 'a pleasure to get up in the morning while the sun shines high in the sky of Colorado, so we start, loads of new energy, even to the south, along Highway number 285.
Near the town of Antonito we see an old steam locomotive puffing, ready to leave for the tour on the historic Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, and soon after we leave Colorado to New Mexico.
Traveling on the cross the number 64 on the spectacular Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, an imposing metal structure built in 1966, almost two hundred meters high on the river that flows through the steep cliffs of a deep canyon ... Here we pause for a moment so as to reach on foot the center of the bridge from which there is a good view and then browse among some Indian stalls, which are the prelude to the next, impending visit.
Even a handful of miles and come to Taos, the Spanish colonial outpost and home to one of the oldest communities of Native Americans in the United States. A little to the north of the street is the Taos Pueblo, where we are going to go and where the Tiwa-speaking population has lived for at least a thousand years and still continues to live.
We record the entrance of the village and immediately began to explore ... as possible, since not all areas are accessible. We are moving toward the center and when we reach the Plaza, built in the eighteenth century, we remain fascinated: fantasy adobe buildings (a building technique that involves the use of dried grass and mud) around us, from the typical church of San Geronimo, to go to homes, at several levels, which stand out wonderfully on the blue sky of New Mexico.
We lose deliberately through the lanes in search of picturesque spots, and souvenir shops in India, spent two hours so abundant in Taos Pueblo, completely immersed in a surreal atmosphere which prevails in the warm earth tones and strong contrasts related to traditions of this ancient people.
Left the Pueblo, now in late morning, we head toward the center of Taos Colonial, founded by the Spanish in 1630, which develops around the square along this scenic buildings, including modern-style adobe strictly ... There are, moreover, some buildings of historical interest, as the home of Kit Carlson, homonymous street: unknown character in the American West, which appeared more than once, even in cartoons of Tex Willer.
South is already gone for a while ', but we do not stop, because hound some clouds from the west and we want your visit in the area with the presence of the sun.
Let's see, just outside the Martinez Hacienda, home of a Hispanic family of 1800 ... nothing exciting ... Then we visit the nearby Ranchos de Taos to visit the beautiful church of San Francisco de Asis.
Built around 1776 in adobe (strictly original!), The religious building is, according to the guide, one of the most beautiful creation of colonial New Mexico, with its walls and rounded elusive ... and with good reason! ... because, really, is incredibly charming and photogenic, so much so that immortalized by a variety of angles, before leaving him behind and continue our journey south along the number 68.
It was done really late because the beauty of Taos and lunch, back in the early afternoon, a visitor center on the banks of the Rio Grande, then take the road and we gather to see heavy clouds in the direction of Los Alamos, a town famous as the base U.S. Army where they were assembled atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ... are a bit 'chills thinking about it!
Now we get on the heights around, at Bandelier National Monument, home to the remains of an Indian settlement dating from the twelfth-thirteenth century, which is why the park was founded in 1916.
Leave the car and on foot we move the mouth of Frijoles Canyon, where we can see, helped by a few rays of sunlight, the ruins of the Long House and the suggestive Taulus Houses, cave dwellings dug into the soft volcanic rock of the gorge, in a attractive scenery.
Although brief, but interesting visit to Bandelier National Monument has worked more than an hour and it's nearly 17:00 when to move into Santa Fe, New Mexico and historic capital city of the colonial era ... We would pass a village and go see the Pecos National Monument (another bell'insediamento India), before returning to Santa Fe for the night, but arrived in the capital we realize that there would be far too late ... sin!
We stop at once and the Econo Lodge for once we do things quietly contented Frederick bringing in the pool, rearrange our things, we tidied properly and then we go to dinner Hiop (a good fast food chain that we already had way to prove in Florida), concluding a day dedicated worthily, for the most part, the proud Indian people of New Mexico.

Despite predictions about Santa Fe announce clouds shines a bright sun.
We have breakfast and then we go to visit the historic city, founded by the Spanish in 1604 and almost immediately elected the capital of New Mexico ... Despite this appellation, however, Santa Fe has never become a metropolis and still has a little more than sixty thousand inhabitants ... Its Plaza so remained intact and surrounded by typical buildings, including the Governor's Palace, which completely fills the north side and, although less aesthetically degl'altri turns out to be the oldest building in the United States (built in 1610).
