The Grand Canyon Mis-Adventure! -Heather

We decided after a long, “pro & con” discussion, that we would go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, rather than to the South Rim. This decision was based primarily on the fact that we were arriving on a weekend (craaaazzzy busy) and the North Rim sees 1/10^th of the annual visitors as the South-side (peace and solitude with breathtaking views –vs– Disneyland, overweight tourism with breathtaking views). Plus at nearly 1,000 feet higher in elevation, the North side would have colder temperatures.

Because of these colder temperatures, the North Rim closes over winter due to heavy snowfall. We actually arrived on the very first day the North Rim was opening. On the way a local store owner told us we were could find free camping along the ridge of the Grand Canyon just outside of the park. We were excited to say the least!

Then we hit the National Park. We took the Bright Angel Trail which lead to the North Rim’s famous overlook. Wow. I’ve heard the Canyon is one of the few geological features on earth that can be seen from space… and after seeing the vastness of that place, the way the earth just falls away and seems to drop forever, an endless fracture in the surface of our planet… I believe it. Standing there, on the edge of infinity and insignificance, Manni and I marveled at the beauty of the world and the wild incomprehension it inspires. The wind whipped violently around us, sending my hair into a frenetic dance called “soon I will house a family of birds”. Several other female observers had their hair repeat the dance in various different tunes of the same song. Manni, with his short hair, delighted in my lost-battle against the wind. From our view point, we could actually look across the canyon and down on to the tourists on the other side. It was absolutely spectacular.

We talked with the rangers at the visitor’s center and found out that our “secret” free camping spots came recommended by even the Park staff, so much for awesome “local’s only” knowledge. In addition to camping information and suggestions, the Ranger told us (after I questioned him about this “small little trail line that doesn’t exist on any other maps”) about a terrifying (and deadly) un-maintained alternate trail that leads very experienced hikers along a cliff ledge and down in to the valley of the Grand Canyon. *Don’t worry- this route did not sound appealing to us- or at least not in its entirety; It seemed the first few miles or so, were like walking any normal trail through the woods and the perilous cliff-ridge descent did not happen until much later on the trail*… But, the Ranger added, this first part of the trail, which sees very few people, leads to a vista point where he sends all the resident artists because it is one of the most spectacular and totally secluded view points in the entire canyon. Perfect! The moon had been so bright those past few days, we decided we would wake early in the morning and hike it with the moon and our head lamps to the vista point- were we would watch the glorious sunrise together!!!

With several hours of sunlight left, we thought it would be a good idea to do one more trail before heading out of the park to find a camping spot for the night. We decided on another drive-by-tourist route which lead us to another view point and small hike along the ridge. Here, to our pleasant surprise… we found hundreds and hundreds of Desert Sage plants!! We craftily and very secretively planned to “forage” for a few leaves to keep for flavoring our pasta dinner later. “We’re ROBBING them!” exclaimed Manni, “but maybe we shouldn’t take too much, because if everybody took some, there wouldn’t be any left…” I agreed, and I know, I know, in this touristic place, I let my guide instincts and long-time LNT (leave no trace) practices slip just a little bit. We took a couple pinches worth of the sweet-smelling herb to save for cooking later….. karma is actually what happened later. We continued on our Grand Canyon ridge hike, where the views were equally spectacular as the view point before… it seemed everywhere, you could walk just a few steps and see an entirely new view and perspective of the dramatic canyon walls. Once again, amazing… and windy, very windy. We finished the hike with all the wonderful things around us and then, well, we hit a rough spot (which lasted most the night).

First, a joking bet about the trail name turned in to a quarrel about the trail name, and then became a fight about one of us being right and the other, wrong. Immediately both of us knew it was a stupid thing to fight over, and retrospectively it sounds even more ridiculous. Let it be noted, that since April 5^th, 2011- we have been together 24/7 with the exception of a 2 hour hair cut appointment I’d had… sooo living in a box the size of a twin bed with a 2 foot clearance for head space begins to wear on you, be assured of that. But finally, we made up, and decided not to let it interfere with this beautiful (and windy) day. Anyway, it was time to find a camp spot.

