Back in da hood

After driving through hell in Death Valley, we did manage to reach Las Vegas in time for some more blazing gun action. This time around I took the M16 with holographic vision and handgrip, and the motherfucking Desert Eagle! The M16 has more of a kickback than the MP5 I shot during my first visit, but it's easier to handle with the extra handgrip. The holographic vision though I'm not really a fan of. Even when you hold the gun in exactly the same position, when you move your head the red bullseye moves too. Later on I discovered that this add-on is quite bad indeed and should actually be replaced by a laser. They didn't have that in the gun range though. The Deagle was something else entirely. The knockback on that baby is giganormous. The gun isn't that heavy though, you can easily wield it with two hands. Don't try it double wielded or in one hand though, it'll knockback right into your skull. I only got four bullets though, but four awesome blasts I'll remember for a long time. Kim and Tom also shot the M16 and Kim also tried out the 9mm as he skipped that one last time.
When we finished shooting shit up we went down the strip to find ourselves a room for the night. Our first choice, the Bellagio, was fully booked, but the MGM Grand had a pretty affordable room for us. It wasn't the same luxury as the Venetian, but it was alright.
After all that driving we got hungry so we decided to go for the Hard Rock Cafe again, but this time the Las Vegas one. We went to see the Bellagio fountains, which are still the biggest (not the tallest though) in the world. Pretty impressive but also a pretty short show. Then it was time to get everything ready for our way back home. We washed the car, got all our baggage in check and got about three hours of sleep. My stomach didn't really agree too well with the ribs I ate the evening before so it all went down the toilet - upper way out. Eventually we managed to check out of the hotel, return our car safe and sound, and got to the airport with the shuttle. We realised we actually didn't gamble in Vegas so we played some slots. I won twice the amount I put in! Successful gambler I am! Also Tom had major luck with his gambling, albeit a very short one. He put in one dollar and won 8,50! He's a wale now for sure.
With Irene making her way through New York we weren't sure whether our flight in Phili was going to be cancelled or not. Apparently we got the last flight to Phili from Vegas, so that's quite lucky again! Arriving in Phili we learned that our plane was right on time, so that means we'll be arriving in Brussels on time too! Good stuff!

Communist Country

When visiting the gun range at the start of our roadtrip in Vegas, we mentioned that we were planning on visiting San Francisco. We knew San Francisco is sort of a tree-hugging homo-loving hippy city but it was quite hilarious to hear them rednecks call San Francisco "Communist Country". However when talking to some of the San Francisco locals it kinda felt like home. People don't carry guns around here and actually drive normal-sized cars. Although I've got to say too many Priuses is too many. Also it was quite surprising how hard it was to find a simple bar to have a drink. After walking almost the entire Embarcadero we saw a good old Irish pub. Inside we finally had a Stella, and I can't tell you how good it felt to drink a decent pint of beer. The traditional Guinness to go with the traditional Irish live band made it a really nice enjoyable experience.
What else did we do in San Francisco? We visited the USS Pampanito submarine that was permanently stationed at the Fisherman's Warf. We also had a juicy burger at the Hard Rock Cafe, walked through downtown SF, including China Town, North Beach and Union Square and did some fruitless shopping along the way. But most of our time was spent on a little island called Alcatraz. Being a die hard fan of the movie "The Rock" I really enjoyed the tour through the most famous prison on earth. Also the movie "Escape from Alcatraz", filmed on the island in black in white with Clint Eastwood based on a true story of the only possibly successful escape attempt, played before my eyes when walking through the different compartiments of the prison. We were too late for the night tour so we can only imagine what that would have been. Apparently the guided night tour is even better! Kim and Charissa also went to the Golden Gate Park, a couple government buildings such as City Hall and The Painted Ladies in Alamo Square Park .
We stayed in a yought hostel for two nights. The last night while discussing our options for the trip to Vegas, the fire alarm went off. It was around midnight when we all had to leave the building and witness how two giant firetruck-oldtimers parked right in front of our nose with sirens and lights on, the whole package. The San Fancisco fire department still has really traditional firetrucks, so it surely was an awesome experience. No fire though!
The next day we took off to Las Vegas. We departed around six in the morning to make sure we could get back in Vegas on time for another round of awesome gun practising! We drove past Death Valley, the hottest place on earth (magmatic areas not included). We had to turn off the airco in our car, to prevent the engine from overheating. It got about 125°F which is almost 52°C. Pants came off on that one.