Even at the nearby church of Saint Francis of Asis it is a privilege of being the first cathedral built west of the Mississippi, but every corner of Santa Fe is interesting because eye to detail (even the multi-storey car parks are built respecting the style architecture), so it is pleasant to walk on wooden porches and peek inside the numerous workshops and craft shops, although expensive for the prices that expose ... No coincidence that we find ourselves in one of the most fashionable city of the States.
In mid-morning and left the capital, crossing for a moment the historic Route 66, go south along the road number 14, also known as Turquaise Trail. In the area, in fact, there were several turquoise mines, but mining is no longer that of a time and a certain deterioration is the inevitable result, so is of particular curiosity, the town of Madrid, which remained in the appearance in mid - century ... in practice a small glimpse of another era.
Regaining Interstate arrive in Albuquerque, the metropolis of New Mexico, and in its outskirts we go to visit the interesting Petroglyph National Monument, created in 1990 to preserve an area rich in rock carvings made by the Indians between 1300 and 1650.
In the park there also called Boca Negra Canyon on foot, along the Mesa Trail, on a hill dotted with jet-black boulders of volcanic rock on which are engraved some simple but beautiful designs ... nothing earth-shattering, but a bell'intermezzo on the long road that will take us to the end of today's leg.
Lunch within the confines of Petroglyph has gone on, with care, in a southerly direction along the Interstate number 25, running through barren lands, as well as running the road runner who suddenly crosses the street ... there perhaps chased by Wile E. Coyote.
In San Antonio we take road number 380 towards the east, and climbed a small mountain range, passing through the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, panoramic balcony on an impressive and long black lava over 45 miles, leaking from somewhere around 1500 years ago where, since volcanic cones are not apparent horizon.
Along the way, we arrive in the village of Carrizozo, where we followed the number 54 to the south, while short bursts as a sudden downpour and simultaneously turns on a light car maintenance ... Continuing with my heart in my throat, hoping it's just very normal that the heat ... and after the glass, which Cepol is growing every day, we have to put up with this too, about 1600 miles from the finish.
We leave the detour to Roswell on the left, a small town famous as the place where an alien spacecraft would have fallen on the night of July 4, 1947 and arrived at Alamogordo, linking its name to the first (sad) history of nuclear test 'humanity.
Follow Highway No. 70 is thus nearly there now in the late afternoon at the White Sands National Monument, a vast area of white gypsum dunes of, recognized National Monument since 1933.
Beyond the door there also along the Dunes Drive, with mounds of white sand covered with a lot of vegetation initially and then completely naked ... also the road turns white and the landscape is highly suggestive ... The feeling is extraordinary: it seems has just snowed, and instead there are 37 degrees out ... above zero!
We got out and we go walking in that scenario is almost unreal, with the blinding hills that stand out on the blue sky and the ridges shaped by the wind ... Unfolded itself before our eyes, beautiful scenes, which we will never forget, in a silence ancestral to almost sunset when we resume the road and the final part of this stage, until the city of Las Crucis and the Super 8 where it will stay .
Just before 20:00 we have our room after a dinner at Pizza Hut we go to sleep, her mind still in sublime views of White Sands National Monument.

At the dawn of the third week of travel we try to take off with care, because we have a reservation to visit a mine to get there at noon and there are nearly 400 kilometers ... But of course, started late morning and the stage becomes a race against time, always on the line of strict speed limits U.S..
Going west on Interstate number 10, after nearly two hours we leave the highway and take to follow the Highway No. 80 south. We leave and enter New Mexico, Arizona before arriving in the town of Douglas, a few kilometers from the border with Mexico, whose heights are seen in the distance.
On reaching the southernmost point of the entire journey continue and come to Bisbee, the desired goal, while the 11:45 and we started looking for the Qeen Mine Tour is found in the periphery of housing: park your car, wear clothes to get heavier in the former copper mine, we introduce ourselves and we discover that the tour at the noon start in an hour, this is because it's only 11:00 and we had completely forgotten about the change of time zone between New Mexico and Arizona! ... How not said much more quietly bought tickets and then waiting, we go to see, near the Lavender Open Pit Mine, which is located in the frieze of the road number 80 and is one of the largest mines opencast copper in the world, closed in 1975 ... a hole really impressive!
