Today we packed our bags in preparation for our flight home.

A reminder of the state of paranoia in the state of California. Almost every public building in California has signs like these to warn people of the likes of smoke or alcohol or genetically modified foods or whatever.

We drove one more time through the congested freeways of Los Angeles as we headed for LAX Airport Car Rental Return.

The total mileage recorded for our journeys across the Southwestern United States was 1794 miles.

So - for 13 days and nearly 2000 miles we have journeyed through some of the most beautiful parts of the world - all here in the Southwestern part of the USA. We have experienced the peacefulness of arid deserts, snow-capped mountains, the grandest of canyons, the lushest of forests and the solitude of cross-country highways that traverse them all. In contrast we have also experienced the clogged-up freeways of a car-loving nation - the stop-start way of getting around Los Angeles and contributing to the smog that so pollutes the natural beauty of the monuments that surround it. We have also seen the effects of money and the economic division of wealth in the USA in the extreme glitz of Las Vegas and the haven of Palm Springs as well as the luxuries of Beverly Hills and the entertainment capital of the world - Hollywood. We have marvelled at the brilliance of the feat of engineering to conquer the ferocity of the Colorado river - the Hoover Dam - and we have stared in amazement at the audacity of harnessing power on a grand scale from the desert winds. Several things are for sure:

• America is the most beautiful country in the world.
• The very survival of Americans depends upon cars and burgers.
• Americans have a big country - and they think big!
• Americans know how to put on a show better than anyone else!
• Americans - especially in the Southwest - are slighly eccentric - in a creative sort of way.

Well - all good things have to come to an end. We are very tired and much in need of a rest! It has been tiring but we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Zonked!

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