A whole lotta tree!

Yosemite is one of the biggest, perhaps the most beautiful and unfortunately the most popular National Park of the US. It's so big that you'd probably need a whole week to explore the entire park. We decided not to go on a hike, still a bit stiff from the Narrows walk and thus took the car to drive from viewpoint to viewpoint. The evening before we already got a glimpse of the magnitude of the park by driving to the highest and probably most astonishing viewpoint of them all. The park is packed with trees and has a collection of monumental rocks sticking out of the forest. One of them is Half Dome, a white mountain with one side a completely round surface, and the other side a huge cliff. It's as if it used to be a very slippery round mountain but then was cut in half by an earthquake or something. Climbing the slippery side of the Half Dome is a very popular hike that we wanted to do. Regretfully we needed a permit to climb it. It's however a hike not to be underestimated. The very day we were looking at the Half Dome, somebody had fallen off from it and didn't survive the fall.
We decided to visit the giant sequoias the next morning. A sequoia is a big tree that has some unique capabilities that give it the possibility to become extremely tall and wide. It's like the Mothertree in that smurf pocahontas movie Avatar. Some are even bigger than the Statue of Liberty. Walking through a sequoia forest really makes you feel insignificant. One of the sequoias even had a doorway in the middle where a car can fit through!
After the giant trees we went to see the waterfalls and ended up doing a small hike up to the second waterfall. When we went up the trail night was falling and thus we had to descent a dangerous and wet trail downwards with our flash lights. Hiking is just a lot of fun, especially in the dark or in special conditions. When we reached the trailhead we took the shuttle back to our motel. The end of our National Park visits with Death Valley as an exception. Up next is San Francisco and after that back to Vegas baby!

Aliens and other extraordinary sightings along roads with no end.

Driving through the Nevada desert has got to be the most boring activity of the entire trip. These roads rarely curve more than 20 degrees, and when they do all you get is yet another 40 miles of perfectly straight asphalt as far as you can see.
Luckily once in a while the occasional redneck village pops up to remind you people actually live here. A fitting example is the town of Tonopah, home of the muckers. The term 'muckers' probably has something to do with the mining history of the village. The mining industry apparently isn't exactly the booming business in here anymore these days. Tonopah frankly put is a disgusting little town and it saddens me to think youngsters have to grow up in such a shithole. Further along the road we even drive past real slums, places that were once trailer parks turned into garbage belts but surprisingly still house families. Truly testaments to the high poverty rate that threatens the US.
In the middle of nowhere we reach what is called the "Extraterrestrial Highway". Anyone who saw movies such as Signs, E.T, War of the Worlds, Paul and so on knows that Americans are intrigued by aliens. And it just happens to be on this very highway where the most UFOs and other alien sightings have been made. In the middle of the highway we find the Black Mailbox. It's a surprisingly white mailbox (which used to be black) that belongs to some farmer that has been idolised by the nutjobs that believe it is used by aliens to communicate to humans or the other way around. Speaking of nutjobs, when we arrived at the Black Mailbox we were accompanied by two believers who are making a documentary about UFOs and whatnot. After we took our mandatory mailbox pictures with and without tin foil hats (it blocks aliens from reading your mind, duh!) Vegas Bob, as he likes to call himself introduced himself to us, convinced we saw some of his earlier movies about aliens and stuff. Not to be rude but respectfully denying I tried to avoid going into mind-blowing discussions. He elaborated on his earlier trip to Area 51 and stressed the dangers of approaching the secret base. The army seems to have devices all over the desert that record every word you say, and approaching the gate can get your car impounded and will definitely put you behind bars in a maximum security prison. Good to know! Before we left Vegas Bob gave us his business card. Can come in handy when aliens decide to give me a rectum probe.
The very next day I went to Bob's website to find out the documentary video was already posted on youtube! Check out www.ufosaliens.org and play the Black Mailbox video. They even mention us in the video!
After visiting the Extraterrestrial Highway we headed over to Mono Lake, one of the oldest lakes in the world. It has twice as much salt as the ocean, making life for animals very hard. Only some crabs, an ancient form of shrimp and birds and strange little flies are able to live here. Due to the low water level the coralriffs are clearly visible and tower out above the lake, giving the whole area a very ancient look. Unfortunately also here humans have made a nearly irreversible impact on the environment by disrupting the rivers that bring water to the lake.
We continued our way to Bodie, a ghost town in a deserted valley. I had imagined Bodie to be a couple wooden shacks ready to fall apart, but apparently Bodie has been turned into a State Historic Park and is quite popular among tourists. When going through some really old houses, we took the guided mill tour. Bodie once was a prosperous mining city with over 2000 buildings. Now only about 100 houses are still standing together with a really big mining mill. While the mines themselves are closed and way too dangerous, the mill is still intact and still holds all the equipment that was used back in the day. Lifespan-expectancy was about 35 years, and that ain't hard to believe if you see the conditions the miners had to work in. If you didn't go down the mineshafts and died of either collapsing tunnels, 800 feet drops or explosions inside the mine, you surely would find your way to your maker while working in the mill. Not only did none of the tools used in the mill have an emergency stop button, none of the drills or belts spinning around had any cover. That ensured a freak incident with arms or scalps ripping off was always right around the corner. Now if that still wouldn't kill you, the mixture of dust and iron particles you're breathing would do the trick on the long run. And then I didn't even mention the mercury or other deadly chemicals they were using to get the most silver and gold out of the rocks. The Chinese who were discriminated against in that time were not allowed to work in the mines or goldmill, so they took care of the lumber import. Somehow they were the lucky ones.
Even with the huge chance of not getting out alive, Bodie attracted people from all over the world. The idea of gold laying around for the taking in SouthWest America set in motion what was called the goldrush. After the mines had depleted Bodie was nothing more than a city in the middle of the desert where everything had to be brought in by train. It had no purpose anymore and so Bodie what was once the finest example of prosperity in the country became a desolated ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