Shortly before noon (the real one) back to Queen Mine. They make us wear a miner's helmet and waxed, then, with the help of a rumbling train, we reach the heart of the mountain, where there are less than ten degrees Celsius and where, until the seventies, were dug out dozens of miles of tunnels extract more than 3.6 million tons of copper, plus gold, silver, lead and zinc, in what was one of the richest mines of the States ... A former miner takes us almost an hour and we explained all the secrets of the trade, with great enthusiasm ... sin, however, that we can understand only a word in a hundred, so, although interesting, the visit turns out to be (our fault) even a bit 'boring.
Out again to the more than thirty degrees of the open air look a bit 'shady for lunch, and then passed through the streets of Old Bisbee, remained as an aspect at a time when the mines played an important role and the city, more than twenty thousand inhabitants, was the most populous of Arizona ... Now everything is decadent, but fascinating.
Resumed the road number 80 we travel a few miles and arrive in the nearby town of Tombstone, whose name (Tombstone) is a program. We find the Holiday Inn Express that we will host for the night and since we are a little 'Stanchini "(as Forrest Gump said in a famous film), after more than two weeks of travel in startling numbers, allow us a couple of hours relaxing by the pool, then we tidied and we go to visit the village.
Tombstone is definitely the finest and genuine expression of the wild west. Founded in 1878 near a silver mine flooding hopelessly lost after a few years, has barely changed over time, and his stories of outlaws and settling of scores have become legend ... In fact, one of the most emblematic is the Boothill Graveyard, the small cemetery closed in 1884, we are preparing to visit in the suburbs north of: almost none of his 276 guests silent died of natural death, at least according to the epitaphs reported on several of the tombstones ... type "Killed by an Indian" or "Hanged by mistake." But Tombstone is especially famous for an epic shootout: the so-called "Challenge gunfight at the OK Corral", which also include a film with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster, and in the cemetery, among others, there are also the unfortunate protagonists of 'event ...
After striking Boothill Graveyard we look at the city center, which grows mainly along the dusty Allen Street, lined with typical and historical buildings ... very exciting: it seems to be in the middle of a movie set and it's all incredibly original! Too bad it is getting late (if you can say later six in the afternoon), and several rooms are now closed, in particular the Bird Cage Theater, which must have been interesting, and the Rose Tree Inn Museum, with the largest rose garden world.
However, we can console ourselves with the beautiful Crystal Palace (typically Western), with the americanissimo Big Nose Kate Saloon and especially the place where they held the real Challenge gunfight at the OK Corral "... all in a beautiful setting, with the warm glow of the sunset and the long shadows of evening on the dry land of Arizona.
Gradually it gets dark and the stars light up the sky of Tombstone ... then what better way to end the day if not in a Steak House, corner of Allen Street and Fifth Avenue in front of a big juicy steak and a baked potato! ...

After a breakfast we leave the Holiday Inn Pharaonic greeted at the door of the hotel, by a big hairy spider (probably a tarantula!), Which terribly frightened Frederick. We thus leave behind the incredible Tombstone and regained the number Interstate 10 back, a little later, the "real world".
Almost reached in Tucson, Arizona's second city, we leave the motorway following the signs to Saguaro National Park, or its eastern section, already a national monument in 1933 and raised in the park in 1994 along with the more Western, a distant thirty miles.
The park, as you can guess from the name preserves an area rich in monumental saguaro cactus, which are a bit 'the symbol of the far west, with their columnar trunks green and fleshy, with classic ramifications that sometimes resemble two arms raised in order to greet ... Now I know some pieces along the way ... When we cross the boundaries of the protected area the great monuments of nature, which may exceed ten meters in height, become more dense and gives the place looks really intriguing.
We venture through the Cactus Forest Drive, which climbs into the hills completely covered with cacti (not just saguaro), some of which flourished and is a true spectacle. We make several stops and even the short Desert Ecology Trail ... we spot several road runner and even a rabbit named Jack Rabbit with enormous ears, thus completing the ring road, we leave this section of the park are very excited.
