Six days worth of sore backsides later...

I start today with news that I know will disturb you all. Our erstwhile colleague, Mr Tony Matthews, is still on his first pair of pants since we said goodbye to Blighty last Sunday. Not only this, but he is happy about this fact and doesn't anticipate going for a clean pair any time soon. I don't care if they are your 'lucky pants' Tony, as a group we believe it's time for change. Maybe a bit of adverse public opinion will change his mind so please feel free to add your comments.

After an evening where we were slightly bemused by the tattooed women of Tucson, we headed off for Flagstaff in near 80 degrees after a short excursion to the Aircraft Boneyard which is an airfield near the town where hundreds of obsolete military aircraft are lined up waiting, well I'm not sure what they're waiting for, but whatever it is doesn't seem likely to happen soon. Quite eerie really.

250 miles today and what a contrast from start to finish. I think what is becoming obvious to all of us is that this country is simply huge and the contrast between places makes you realise why 65% of Americans dont have a passport. We are exploring a tiny part of the US and the differences between the places we've called in at have been startling. The flat desert roads of southern Arizona gradually gave way to some of the most stunning mountain roads imaginable and the view as we came over the top of the hill towards Sedona was unforgettable, as were the 110mph bends. I write from Flagstaff, temperature now 45F, where there is still snow on the ground and the pine forest we drove through was about as different to the sand dunes down south as it gets.

Inevitably, things dont always go smoothly. We have been in the habit of stopping a few miles short of our destination for a quick beer and a ciggi. Today however, the shoplady who sold us the grog seems to have grassed us up to the coppers who turned up a minute or two later. At this point we ditched the beer, undrunk, into a dumpster and stood round looking guilty. When Mr Policeman had gone we were tempted to dangle Neil by the ankles so that we might retrieve the beers but decided against it as paying for second masseur in two days would probably take Neil over budget.

Point to add regarding the helmetless biking of yesterday... Digger, Tony and I now all look like we've been seriously tango-ed. The Arizona sunshine is generally, it is said, a little stronger than the feeble and flimsy-wimsy stuff we get back home. Serves us right.