Hiking some of the most amazing trails on Earth.

Howdy! Today we visited Bryce, next to Zion my favorite National Park. When we drove to Bryce though, a huge cloud appeared on the horizon. Apparently half of the forest in the park was on fire!
We drove straight to the Bryce visitor center and inquired some information regarding the subject. Apparently the fires are controlled and actually good for the ecosystem. When driving through the park we actually drove on the borderline of the fire zone. We got to behold the devastating power of the forest fire from up close. Luckily enough firemen were around to guard the situation.
When we arrived at the viewpoints we really saw the beauty of Bryce. It's nothing like we've seen before, and especially the pines forest gives a much fresher feel to it. The rock formations were a lot more brittle, and in my opinion a lot nicer. The rocks also have a lot warmer color.
On our way back to our car we met a friendly and extremely cute squirrel furiously engaged in eating a wooden stick. Later on we also saw a herd of deer peacefully wandering through the forest.

At seven in the evening we headed over to the local rodeo event. First horses were kept under control, followed by sheep for the junior cowboys, cows and eventually the big ass bulls. The most exciting ride was of a little boy on one of the sheep. He just kept going even after the bell had rang, and when he finally jumped off he gladly accepted all the applaud he received.

After digesting the day's sights with a mighty ribeye, we had a good night sleep and took off to Zion.

The first day we arrived at Zion, we went to the visitor center to confirm our backcountry reservation permit, and pick up our human waste disposal bags for the overnight thru-hike starting the day after.
The main activity of that day was the Angel's Landing trail though. Angel's Landing is one of the most famous and thrilling hikes in the national park system. Zion's pride and joy runs along a narrow rock fin with dizzying drop-offs on both sides. The trail culminates at a lofty perch, boasting magnificent views in every direction. One would think that this narrow ridge with deep chasms on each of its flanks would allure only the most intrepid of hikers. Climbers scale its big wall; hikers like us pull ourselves up by chains and sightseers stand in awe at its stunning nobility. The towering monolith is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Southwest. Yet not a problem for us! After an amazing and daunting hike we reached the top. There's nothing like sitting on top of Angel's Landing overlooking the entire Zion National Park. Such an experience is simply unforgettable!

