Setting off from Las Vegas, we felt a little deflated. We really enjoyed our time there, lazing by the pool and hitting Freestyle CrossFit in the evenings. Now back on the road we knew that ‘living the dream’ had come to an end. We headed west toward the Grand Canyon and it was truly spectacular. For those of you who haven’t seen it we would highly recommend it! There are lots of different trails and walks to do here, so if you have time its well worth spending a couple of days to really appreciate the magnificence of it!

From here we headed back to Vegas and used another Air BnB to get up and set off north and through Death Valley. For me this has to be the highlight of the trip. Its probably the strangest place I’ve experienced, there are so many different rock formations, altitudes and landscapes all in one area. We headed up to more than 5000ft to ‘Dante’s View’ for an incredible sight of the Death Valley floor. It was relatively cool at this height but as we descended and drove further into the furnace the temperature rose greatly. This has to be the hottest place I have ever been as we recorded a temperature of 46.6°C.

We next came across Zabriskie Point which is surrounded by a maze of wildly coloured badlands. Here we really began to feel the heat and was relieved of the comforts of the air conditioned car.

Further we drove into the abyss and out of nowhere we came across the Mesquite Sand Dunes, as many as 13 people die here each year. People venture out to the dunes thinking they are closer than they are and loose track and site of their way back.