Continuing his visit in the region omitted the center of Tucson and we go in its southern suburbs, where is the Mission San Xavier: a Christian church founded by a Spanish Jesuit in 1692. The current religious building dates from 1783 and apparently is one of the best preserved and most attractive of all the United States.
When glimpsed in the distance his blinding white stands out against the surrounding landscape, but also stand out some glaring scaffolding that predict a lavish restoration ... Fortunately, however, the turreted facade is covered only half, and leaves us to imagine how it can be fully ... very beautiful, in Baroque style, with Moorish details. The interiors are also beautiful, richly decorated ... not comparable to those of a European church, but very characteristic.
The heat begins to be felt in this part of the country and are already 37 degrees in the late morning when we arrive in the western suburbs of Tucson to Old Tucson Studios.
The most famous of the Old West movie set was constructed in 1939 and among its dusty roads have been turned over sixty films (four only those with the legendary John Wayne) ... The memory of those days, however, is now quite distant in time and place, although suggestive, is a little 'decadent, despite the rebuilding of almost half the buildings were destroyed following a fire in 1995.
Turning to the Old Tucson Studios for a couple of hours during which hot lunch with a huge ice cream and witnessing the most classic of western shootouts on Main Street, then we moved a few miles to the nearby Sonora Desert Museum.
Among the giant saguaro is a beautiful museum housed in the desert and all that mother nature has to offer in Arizona, thus following a path that starts minerals, we review a comprehensive overview of magnificent plants and animals in cages sad, returning the point of departure in about two hours, enriched experience on the whole positive.
Hours spent outdoors hot sun, and therefore fairly tried, we go back by car to visit the westernmost section of Saguaro National Park.
Hohokam along the dirt road we pass a forest of magnificent and imposing cacti, then, while riding a storm from the south, leave the area of Tucson, which we liked a lot, and resumed the Interstate number 10 first and then we shipped 8 west, with temperatures rising steeply up to +43!
Late afternoon we arrive at Gila Bend, a town in the middle of nowhere, which would be nothing without motels and petrol stations, but there we decided to spend the night in the local Travelodge.
We have dinner with a plate of good pasta in Little Italy, a restaurant run by a couple of Sicilian ... There is only the wife who asks us why we ended up just a Gila Bend ... but more than anything else we would be asking her how they got in that place, because we are just passing through ... And with this question we go to sleep, while the temperature is still firmly at +37!

Fortunately there is an air conditioning when we go out from our room, just after 7:00, at Gila Bend there are already 33 degrees!
Had lunch we take to follow the Highway Number 85 to the south, following signs for Mexico. Flows so barren lands, beaten by Border Patrol, border police guarding the U.S. border to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants, but along the way we look at a few vulture ominously perched on lamp posts.
Cross the characteristic town of Ajo, with its white churches have Hispanic flavor, and we arrive, now mid-morning, the organization Pipe Cactus National Monument ... Located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert National Monument, established in 1937, focuses in particular, as can be inferred from the name, the organ pipe cactus, which are not found anywhere else in the United States.
The first to welcome us along the main road of the park are numerous, however, saguaro, then, having reached the visitor center, take the Ajo Mountain Drive, a location 21 miles of dirt road that climbs the nearby hills, in the realm of succulents. The track is quite bumpy and our Toyota Sienna is anything but an SUV, but do not despair and continue exploration with extreme caution, after all the scenery is beautiful and you can not just give up ... We employ well over two great hours, in solitude, between monuments and beautiful saguaro pipe organ, in addition to terrible Cholla cactus, which I also had the pleasure of touch: an excruciating pain for a while!
Very few tourists go down here (Mexico is just five miles), but it is absolutely worth it. Sure, I was touched for a moment the thought that if he stopped the car ... that heat in the desert ... but eventually we come back healthy and happy except the visitor center and paved road, then reversed course, we continue to grind immediately km, because the stage is still very long.
On the way back to Gila Bend to Ajo we stop for lunch, after the Border Patrol checkpoint and continue shipped north.