After a very short night we woke up at 4:45 am to get ready for our second hike in Zion. The Zion Narrows is a diverse trek through Zion's premier canyon and one of the most touted and breathtaking adventures in America. Extraordinary beauty and unique character describe this amazing gorge. Hanging gardens burst from dramatically colored perpendicular walls while trickling water threads its way through moss covered boulders. Gentle slopes give way to sheer walls funneling streams of water into fluted slides and twisting channels cutting deeper and deeper as the journey continues its path southward. Along the sandy perches of the banks, towering ponderosa send their roots downward, hungry for nutrients and water. The entire trip is wondrous. The Zion Narrows deserves its reputation as one of the best, if not the best, hike in the National Park System.
The overnight top-down route is definitely the most amazing. As mentioned, few hikes on Earth surround you with such grandeur over the entire length of the hike and when traveling through the entire length of the Narrows, you really get the best of it. Starting from the top, this hike takes you on an eighteen million-year journey through geologic time. From open pasture lands on top of the plateau, the river slowly slices into the Earth, sinking deeper and deeper below the stone walls on either side. Gradually, the shorelines grow smaller and smaller, the walls grow taller and taller, and we found ourselves in a grand, enormous hallway of beautifully carved stone. It is truly like being in an Indiana Jones movie. The drama continues for miles, as corner after corner reveals more surprises and wonders of this unique and magical place. Somewhere along the trail we set up our tent to spend the night, to fall asleep right next to the flowing river.

Although our feet were completely devastated after these Zion hikes, it was totally worth it. Only one little downside: rats ate a hole through our tent to get to some garbage inside. They also ate my apple! Oh well, rats gotta eat too, right?

Rocks, stones and boulder. A marathon of National Parks.

After the awesome chopper ride, we drove all the way to Antelope Canyon. Luckily Kim sped a little bit because the tour guides were already selling our spot to other people. But we arrived just in time and took place on one of the Big Foot monster trucks. The road to the canyon required huge wheels though, as it was basically right through the desert dunes.
The canyon itself was quite the sight. Probably the smallest canyon that we'll encounter, it surely had its charm. The narrow passages played with the light very well and the tour guide helped us to take the best pictures possible. A nice change from the huge bombastic canyons we saw earlier.
After the Antelope Canyon, we drove off to Monument Valley. When we arrived there it was already pitch-black. We set up our tent at the Goulding camping grounds right next to Monument Valley. Quite a challenge when you can't see anything! Oh yeah, we also had a late night visitor, a Tarantula spider crawling its way through the tents. Unfortunately some Italians went ballistic and crushed the poor guy with a wooden log.

The next day we visited Monument Valley. Just as the name suggests, it's a valley full of monuments. These monuments are huge rock structures called "buttes" or "mesas". We drove around them on a dirt road, but nothing really exciting. These rocks are so huge you can see them from miles away and the view doesn't get much different from up close.
Anyways, when we got back at our camping spot, me and Kim dove into the local pool. A nice refreshment but with 2m x 5m dimensions we didn't do a lot of swimming.
Afterwards we decided to visit "Teardrop Arch", a remote arch on top of a mountain. Normally off-limits, but we snook past the fences. Without a trail to follow we climbed up the mountain with hands and feet. Of course when we reached the top and sat in the Teardrop Arch it gave us a great feeling of satisfaction, something the entire Monument Valley kind of failed to deliver.
That kind of wrapped up the day, so we got back in our tent prepared for the next day.

After waking up we took a well deserved shower, broke down our tent and headed out to Goosenecks State Park. A lot of goose necks right there! The river had made some awesome corners in the rocks which really made an impression. After that we went to the Valley of the Gods. This valley is best compared to Monument Valley, but smaller, and a whole lot less popular. Which is a good thing in my opinion. We also went through it on a dirt road, but this time we almost didn't see any tourist on our path. A lot more enjoyable for sure!
The next park on our plan was Natural Bridges. It's quite like the National Park "Arches" that is coming up later on, but smaller and less popular. Pretty cool stuff, the park has three big bridges with a lot of trails around them. We started with the regular view points, but wanted to undertake an entire hike to the bottom of the park. However, as it started to rain a little bit and as giant thunderclouds were approaching we decided to head back to our car sooner than planned. In every park you see many signs stating the danger of flash floods, so we didn't want to get right in the middle of one of those at the bottom of the canyons!
We headed forward to Canyonlands National Park, at least the bottom section. As it began to rain even more we had to cut our trip short so we only got a quick look at the Needles part of the park. Pretty cool though to see waterfalls form because of the sudden amount of rain. Right when we got back in our car storm really broke lose upon us. We made way to Moab, right next to Arches National Park. We checked into our motel "Best Western". Not bad for a motel!

