Do the Colorado plateau circuit
I took my family to usa a couple of years ago for my son's wedding which was in St Paul. We started out in San Diego and flew early one morning to Las Vegas and picked up a Caddy, then headed off to the Grand Canyon, spent a very full day there then went and stayed the night in the Navajo area. Next day we travelled through Monument Valley (where many of John Wayne's westerns were filmed) finishing the day at Mesa Verde NP. Next day looked through the various old Indian communities before heading off for Moab. Stayed there for a couple of days to catch up, including much of a day at the Arches NP. This was a surreal experience as the day was over the century (in the old fashioned measure) but you could look out on the snow capped ranges over the way (part of the Rockies I think). From there we travelled to Bryce Canyon then to Zion NP and back to Las Vegas to catch a plane to St Paul.
What was it like? I haven't seen anything to rival the Grand Canyon - much much bigger than the valleys in the Blue Mountains, but the smoke haze hung around all day so that the view wasn't as good as it could have been. The movie of someone flying through the canyon in an ultralight was great but the motel was abysmal. The Cameron Trading Post was extremely interesting, left a fair bit behind in exchange for a Navajo rug. The accommodation at Mesa Verde was very ordinary, but the ruins were well worth the look. The drive in bank at Moab has to be seen to be believed. The motel at Bryce Canyon was better than any of the preceding ones and the Canyon is fascinating, lots to see and all in a very small area, but I thought that Zion NP was the best of all of them - saved the best till last.
interesting experience at the end - we arrived an hour late for our flight, but the plane was two hours late so we were OK. On the first take off there was a loud bang half way down the runway, so we went back to the terminal and waited - we waited on the plane for three hours with no A/C, no drinks, no food, and it was still over the hundred. Ended up getting to our hotel in St Paul at 4AM.
Driving around was dead easy, once you get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. The interstate highways are fabulous - I would have liked to bring one or two of them home in place of the RTA goat tracks that we have. Be aware that there is no such thing as a roadside stopping place, you are supposed to go to a fast "food" joint and eat that stuff they call fast-food.
The scenery was spectacular. Interesting to see so many variations on the theme of desert landscape within a 6 day drive - here you would have to drive for a month to see the same diversity of scenery - and you won't see anything like Bryce canyon anywhere in Australia.
Because it is a big place and the well known spots are so far apart you will probably have to fly, which is a pity. Many of the airlines are bankrupt and the service shows that. All flight bookings go into a computer system which seems to be on the look out for overseas visitors flying on single journey tickets - they are picked out for the strip searches, intrusive baggage checks and general airport hassle. It really is more enjoyable if you can drive.
