Immer gerade aus

Dear all,

We're in Arizona! It's some 30 degrees centigrade 24/7, the cities are as uninspiring as I've ever seen them and the gas is about twice as cheap as it was in California.

After Sanders last update two days ago, we drove via the outskirts of LA (still some 60 kilometres away) to Joshua Tree National Park. Along the way, I (Jasper) bought a new tent, as my old 2-person tent which I had bought in Seattle proved way too noisy under windy circumstances, robbing me of three nights of sleep. Now, we have a luxurious 3-person tent with wifi, a bath tub and escalators and the three of us are now able to go on multi-day hikes!

We had found out the location of the free overflow campground of Joshua Tree Village where we could stay the night. However, the navigation system directed us to a very uneven patch of desert which happened to be the property of a beer-drinking, red-neck giant with a very frightening German Shepherd and an equally frightening wife (we've not been able to distinguish between the two). Luckily, we were allowed to spend the night 5 meters away on the other side of the road, outside of the rightful property of this charming gentleman.

The next day, we drove to Joshua Tree National Park and out of fifteen people inside the visitor centre, nine persons were Dutch! After having received warnings about dehydration and the presence of snakes and turtles (yes, turtles, I don't know why either) we set off for the desert. We walked two short, one-mile nature trails which led us to a canyon with completely weathered, yellowish granites interspersed with Joshua trees, some erratic flowers and more rocks before climbing a 400-meters high mountain called Ryan Mountain which gave us a terrific overview of the desert plain. We'd never been in a desert before and it was awesome; it's strange to realize that Indian tribes were able to live off the land where we'd be dead in two days' time.

We had dinner at Jack in the Box because we just had to know what kind of food was being served in a place called Jack in the Box. It turned out to be hamburgers and unlike the McDonalds, these were really tasty! Afterwards, we headed to the McDonalds for an icecream cone which we ate in the Hoff; we were watching two drunk tramps having a fight right outside the entrance while a third one took off with the meagre possessions of one of them.

This afternoon, we arrived in Phoenix where we'll be picking up Kaylee from the airport Friday morning. However, Phoenix is a very, very dull place without any entertainment, culture or whatever, so we'll be spending the next day talking to people at home via Skype, writing cards, shopping for groceries and shorts, repainting the Hoff, eating out of our own and each others noses, attempting to break the world record for wearing the most purple t-shirt and going for a swim in the one swimming pool which isn't open only from late May to early August. Friday, we'll head for the Grand Canyon, where we'll be staying with Kaylee for a week before taking off to Vegas. See you next time!