The day after we prepared for our hike in Arches. We forgot to have a decent breakfast though, and that probably wasn't very smart considering the hike we were about to undertake.
We selected "Devils Garden" for our trail, the longest and most strenuous hike possible. We saw a lot of arches on the road, but foremost a whole lot of sun. I burned both my arms, Tom got a bad headache from the sun and Kim's feet felt like they've been tortured. No pain no gain, right?
Due to a lack of breakfast and the strenuous hike, we felt like we could eat a horse. When we went to Moab's local Brewery we therefore ordered the full rack of pork ribs. Normally in Belgium one rack would be only a start, but somehow these racks are gigantic. None of us managed to finish.
We got a good night sleep after that huge meal. The next day awaits!

Dead Horse Point was our first destination of Wednesday. We tried to go via a dirtroad but after driving an hour we found out it was closed... Unfortunately there was no alternative so we had to go all the way back to Moab to take the entire way around. When arriving there we learned that a high plateau was used to guide wild horses into a trap. After a while hunters forgot about the horses and while the Colorado river was within eyesight, the 2000 feet drop prevented them from getting any water. So that's where the name "Dead Horse Point" originated from.
We also went back to Canyonlands National Park, but now the more Northern part called "Island in the Sky". Another collection of awesome breath-taking views passed our way.
We header off towards Bryce via a long scenic road through the mountains and a couple parks such as Capital Reef National Park. We discovered a couple Petroglyphs on the walls along the road, ancient drawings of Indians that represented celebrations and hunt scenarios.
When we arrived after driving this incredible road, we settled down in Bryce Canyon Pines motel. We had some of the pies where Pines is famous for, and I've got to say they're worth it!

So now I'm concluding this wall of text in Pines, waiting anxiously for the next day. We're about to visit Bryce, another amazing National Park.

Andreas

Nothing less than paradise on earth.

A needle in a haystack, that's about the chance of you stumbling upon the Havasupai Falls in the middle of the desert. When we started our trip to this little oasis, we had a four-hour drive and a four-hour hike ahead of us. Amazing sights passed our way, especially the rocky mountains we hiked through are worth mentioning. Sure you can ride horseback, send your luggage via airmail or take a helicopter trip to the site, but we are backpackers at heart. And luckily we are, because the hike we did was simply amazing. I don't think anything but the pictures we took can give you an idea of the beauty of the way down.
When we finally arrived at Supai Village, we deemed ourselves in Africa. An Indian hideout in the middle of the canyons greeted us with a couple horses on the loose. The village with a population of about 500 gave a very middle-age impression. Only the satellite dishes on the top of the wooden houses gave us a hint that we didn't just go back in time. Oh yeah, every now and then a helicopter passed by to drop off some goods. Aside from that there is really not much that reminds you of the modern world. Probably due to the fact that the village is incredibly hard to reach.
When we checked in and got our stuff in order, we went to the waterfalls. There are four big ones, but each with a couple miles in between. Little did we know that we were about to behold probably the nicest piece of nature we will ever see in our life.
The first fall was a collection of smaller falls connected through pools on different levels. We decided to have a swim, and crawl up towards the top level through the water. No snakes or crocks in these waters, only lime-blue crystal clear water making its way through the rock formations. Some of the pools look like jacuzzis, perfect for relaxing in the middle of mother nature's creation. We couldn't understand each other due to the sound of splashing water, but I'm not complaining. These sights are better taken in in silence.
We went back after the first fall because of the nightfall. Apparently the whole village shuts down when it gets dark (there are no lights anywhere), so we had to eat rise crispies and sausage-on-bread for supper. Nothing quite like rise crispies in a paper box with milk on the side! Luckily we had three bibles at hand to guide us through this particular experience and we sure made use of them. Apparently thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together. Good to know!
When we woke up after a good night sleep we wouldn't wait to visit the next falls. Some more healthy crispies breakfast later we were off to explore more of the beauty that Havasupai has to offer. When we went down on the riverside, we stumbled upon the camping grounds. Why oh why didn't we book a camping spot instead of the lodge? The Supai camp grounds are a lot like paradise, in the midst of the trees and small rivers it must be heaven to tuck in hanging in your hammock. Oh well, at least we had three bibles.
The second waterfall was way bigger than the one we encountered the day before. Again extremely beautiful. This fall had some people around it though, opposed to the complete solitude we had at the first one. We continued to the third one, but on our way down we noticed a sign that read "Descent at your own risk!". Oh well, who cares right? When squeezing through holes in the rocks, extremely steep steps right at the edge and so on we realized the sign wasn't there in vain! Mooney Falls, the third waterfall earned its name because of the accident Mooney had when exploring the site. When trying to descent the hill his rope snapped and he died on impact.
The benefit of going down on such a dangerous path was that yet again, nobody was at the fall except for us. Another glorious sight. I simply can't explain in words how amazing these falls are. Maybe the pictures might give you an idea.
We skipped the last one because of dangerous snakes on the road towards it.
We took another helicopter ride to get back to the modern world because of planning issues. We said farewell to a truly epic paradise. I'll be planning my next trip to Supai once I get home.