The temperature rises to beyond forty degrees, while we see the skyscrapers in the distance from Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, then begin to climb the mountains, several thousand meters of altitude, but the heat continues unabated. Come meet heavy clouds and begins to rain, that's when the thermometer drops, more than ten degrees, even twenty! ... in seconds! ... Then stops and goes back to +30, but not beyond.
Thus we come to Montezuma Castle National Monument where, above the bend of Beaver Creek, are the picturesque ruins of a Sinagua Indian settlement dating back to 1400 ... The main building is very well preserved, is nestled among the rocks to several tens of meters high, but it is accessible to the public that, although interesting, the site visit we are committed for no longer than half an hour.
Resumed the Interstate Highway number 17 first and then number 179 in short we come to Sedona, between the magnificent red peaks that frame and that made it famous, but it is cloudy and the lack of sun will diminish a bit '... Hopefully not be so tomorrow when will discover ... Meanwhile, we arrive at Days Inn that will host for two nights and since it's early enough I admit, with Frederick, a swim, then go out for dinner in a room for which we had found an advertisement in a 20% discount to réception: the Red Planet Dinner. Eat decently and then, as usual, we draw back in the room because, in spite Sedona is a very touristic place in the evening all the shops are strictly closed.

It 'a wonderful Ferragosto the power to open eyes among the red peaks of Sedona and a sky more clear than ever ... In addition, for the first and last time this holiday, we do it quietly because we are in the neighborhood the day.
We therefore Sedona, capital of the "new age" full of "vortex" suspected places, scattered throughout the territory, where more psychic and electromagnetic energies and where you can find, some say, harmony, personal and planetary ... But above all, we Sedona, a town steeped in the most typical landscape of the American Wild West.
First of all we take the Dry Creek Road to see the conformations in the northwest of the town, then follow the signs to the airport we go precisely to Airport Mesa where you can enjoy a terrific view of the green valley below, from emerge as the warm colors of the rocks that blend with the deep blue of the sky ... a perfect picture, even more beautiful when seen from the nearby "Vortex", a peak reached in just five minutes walk.
Dropped from Airport Mesa we venture into Schnebly Hill Road: un'infernale dirt road that climbs, including exceptional panoramic views on the heights east of Sedona ... To cover eight miles employ almost interminable two hours, but it is an experience to which we certainly can not miss!
At midday, regained the paved road, go north on Highway number 89A, at Slide Rock State Park, while unfortunately ominous clouds on the horizon quickly mounted. We lunch in the parking facilities beside the park, then we look at the stretch of river around which the recreation area was established and where, if you wish, you can also swim, but water is dell'Oak Creek icy and the sun away, so Frederick is content to spend some 'time to build a dam with stones of the stream.
The red rocks of Slide Rock are catchy, too bad only for the weather not quite optimal, showing no sign at all to improve and that end up ruining a bit 'all afternoon ... Let's go see the Red Rock Crossing, the famous ford sull'Oak Creek River, against the backdrop of the fantastic rock formations of Cathedral Rock, who played repeatedly the role of natural set for several Hollywood westerns. We move then, across the river at the foot of Twin Buttes, where he is Holy Cross church built in 1956, designed by Marguerite Brunswing Staude, a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright, and beautifully set between the rocks. We go to see, finally, also Bell Rock, a peak on top of which is the most famous "vortex" of Sedona ... but the sun is all the time behind a nasty layer of clouds.
Rather disappointed by the visits of the gloomy afternoon we're going to spend some 'time span between the shops downtown, before returning to the hotel and immediately go out for dinner Oxaca, a delicious Mexican restaurant ... And end of the evening to bed because tomorrow we can expect a long and tiring of the highlights of the trip, which will take us right on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Good morning this morning (very early, at 6:00) there gives it a shoot wild boar, which passes by the window of our room.
We have breakfast and shortly after the 7:00 party, in front of us over six hundred miles (nearly a thousand kilometers) to reach the ocean, and complete in practice, physically, the much longed-for "coast to coast.
A beautiful sun is shining today, so first of all, let's take some pictures yesterday when the clouds had somehow stopped our fiery finger: to Holy Cross, Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock, even though the light does not and the right (the visits, in fact, were not provided at random in the afternoon).
