Views of the Grand Canyon, from IMAX film to walking the South Rim Trail

We 'fuelled up' at the Shell station by the KOA, while the manager was busy raising the displayed prices. You always have to pay in advance (as drive-away theft is on the increase), and this particular station gave 10 cents per gallon discount for cash sales.

The guy on the next pump, No 6, paid for $20 of petrol but said that he was on No 5, our pump. We swiped our credit card and started pumping but the machine stopped at $20. Giving up and thinking that we had paid for it on the credit card, we drove off. The manager came running after us saying that we owed him $20, cash! Barry explained that we were English and we were confused. The manager explained that he was American and he was confused. Barry said that, at last, we had something in common!

The Grand Canyon ('GC') is about 50 miles due north on highway 64, across a barren plateau at about 6,000 ft. After 23 miles, at the junction with the 180 from Flagstaff, lies Valle, comprising the GC Inn Motel, an air force museum, fuel, the Double Eagle Trading Co (authentic Indian Crafts), and Flintstones Restaurant and RV Park ($17 a night) – Yabba Dabba Doo!

10 miles further on, we entered the Kaibab National Forest, with fir trees and old Smokey Bear asking us to prevent fires (danger today: moderate). Roadworks slowed progress on the narrow road, with threats of Double Fines for exceeding 35 mph (normal limit 65).

Another 12 miles to Tusayan, the settlement just before the Grand Canyon National Park's border, at 6,611 ft. It is home to the airport (scenic flights and helicopter rides), every kind of fast and slow food, motels, a Campers Village RV Park (nearly $40 a night!) and the IMAX cinema in the National Geographic Visitor Centre. We were lucky to walk straight in and catch the next performance, with 2 minutes to spare. The Centre is open from 8 am-10 pm in March-October and 10 am-8 pm in winter, November-February. The 34-minute film 'showing the splendor (sic) and history of the Grand Canyon' was simply brilliant. IMAX at its best, every hour from 8.30 am-8.30 pm. For $10 each, we had the experience of flying over and rowing through the canyon, without any fear or travel sickness! Visit www.explorethecanyon.com for more on the film.

The GC NP entrance is 3 miles north, but we met the queue of coaches, RVs and cars waiting to buy tickets long before that! The fee of $20 per vehicle (good for 7 days) compared with a $50 fee for a National Parks Pass valid everywhere in the USA for one year. Hoping to visit more parks, we bought the annual pass (see www.nationalparks.org or www.nps.gov/grca). Equipped with a bewildering handout of leaflets and sketch maps, we proceeded to the first parking area at Mather Point (7,136 ft), a short walk from the Canyon View Information Plaza (visitor centre and bookshop). We found ourselves perched on the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the river 4,600 ft below our feet, which had cut this 277 mile cleft in the Colorado Plateau! More statistics: the canyon varies in width from 4 to 8 miles and is up to a mile deep - the world's deepest gorge.

The Rim Trail footpath (no bicycles allowed) runs for about 12 miles along the southern edge, with many fenced viewpoints extending over the canyon (and many unfenced opportunities for suicide, murder or just plain carelessness!) We walked westwards, 5 miles return, past the Yavapai Observation Station (visibility very clear, no haze). The temperature was about 80 degrees at the rim and 96 at the bottom of the canyon, where there is tent camping for hikers who make the descent (on foot or on mules). After drinks and ices at the Bright Angel Fountain, we turned back at Bright Angel Lodge (terminus of the trains from Williams and so the site of early accommodation).

The views were simply overwhelming, the rock layers surprisingly colourful. Over a billion and more years, they had been laid down by volcanoes, pushed up by faults, ground down again by seas and fissured by earthquakes to create this magnificent terrain. As sunset cast its glow on the scene, we tried to capture the scale of the topography. To see the complete photo gallery of our visit to the Grand Canyon, click here. To complete the magic, four Californian Condors soared overhead, exciting much attention. Last seen in Arizona skies in 1924 and almost extinct in the 1980's (as few as 22), they were the subject of a captive breeding and release programme starting in 1997, with a population of about 50 now in northern Arizona.

These vultures have a wingspan of 10 feet, just 2 feet short of the Andes Condor (earth's largest land-bird) and we could clearly see a white-painted number on each soaring black wing. As we watched the aerobatics of number 19, we wondered how the keepers manage to mark the birds before release? Other wildlife spotted: grey squirrels and small lizards (but no chipmunks or coyotes, perhaps the source of carrion for the condors).

Half a mile back from the rim, at 'Market Plaza', are 2 camping options. The Mather Campground (no hook-ups) is for tents and motorhomes up to 30 ft at $15 a night, on a first come first served basis. The Trailer Village is $22 with hook-up, reservations made well in advance. Being Friday, both were full for the weekend. More info on a variety of websites, including www.americanparknetwork.com and www.grandcanyon.org.

Against a backdrop of a setting sun over the Arizona high desert, we drove back to last night's excellent KOA, as Tusayan's RV Park was way over-priced and Flintstones at Valle looked – well – stone age! (No WiFi, for sure)

September 24     114 miles     CAMERON, RV Park ($17.00)

A 20-mile cycle ride on Grand Canyon South Rim and a drive along the Little Colorado

After driving back to the South Rim, we left the motorhome in the free RV day-park by the railway station in Grand Canyon Village. Both campgrounds were still full.

From there, we cycled the 10 mile road west, which ends at Hermit's Rest. The road, which parallels the rim trail, is closed to private vehicles from May to October but bicycles can share it with the natural gas-powered shuttle buses which run every 15 minutes, stopping at 7 viewpoints on the way out but only 2 on the return run – exactly as we did! Hermit's Rest (at 6,650 ft) has a small snack bar, for a welcome bite and drink. The highest point was at 7,125 ft, the temperature in the high 80's, visibility across the canyon again excellent, with glimpses of the river far below. Ravens and squirrels begged for scraps, though signs threatened fines for feeding wildlife. We met only one other cyclist, most tourists taking the bus and perhaps walking a short stretch. We enjoyed breathing the pure air, though not dodging the unforgiving shuttles on the narrow road.

A woman shuttle bus driver shouted at Barry 'Do you know you should leave the road when you hear a bus coming?' Barry replied that we thought the bus was going to leave the road when it heard us coming. Giving the typical American reaction to irony, let alone sarcasm, the driver replied that that was not possible!

Back in the motorhome by 4 pm, we drove east on Desert View Drive (highway 64), pausing at Grand View (7,500 ft) to watch the Condors circling, at Lipan Point for good views of the river and at Desert View, by the watch tower, for another sunset. Here, just before the GC National Park's eastern entrance (25 miles from GC Village), is another simple self-registration campground ($10, closes October, full).

As we continued through the pine forest at dusk we saw a magnificent stag waiting (thankfully) by the road, and later a fox ran across in our headlights. The road descended through 3,000 ft, following the Little Colorado River, and lined with scenic lookouts and stalls selling Indian souvenirs (pottery, rugs, beef or buffalo jerky). All were deserted now, after 7 pm and dark, so we missed the views of the Little Colorado Canyon.

We met highway 89 (from Flagstaff) at the small Indian settlement of Cameron. Down at 4,200 ft it was a warm night, spent on a simple Indian-run RV Park behind the store (pay at the Chevron fuel station – the cheapest yet at less than £10). We had a safe night with electric hook-up, using our own bathroom. We were literally glowing from our 20-mile ride in the sun.