Andreas

Grand Canyon rafting, helicopter rides and waterfall explorations.

There was no way that I would ever get up at six this morning except for one: today's planned activities. Today was going to be the most adventurous day of the entire trip and in retrospect it was exceeding my wildest expectations.

Starting the day off with a decent shower and a continental breakfast was probably a good thing to do. We needed the energy for what was bound to happen. We drove through a dusty dirt-road towards the Grand Canyon, the only road that accessed the canyon from the bottom. When we arrived we were put in big rafts. For about four hours we went down the Colorado river in the midst of the Grand Canyon. We were told we would get wet, but the forces of nature we were exposed to were not really what we planned for. Category three rapids catapulted loads of water all over the boat, making it much like a diving trip than a boat trip. And then we didn't meet the category six and sevens yet. Some of us almost flew off the raft when we hit some of those waves, it was such an amazing thrill. Compared to the kayak rides on the Lesse in Belgium you could probably call this the Goliath of rivers.
When we were about half way we went up the hill to check out a waterfall inside the mountains. Amazing stuff that was pretty damn exciting! Imagine taking a shower underneath an exotic waterfall while the water temperature is about 20 °C.
After that we took off again in our rafts. Many rapids later and after lunch we arrived at our destination. From there we took a helicopter up to the top of the canyon to get the most amazing view possible. It's almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of the Grand Canyon, it's just incredible how extremely big it is.
When we hit the ground, we were pretty exhausted so we took the bus back to the lodge.
With quite an adventurous day behind us we had a good American burger lunch.
Now we prepare for tomorrow's hike towards Hava Supai, an oasis in the midst of the desert. It's about a two hours and a half drive, continued with four hours of hiking the canyons before we reach this little paradise. To make sure we don't have to hike through the canyons in the middle of the day with the burning sun on our heads, we'll wake up at four to get there at around noon.
So fast to bed now, sweet dreams!

Andreas

I came to Vegas, shot shit up and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

Waking up in Vegas appeared to be less difficult than I imagined. Somehow we're all awake before the alarm went on. It must have something to do with the amazing queen-size boxspring beds I guess! Anyways, after taking a shower in our glorious bathroom we went to Morels, one of the top ten restaurants in Vegas to have brunch.




I ordered the watermelon salad, which was definitely worth the price of admission. Kim, Tom and Charissa all had the pancakes, which was testament to the eating standards of the Americans: too much to possibly consume and fat but tasty!
After brunch the real American experience was set to begin. After driving about half an hour away from the strip we arrived at the Las Vegas Gun Range. A couple rednecks with a huge collection of guns, what's more American than that?