Soon after we follow the road number 89A to the north, which rises rapidly share and makes us go back over two thousand meters, with the temperature at 18 degrees.
In Flagstaff we take Interstate 40 west and number, leaving the right signs to the Grand Canyon, we are preparing to take the single stretch of road, which coincides with our route in 2004.
We descend from the Colorado Plateau and the temperature rises again back impressively to the +40, so continuing to grind km, crossed the Colorado River once again and leave Arizona to California (fifteenth and final state in chronological order this trip).
In the middle of the Mojave Desert we leave the motorway following the signs to Amboy to the south ... The place is written on the road map, but in practice it is only a cross with a few houses ... mostly uninhabited ... Moreover, those who dare to live there? ... There, in fact, breaking the record of +44 hot!
We continue to Twentynine Palms, fifty miles away, and in town we stopped for lunch: the temperature is almost the same, but it seems another world, a beautiful public park and fresh green grass ... the vicinity of Palm Springs, a town of the jet-set, makes itself felt.
There also in the early afternoon on the hills bordering the Joshua Tree National Park, a vast protected area, already in 1936 and declared a National Monument Park in 1994. Always lived in the shadow of his most famous parigrado California and then a little 'mistreated, the Joshua Tree National Park we can assert instead the time we want to invest.
Just after leaving the entrance here at the road side the first strange trees that give their name to the park: they are only in this area of the planet and are an unusual species of yucca, agave family, besides being beautiful and extremely characteristic with their twisted branches and top of each branch of a CASPO green leaves that vaguely resembles a pom-pom.
For every kilometer of the Joshua Tree are increasingly numerous and scattered among beautiful polished granite ... a real show, which reaches its apotheosis in Hidden Valley, a place where, according to legend, the cattle thieves hid their prey.
Further down the road to Keys View (viewing point) is closed for work and continue beyond, while the trees decrease in number and size until it disappears completely at the mouth of Pinto Basin Road.
Soon after we see the White Tank Arc, bold rock formations, but the cart track that gives access to the area where it is closed with a metal bar, without any explanation ... damn! ... So we console at the impressive expanse of thorns Cholla Cactus Garden, where a sign warns about the danger of the plants ... Thanks, I already knew!
Traversed the entire eastern side of the park, looking purely desert, we stop for a moment the palm grove of Cottonwood Spring, and then we leave behind the amazing Joshua Tree National Park from its southern entrance.
The temperature is always over forty when traversed the valley of the Salton Sea, take the S22 road which climbs to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, an area also interesting in theory, but the dense fog this does not allow us to enjoy the panoramic views that we encounter along the route.
Crossing a mountain and as if by magic the desert gives way to green valleys ... We face an infinite number of curves and ups and downs, and inexorably as the sun sets in the distance glimpsed the ocean, but there are still many miles to go in this endless day and arrived after dark track on the outskirts of a metropolis like San Diego. .. Fortunately we do not lose the compass, and, though tired, also found the Super 8 we will host for tonight ... We have dinner in the neighborhood, a bit 'tested (but below under fulfilled also for the stage today) and then lead us in the room to eat a well-deserved rest.

And 'the last full day of the trip that will pass in the States and we wake up to the Super 8 in San Diego, according to urban area by population in California.
We have breakfast, we leave the luggage in storage at the reception and then go to visit the famous San Diego Zoo, which opened in 1915 and in size, the number one in the world.
Leave the car in front of the immense parking tickets do (rather expensive), we enter and we threw ourselves immediately in the animal world, but vegetal view the magnificent setting.
Throughout the morning we wander through the paths of the zoo looking at many of the more than four animals, some of which are completely unknown to us. Among the most exciting in the lead all the panda, and then the koalas, tapirs, bears, monkeys, cats, hoofed animals and so on ... I must say: beautiful zoo, fantastic animals, beautiful organization and environment ... but sad to see all beings in a cage ... much better to see even one, but in complete freedom, we will remember this trip and probably more impressed by a few seconds the bear sighting at Grand Teton National Park rather than the sparkling San Diego Zoo.
