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The Wild West After a great trip in 1989 we wanted to visit the west USA again. In april 1991 the time was there. Again we flew to San Francisco where a rental car was waiting for us. The first thing we did was exploring some of SF. We rode the steepest street (Lombardstreet) and enjoyed the view from Twin Peak.  South along the coast to the Monterey area. There is a tollroad along the coast with many scenic views: the 17 mile drive. Great route and in april there is an extra, the seals get young pups here on the beaches. 
 
In Los Angelos we visited the La brea tar pits. For centuries tar is coming up out of the ground here. It looks like a lake and animals who try
drink from it, drown in the slurry. The skeletons taken from the tar are displayed in the George C Pagemuseum
at the same location. The tarpits are in the middle of the city today but still small animals, like mice, drown here.  California is īdiscoveredī by the spanish and had become christian. That is why there are many spanish missionposts here. This is Lapurisima mission.   When we see this bus we decide to leave California as soon as possible.  In Nevada one must see Las Vegas. 24 hours a day of gambling, shows, breakfast or what ever you can think of. Everything is going on all day. When we have breakfast, after a good night sleep, elederly people with black fingers of the gambling coins are sipping their cocktail. Nice to have been there, but we have to move on before we go broke and the vacation has to end.  The next state we visit is Utah. First the Zion National Park, a nice park to hike and enjoy the strange rocks.   After spending the night in Mt Carmel Junction, a village with 130 inhabitants and 3 motels, we go to Bryce Canyon. This park is absolutely marvelous. The sandstone rocks are shaped by rain and wind, that look different in the sunset or sunrise light. One can drive his car through the park and stop at various viewpoint along the canyon. But it is much nicer to walk into the canyon yourself. There are hikes from an hour to a few days. 
 When it starts to snow we decide to go to the warmer south. That way we pass Monument Valley, a wellknown landscape.  In Arizona nature is different from in California or Utah. There is more desert. Lots of cactus plants here. 
 Long ago an enormous meteor fell in Arizona. The crater is till here, it is big. Begin 1900 people start digging for the meteor. But how deep they digged in the middle of the crater, no meteor was found. Years later they found it just under the rim.  Indians lived in Arizona since long ago. Some build rockhouses like here in Montezuma's Castle. They are a few hundred years old.  Arizona was not always a desert. Very long ago there was a dense forrest here. The forrest flooded and the trees died. The ground was raised and the sea became dry again. The trees were now under a thick layer of mud. The heavy mud made the trees petrify. And when the rain washed away the mud the petrified trees came to the surface. This little story took over a million years to complete.  Back to California, we have a plane to catch. We drive through Joshua Tree, a park filled with the strange Joshua tree, to Yosemite.  Yosemite is a beautifull park and our last stop during this trip. |