Now remember, we had a local store owner, and a PARK RANGER recommend this to us, but it was also the first day the park opened since the winter. The path to our campsite, and glory it seems, was a dirt road, winding up through the trees (now violently swaying in the wind) to what we hoped was a beautiful view of the sunset-covered canyon walls. The road was 11 miles… of absolute war zone. A maze littered with huge fallen trees, snapped-off limbs, snow patches and impassable mud… but pass we did. Again and again we found a way, sometimes barely-a-way ways, around these obstacles. And with each hurdle, we both set our stubborn minds on the singularly consuming thought, “well, we’ve come this far… and the ranger told us about it!?... so it must improve.” Ummm, wrong. No improvement, BUT continue we did. And really, we actually weren’t pushing Ol’ Bessie (our car) too much physically speaking, it was just that we had to maneuver so carefully around the fallen trees that our mental “stupid idea” alarms were going off internally. Sometimes one of us had to get out and gage the inches left of side clearance between the standing tree and the fallen tree in order to pass the narrow gape between them. Now, all of these trees strewn about the graveyard road were not newly fallen. Someone had taken time to (poorly) clear branches and cut through the large trunks to allow vehicle passage; although the further we traveled the closer it seemed to suit only the width clearance required of a SmartCar. Trees usually fall after a winter, where, under the oppressive weight of heavy snow, a tree may snap, and then wait to crash to the ground until spring melts the snow-supports away. Needless to say, this knowledge didn’t reconcile the fact that the wind was reaching damaging levels, and the trees were swaying about, wildly drunk, and peering longingly over the road at their fellow fallen comrades with tree envy. And then it happened at 10.6 miles. We couldn’t pass anymore, we were trapped, without the ability to maneuver around the final fallen tree-monolith and the seeming impossibility of backing down. We were forced to either camp in the tree-guillotine or attempt a 23-point turn. Manni turned in only 18-points, impressive.

We came within less than ½ of a mile from the ridge-line campgrounds and trailhead for our planned hike the next day, and turning around, after getting past problem after problem was pretty heartbreaking. We also had a new problem. The sun was setting, and neither of us wanted to navigate the treacherous road in the dark, so we needed a campground fast. This road had many trails and roads branching off of it, and I remembered seeing one such road that might work for camping. We followed the road as far as we could and finally found a “campground” our campground was really just a junction of 3 roads which made a large triangular clearing. We must have parked and re-parked about 15 times while discussing which tree posed the most threat to us should it fall in the Canyon’s hurricane winds. We finally settled on the spot which was equidistant from all opposing tree forces and possible directions of fall (paranoid? Yeah, probably… but it was reeeaaallly windy). I was bummed that things didn’t work out, but to be honest, at the start of the tree graveyard, I had pretty low expectations- so I just passed it off as an adventure and was happy to be in the safety of our little treeless nook; Manni on the other hand, who is usually pretty Zen about everything, was obviously feeling pretty disappointed since he’d had such high-hopes- I’m also sure that he wasn’t feeling very relieved or “safe” about our camp spot, still believing that the trees were out to get us. I tried to lift our collective spirits by mentioning… but wait! We have our Desert Sage!! …and an onion, and a zucchini!!!”

Yes, not one, but two FRESH vegetables!! This was indeed a night to celebrate! -When you have been living off of canned beans and dehydrated food-stuffs, a fresh ingredient is enough to make any problem go away.

So we sauté our vegetables with the sage infused olive oil, simmering everything on low to really bring out the sweet aromas and flavors of our dish; for a moment, the violently swaying trees cease to be quite so menacing and retire to a mere back round rustling of leaves and bush. I sneak a small taste, licking the spoon in secret selfishness. WOW. That packs a punch, what is that taste, sour? No, Bitter.

“It tastes kind of bitter Manni… ?” He takes the smallest of hesitant samples. “Hmmm. Let’s just add some sugar, to counteract that bitter taste.” –We douse our masterpiece in sugar, after all it’s always been a universal grandmas’ and Mary Poppin’s secret ingredient that in even the most savory of dishes, a spoonful of sugar makes everything better. We taste it again, and are hit with a sweet tangy flavor that is not entirely unpleasant and then WHAM… the bitter hits back stronger than ever. We even wash and strain our vegetables, and then painstakingly pick out all of the (finely chopped) sage leaves. Maybe we can save the veggies and start over???

After draining the liquid, we have to find out once and for all if this is a lost cause… So I volunteer to take a zucchini chunk and taste it. Absolutely inedible- the sauce had actually diluted the taste, now we were left with the 10x potently infused-veggies, we were left with a complete disaster. That bite inspired a gag reflex like I have never known. Tears were streaming down my face, no amount of water or spitting would help. The bitterness was burned into the very flesh of my mouth. “Manni, we can’t eat this. We can’t. Something is wrong. We could use it as bear repellant, I’m not kidding…. It’s still there, the after taste is more bitter than the first taste. Ahhhh!”

