Touring the USA (June 2010): the West Side

As we left San Francisco, we rent a car and drove east side with the only real goal to catch a plane to Mexico from the LA airport.
What to do in the middle ?
Planning on the go we drove through:
- the Yosemite National Park, with its long trees and very beautiful iced Lake.
- the red-hot Death Valley, a western movie taste with its 50 degrees and desolated roads
- Las Vegas
- Grand Canyon
- Los Angeles.

Very briefly into the last 3 mentioned:
Las Vegas is almost intentionally ugly, kitch and very hot during summertime, if you like to play (I 'm not very fond of it) it may be very funny, if you don't it's a waste of time.
The Grand Canyon is breathlessly beautiful, you don't see it until you get very close at it, then all of a sudden you realize there is a huge hole in the middle of the forest and the visual impact is astonishing.
If you go during the early or latest hour of the day, it's a mix of shining red colours coming from its rocks carved by the wind.
Los Angeles it's like a beautiful and empty woman to me, sparkling everywhere you look at it but lacking a real soul.
Nice houses, gardens, bodies, faces gave me the sensation of being into the "American Beauty" style life, where showing off is the primary thing and the real life lies underneath...somewhere !!!.
E.

Travel Informations:
Nothing particular to remind, the Aria Resort Hotel in Las Vegas was worthing the while but I guess every hotel is as nice as cheap through the whole city.