Aware of this while trying to enjoy your visit and we are also considering the size of a cable car ride, and with a panoramic bus, finally we see a funny show whose main character is a sea lion ... Lunch in the park and then we go out that are already past 14:00.
Back at the Super 8 and removed the bags, we're going to discover what remains to be seen in San Diego.
Omit the park Sea World, we've seen in Orlando, Florida, and throughout the city we arrive on the shores of the bay in which it looks out. From there, through a spectacular bridge, landed on the neighbor island of Coronado, which closes the bay to the force of the ocean and plays a major role in the tourism resort of the country. Just face the Pacific Ocean is in fact the Victorian Hotel del Coronado, extravagant building considered a historical monument, since the inauguration in 1888, has always linked his name to many different twists of politics, money and film.
Let's take a stroll along the beach with the spectacular silhouette of the hotel on the right and left of the sea, we go to touch almost a ritual as a symbol of the successful expedition across the American continent, then get back on our tracks and the bridge rediscussing us back to San Diego.
Flowing in the distance the skyline of Downtown, which is nothing spectacular compared to the memories of Chicago, and before leaving the city going to look also at Old Town, the first settlement in San Diego and among the oldest of California, created in 1820 ... The six isolates, all of them elderly and distinctive buildings, which are built around the central Washington Square, is a real surprise: delicious Mexican-style corners and beautiful shops in which we deliberately lose ... with the real risk of doing later this evening!
Almost at 18:00 we depart for Los Angeles ... The road ahead is not very big, but so is the traffic (really impressive to see seven lanes of cars still in the queue in the same direction!), So we arrive at the Rodeway Inn in Cottonwood, near LAX, where to fly tomorrow morning , after dark, shortly after 20:00.
We bring in the luggage room and go to dinner at a Mexican fast food, then return to settle the cases for the departure and rest a bit ', because the next night there he moved on uncomfortable seats of the plane.

Going home: at 5:00 the alarm goes off, let's narrow breakfast room and then leave the Rodeway Inn. We walk the short distance that separates us from the National and return the car with which we have traveled in the United States, 6176 miles (equal to 9881 kilometers) and everything went smoothly, despite the broken glass (included in insurance) and light maintenance on, which gave us some concern.
At 6:30 we are at Terminal 4 of LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) and we put it into the queue for check-in. The line of people ahead of us is impressive and we arm ourselves to lots of patience, but meanwhile time passes and the flight is scheduled for 9:00. I request information to an employee and this sends us in the queue of e-tickets, but the machine responds responsible spades ... We then move into a third row ... Meanwhile, time passes: are 8:00 and I start to get nervous! ... I note and tell me to keep my place! ... Unbelievable, we are in the country leads the world and disorganization is total: a single queue for all flights, both for those in advance, both for those who have the time now as we close.
We arrive at the counter which are 8:40 ... and tell us that there is no time to board ... fantastic! ... Thanks American Airlines! ... Plus the next opportunity to fly back home it seems there is only tomorrow at the same time, we are shocked, but we must accept the situation!
We leave the airport, luggage in hand, car rental and get on the bus we go to the Alamo. We ask so another car for a day: 10:30 and is something we shall have to do, as well as to search for a hotel for the night.
We deliver a white Chevrolet Uplander (Targa California 5VAE 234), with which we return to the Rodeway Inn, because the price was right and it is nearby, then took back possession of our rooms, lunch and bought some groceries at the nearby supermarket.
Early afternoon we depart by car and drive north along the coast to the popular resort of Malibu, we had not seen in the 2004 trip, and we find the classic houses on the beach, very desirable and the prices exorbitant, but morale is under the heels and not very exciting at all.
While turning on the light in this car maintenance, then we go, past the Pier in Santa Monica, Venice Beach ... the best thing that has happened to us in this unhappy day ... Like three years ago, the place is beautiful, rich colors and all kinds of people, a real slice of life "Made in USA ... By coincidence, we also find all the license plates of the states that we have traversed, of which we are collectors, and even this is a good thing ...
We spend all afternoon in Venice Beach, regaining a bit of brightness and then back to the Rodeway Inn, we go out for dinner once again from Pizza Hut and returns to the room to rest, as tomorrow morning we leave a lot, but not for long before encountering in a new misadventure.