Of course we didn't go there to watch some hillbillies do their thing. After selecting our package we entered the shooting range with the good stuff. I myself selected the MP5 and the Glock 9mm. Kim and Charissa got to shoot an Uzi instead of the MP5 though. Two mags full of bullets went straight into my target, the most exhilarating experience in months. The Glock was a bit more based on aiming than the automatic MP5 but still fun. I was definitely surprised how light these guns were. Just to get that little extra that puts it over the top, we got to use a "Green Piece" t-shirt as our shooting target. I simply riddled it with bullets and got to say the t-shirt is a lot more ventilated now.
The roadtrip is now officially a success. Anything that follows is considered an extra!
After some Mexican standoff pictures we took off to some huge-ass shopping center for anything related to camping, fishing or hunting. Needless to say we're now completely prepared for the most extreme camping conditions imaginable.
All that shooting and shopping got us hungry again, so we went over to the Wynn for their famous all-you-can-eat buffet. Especially the crab-legs were worth a special mention!
Because we didn't plan on any of the big entertainment shows like Celine Dion or similar we opted for a free pirate show on the strip in front of the Mirage hotel. Crazy to which extremes these hotels go to attract customers. I guess Europe hasn't even got one hotel that is of the size of any of the big ones at the strip.
After that we went to the Stratosphere. That's a huge tower at the end of the strip that has an amazing view over the city. But we didn't go there solely for that. No no no, there's a lot more to the Stratosphere than meets the eye! On top of the huge tower they built another tower for a Dalton-terror-like thrill ride. The big difference is that you also get shot up in the air and not just the free-fall alone. And the fact that it's 1600 feet above the ground of course! Great stuff.
We took the monorail back to the Venetian where we tucked in for our last night in Vegas (for now).
Waking up this morning, we managed to get out of the room before the checkout hour which is an accomplishment on its own. For breakfast we went to Morels again, but we were forced to eat dinner, so I went for the steak frites. Not bad at all, probably the last decent meal of class I'll have this trip! After that we took off to Boulder City to see Hoover Dam. The tallest dam of the Northern hemisphere revealed itself right before our eyes. Call me a nerd but I couldn't help remembering the exact structure of the dam based on Fallout New Vegas and Duke Nukem Forever. Those are games if you didn't know.
So we got to take a look inside the dam which had 17 huge generators. An engineer's dream.
Every generator generates about 2/3rd of an atomic power plant, and they've got 17 of those!
With Hoover dam behind us, we drove into the desert to our next location. We took route 66, the legendary road that connects the West of America to the East. Needless to say it's one of the most boring routes you can ever imagine.
When we arrived at the Hualapai Lodge it was already dark. So we went to bed to dream about the Grand Canyon that will be on our plate tomorrow morning!

Andreas

Cleared for takeoff!

After a night in Vegas, I can't be sure whether I remember everything exactly as it happened. However I'll try my best to give you guys a rundown on the events that occurred the past 32 hours!


We arrived at the Brussels National Airport around 8-ish in the morning. After checking in our bags, going through customs and several layers of security, we managed to board our US Airways plane. So far so good. That's when it started to go wrong though. Somehow the technicians didn't manage to open the fuel valve which caused a delay of just about 2h30.
When we finally lift off, we were on route for Philadelphia. Seven and a half hours later we touched down to be directed to our next airplane. Of course the massive delay of the first flight messed up our connection so we were put on the next available flight which was about 2 hours later.
Another round of US customs and security, full body cavity & chemical search later we were on our way to Vegas! Luckily my seat on the next plane was taken so I was promoted to first class! The others also didn't have much to complain about with their second class (economy+) promotion. Although they didn't get the same luxurious treatment as I did though! Free whiskeys, red whines and better-than-expected flight-food, I felt like the initial delay wasn't all that bad!

After we landed in Vegas, we took the shuttle to the Alamo car rental center. We had the choice between a typical US pickup truck or a rather highly testosterone-packed UAV. We took the latter, as it offered a little more protection for our bags. It also plays mp3 cds! Not bad for an American Ford!

While we had flew for about 13 hours, it was only half past eight when we drove through the strip. I've never seen that many neon lights in my life. It's a tad overwhelming I have to admit.
At the end of the strip we arrived at our hotel "The Venetian". Check it out here: www.venetian.com


Because we didn't sleep for about 28 hours, we only went out for a drink and dove in our pretty damn sweet queen beds.


After a lovely shower in an amazing bathroom we're ready to take on Vegas, part two. Planned for today: Las Vegas gun range, the Wynn buffet, shopping for camping gear and probably catching one of the over-the-top entertainment shows here in the city of sins!

Andreas