1. Arrival in New York 2. The concerts 3. Going west 4. Good bye in San Francisco 5. Back to the east coast back to homepage

We kept on going till midnight and then slept by the road in our tents. The next morning we had breakfast at McDonald's in the middle of nowhere. At noon we passed El Paso catching a glance of Mexico from the highway. At about 3 p.m. we arrived at the visitor's center of White Sand's National Park. Like big parts of New Mexico it's a desert with the difference that its sand is of a bright white color and that the area is quite limited. In combination with the blue sky it is a fascinating landscape.

breakfast at McDonald's, Texas	the DVQ at White Sands NP, NM	white and blue in White Sands
the desert lives, White Sands	after the rain, White Sands	"DVQ", White Sands

After seeing this highlight we went on to Arizona. We spent the night at a motel in the north-west of New Mexico and had a moderate distance left for the next day to reach Monument Vallay. We arrived incredibly hungry. So we bought some chicken and had one of most scenic meals we ever had. Then we went down by car and passed all these impressive red rocks on a rough road. At a quiet spot on the back side of the valley Dirk, Ben and Martin made Stephan a present thanking him for the organisation of this tour: a pipe of peace from the Navajos. Of course we started "making peace" right there. Then we looked for a fine place to see the sunset which painted the rocks with a spectacular dark red.

basic food: hamburger and cigarette	the entrance to Monument Valley	scenic view with chicken	on the round trip	on the round trip

incredible rock formation	the pipe of peace (with Dirk)	long shadows	sunset

After the sunset we went on to get to the Grand Canyon. After only 200 miles we reached the camp site at the rim of the canyon at obout midnight. Though it must have been heavily overbooked we found a spot on the camp site (the last one) wich brobably has been left unoccupied because of wrong interpreted road sign. We didn't sleep long because of the sunrise we wanted to see. After the breakfast we went along the rim and evry time we stopped the view was different but always spectacular. At noon we split up to do what we wanted and met again to experience the sunset. After this wonderful day we instantly went on to Las Vegas.

sunrise	view of the Canyon looking west	view point at the rim road
Ben's "suicide"	the "Grand-Canyon-Sunset-Cigar"	sunset

At 2 o'clock in the morning we arrived in Las Vegas. Exactly the time to go to the "Strip" and try a game. We were impressed by the architecture of these huge hotel-casinos, that had everyone its own style: Venice, Paris, New York, Cesar's Palace and so on. But though they were almost all impressive from outside they were extremely similar inside: slot machines, blackjack tables, roulette etc. Of course we tried the slot machines and after loosing everybody about one dollar we went to bed at six in the morning. In the afternoon we went to town again and were a bit disappointed that the glamour of the night couldn't stand the daylight. Only some of the hotels could keep a kind of "charme".

Hotel Venice	Hotel Paris	Hotel New York

the 1st floor of Hotel Venice has a canal	in the casino

Las Vegas is an oasis in the desert but it went to extremes in heat and dryness in Death Valley which belongs to California. Though we reached the real Death Valley after sunset we were surprised by the high temperatures. When we arrived at the visitor's center at 23:00 the thermometer showed 42 degrees Celsius. The fire we made was only for the feeling of wilderness and the wood was bought beforehand in a store. The next morning we went by car through the valley and got to the deepest point of the american continent: Badwater, a salt lake is situated at minus 282 feet (about -90 meters). At the surrounding rocks there was a sign indicating sea level - a strange feeling.

arrival in Death Valley	Ben and Dirk	fire at 42°C

Badwater (-282 feet)	view of Badwater

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