Three mischievous minions have been locked up in the maximum security Alcatraz prison.  

But that won’t hold the minions for long because they can squeeze between the bars and make their escape.  

Dave starts his climb of the double height fence.  

Up the stairs to get over The Rock. 

Scrambling down the cliff by the water tower. Hold on tight Stuart!  

Oh no, Stuart’s slipped.
The final run to freedom through the old ruins.   

First stop is the cable cars. Dave’s going to hang off the side to ride.   

The California line halfway up the hill. 

Leaving the motel in Fort Verde. 

 One last trip in the big 4×4. Dave’s turn for a car picture after all of Jorge’s train photos and   Stuart’s plane photos. 

 Out in the desert amongst the cacti. 

 Stuart and Jorge take revenge for the Merry Go Round affair 

 Ouch!  

Dave thought that the fan in the hotel room looked a bit like merry go round…  

  …except it rotates a whole lot faster 

How are they going to get Stuart  down? 

It’s even bigger when you’re small and yellow. 

Even wearing a cowboy hat doesn’t make it any smaller.  

We’re only allowed to climb on trees that don’t hang out over the rim because we might fall off. Jorge is going to be first to make it to the end of the branch.

Three Cowboys at the Grand Canyon… 
…and it’s a long way down so don’t fall.  

Stuart’s up early and ready to go…

Desert View point; our first stop at the Grand Canyon.

Jorge probably shouldn’t be climbing on the telescopes! 

Looking out west along the canyon. There’s water down there somewhere.

First stop Four Corners, where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. Stuart is in all four states at once.

Dave in front of Mexican Hat, a piece of rock balancing atop a Mesa, although it’s a bit small at this distance. Zoom in over Dave’s head and it’s there.

The roads out here are long and straight and usually busier so Dave had better move quick before he gets squashed.

Three little cowboys in Monument Valley.

Today we visited Mesa Verde and it’s preserved Pueblo Cave dwellings.

Here we are ontop of the Mesa with the Spruce House dwellings behind us.   

 
The cave dwellings are made up of over a hundred rooms. The ladder on the right leads down into a Kiva.   

 
Kivas are underground ceremonial chambers.  

 A look back across the valley. To think,  yesterday we were in those mountains in the snow! 

We drove over the high passes last night in the driving snow, visibility could be measured in meters and we were thankful for the 4×4.  We learn later that it’s one of the top 10 most dangerous roads in America.

Our train at Durango; a proper chuff-chuff locomotive. Jorge is happy, he’s been looking forward to this trip all holiday.  

It’s a slow ride up the Animas Gorge but the views are stunning, the train clings to a ledge on a cliff 300ft above the raging river.

De-training at Silverton in the snow.  

It’s snowy here and we only packed our summer Dungarees.  

Up in the mountains.  

It’s really stared snowing…  

…but back down in the valley it’s still sunny; what bizarre weather. 

Things don’t start so well. The train coming in to Denver is 4hrs late and the replacement bus can’t leave until it arrives. It’s gone noon before we board.  

The bus soon heads up into the mountains. It all started out very murky 

 But we soon break through the cloud into the beautiful Glenwood Canyon. 
The bus picks up time, we’re only 90minutes late into Grand Junction.  

We make it to AVIS car hire with minutes to spare. Unfortunately they only have giant 4×4’s left so we strap in and head south.