Video: Just what you need at the Grand Canyon: A nice cup of Yorkshire tea

Karl and Anne have travelled many thousands of miles from their Liverpool home to see this, the Grand Canyon, that vast, seemingly never-ending chasm cut deep into the Arizona desert which must surely be the greatest wonder of all in this entire astonishing land.

The final part of the trip out here takes forever, bouncing down miles of dusty, bumpy track with just sand and rock and spiky cacti as far as the eye can see.

It's fair to say, then, the couple were not expecting to find two girls from Yorkshire handing out free cups of tea from a repainted ice cream van when they arrived.

"Talk about random!" grins Karl, sipping his brew and surveying the magnificent panorama stretching out before us.

This is the first of the so-called "flash-brews" that Taylors of Harrogate will be holding as they make their way across America.

The team announce the plan on their Facebook page before parking the van, laying out tables and umbrellas and throwing a free tea party for whoever might be passing.

Before long a sizeable crowd has gathered, drawn in by the curious sight of the "Little Urn" tea van juxtaposed against such a stunning backdrop. Well, that and the promise of a free drink.

"Tipico Ingles, no?" nods Jorge, an Argentinian who sight-seeing with his family. "You bring your tea to Buenos Aires next, please."

Daniella, who comes from just across the border in Mexico, says: "When I was young we never had tea bags – my mother picked plants and leaves to make tea. It was pretty different to this."

Later, we call in at the Canyon Ranch, a collection of rustic huts some miles along the road.

Its resident cowboy Daniel wanders out, guitar in hand, determined to deliver spontaneous renditions of his own old-time bluegrass favourites.

Leaning against the Yorkshire Tea van, eyes closed and ecstatic in song, he howls and he hoots and he dances and he "yee-ha's" before us – just one more surreal moment in this oddest of weeks.