The alarm clock rings at 3:40 ... By now we should already be in Bologna and instead here we are still in Los Angeles.
A very large advance, at 4:30, unloading all at Terminal 4 of LAX, you get in line and I'm going to return the car at the Alamo: we have come with that other 77 miles, which added to the previous 6176 becomes 6253, representing 10,004 kilometers ... is true, we wanted exceed ten thousand and we missed the flight yesterday ... on purpose but it is very soon, I'm so sleepy and raving.
With the shuttle joins the others at the airport, which have since been made to move to paperless check-in ... The machine also meets today spades, but the lady who does care, unlike that of yesterday, goes behind the counter and in a moment there the system (even in America people are not all alike and I hope only to his colleague are severe pain lower abdomen ...).
Ship's luggage (for which we pay $ 25 because of an excess weight of 6.5 pounds ... zero tolerance!), Past the metal detector and, God willing, we sit waiting for the flight to the port 49A. .. This morning in just over an hour we managed to do what yesterday was not possible to do in more than two, and now we have to wait for three long hours the departure of our plane, but meanwhile we can finally relax the nerves.
It is almost time to take-off and we realize that there is a delay of half an hour ... and nerves begin to contract again, as we take a flight to Bologna to coincide rather closely in Brussels. Apparently there is bad weather in Chicago, where we will make a stop, and the departure is moved further and earlier than 45 minutes, then an hour, then an hour and a half!
At 11:19 finally detach from the ground (flight AA88) and the American Airlines Boeing 767 turns at once to Chicago, but take the train to Bologna will be almost impossible ... it would take a miracle, since there were two hours left ... almost as much as the delay.
Along the way we lose two hours of time zone and everything goes well, despite some turbulence harmless, only stopping at the Capital of Illinois at 16:40, late monstrous on the roadmap, while beyond the window the weather is horrible like autumn and the sun than twenty days ago during our visit to Chicago seems only a distant memory.
Who knows when I will divide the plane? ... We wonder as we landed, but almost without realizing it we are immediately loaded through a door next door, on another plane, same flight number (another Boeing 767), which roll on at 17:58 Ohio Airport runway and takes off towards Europe ... Goodbye America and see you soon ... And at the same time is rekindled in us the hope of taking the train to Bologna.
After a few hours flying at full speed into the sunset, it is already night. Thus restoring the clock on the time zone of Brussels and Italy and in the blink of an eye ...

This date should not even appear on the travelogue, and yet here it is ... Proceed into the night and left the Atlantic behind and the American continent, passing just south of Greenland, as one looks on Europe begins to dawn.
Outside the window there are many clouds, but below us is the Republic of Ireland, then we begin the descent to Brussels, where we landed, scoring a good recovery, a wet morning at 8:18.
We leave the plane and begin the race for the last flight, but we in the States and the complications are less, so we Customs in 35 minutes, check-in and metal detectors and present ourselves at the door A54 for boarding. .. still a bit of trouble with the tickets and then we go up 85 to the AVR RJ Brussel Airlines and stop arguing with the planes!
On time, finally, the flight takes off SN 3123 bound for Italy ... We climb above the clouds and practically we review the land only to Bologna, where it landed safely at 11:18 ... Now only remains to take the train.
We'll collect all baggage (and not little!), We get on the shuttle to the station and when we get there we feel announce the local train to Rimini departing from platform 8: Great running with suitcases in hand and go up the fly on the 12 Terno : 09, so we move immediately towards the finish line.
Once in Forlì found someone with a good heart who came to fetch us, so we greet my grandparents, who once again were good companions, and at 13:22, twenty-four hours after the alarm over Los Angeles, we are again opposite the gate of our house.
It 'been a wonderful journey, an epic ride from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the immense spaces and sublime landscapes in North America, but has also been a tough journey, because ten thousand kilometers in twenty days are many and have left us a long time to savor and to ponder what each day passes before our eyes, so only after having quietly rearranged the thoughts and wonderful memories we can truly say how wonderful it was this "coast to coast and include, as it deserves, the Olympus our adventures.