He tastes it, and immediately starts sputtering and gasping for air like a broken down car engine, violent coughing isn’t enough to save us though. Our dinner… is ruined, and what’s more, my plan to raise our spirits with a gourmet “pick-me-up” has backfired beyond words. Now we are scared, tired, hungry, grumpy, alone and very disappointed with the evening’s turn of events. We eat our pasta with a bit of tomato paste mixed with water, and close the night with the sad, exasperated, but slightly humored exclamation: we can’t do ANYTHING right!!!

The next morning we “got the hell out of there” –Manni, and after coffee the world was right again. We did a 10 mile hike along the ridge, saw beautiful views, and left the Grand Canyon. We stopped at a burger restaurant on the way out, the only restaurant for hundreds of miles, and had a soul-healing meal… with vegetables AND meat! People recognized Manni from the hike by his giant I’m-a-Canadian-Logger hat, and we met a couple who taught English and science in Germany (small world)…..

On to Utah (again!)

Grand Staircase Escalante - Manni - English/Deutsch

English

We knew it from the second we entered the Staircase: this will be one of our favorite parts of our trip. More or less accidentally, coming from Bryce Canyon and heading towards the Grand Canyon, the direct route led us through the Staircase. That’s exactly what it is, a great staircase leading to the top of Grand Canyon’s north rim.

Because the only road through, is a well maintained dirt road, which required 4-Wheel-Drive, the Staircase is not very frequented. Especially after being in a couple of national parks, with enormous crowds of people, the fact that we had a desert all to ourselves, was very enjoyable. Most people only drove to the major attraction, a big sandstone arch and then turned around. Since our path, however, went all the way through, we decided to get some information on what to do. Our plan included some hikes and one night of free camping, as the whole area is BLM-Land. Our loyal readers know; that’s super cool! ;)

The first stop was a little hiking tour. It turned out, that the road leading there was not as good as the main road. Luckily “Auld Bessie” brought us there. I have to admit; it sometimes didn’t feel very save, especially when we were driving on only 3 wheels, -- Hey Cindy! Yes, your car is alright! Don’t even worry about it ;) -- however, the following hike was definitely worth the effort.

A short hike through a dry riverbed led us to a slot canyon. During heavy rains the huge amounts of water filling up the riverbed rush through this rocky area and have, over a long period of time, carved a narrow canyon into the rock. The entrance into the slot canyon was a quite technical short little climb, about 15 feet down. Being down there, the temperature suddenly dropped some degrees down. As the walls are about 20 feet high and the small little path, leading through the canyon is not even 3 feet wide, we were in full shade. A blessing in the desert! What the water does to these rocks is simply amazing. Odd shaped walls showing multiple layers of erosion and little bays, only big enough to serve as little shelters. A great experience and a wonderful piece of nature – you don’t want to be down there when it rains!

PICTURE

As we continued, we stopped by the well-known and highly frequented arch. We took some pictures and had lunch at the nearby picnic-area, where we were asked by an older American, if he could take a picture of us, as our “lifestyle is what he connects with road trips and this area.” Even if it was just my mighty beard that tricked him, we are doing something right!

Afterwards, we saw another canyon which was bigger and not as narrow but also interesting. As the sun was about to set, we decided to search for a nice spot to set our camp up. It didn’t take us very long to find a nice little spot next to a small stream. The next morning we figured out this would give us the opportunity to try out our pocket-shower! A shower-bag we fill up with 10 liters of water and hang it on a tree. It gave us a 10 minute shower, in the middle of the desert. Excellent!

The next day we headed out, along the Vermillion Cliffs, direction Grand Canyon!

Deutsch

Ok, es gab einige Beschwerden, dass ich nicht in deutsch schreibe… Entschuldingen Sie bitte! Das holen wir sofort nach:

Also, Staircase Escalante war ein wunderbarer Teil unseres Roadtrips. Eigentlich war es nicht wirklich als Stop geplant, aber es ist der direkte Weg von Bryce Canyon zum Grand Canyon, also haben wir uns das mal angeschaut. Das Staircase ist ein grosses Wuestengebiet, mit einem Schotterweg der mitten hindurch fuehrt. Dieser ist zwar in gutem Zustand, aber Allrad-antrieb war auf jedenfall hilfreich.

Die meisten Leute fahren nur bis zu einem grossen Felsbogen, der ziemlich bekannt ist, und kehren dann um. Nachdem wir aber in einigen ueberfuellten National Parks waren in den letzten Tagen und Wochen, war es sehr angenehm zwischendurch mal niemanden um sich rum zu haben. Daher war’s wunderbar die 50km Wueste fuer uns alleine zu haben. Und da wir schon mal da waren, haben wir uns Informationen besorgt, was man so machen kann. Unser Plan beinhaltete einige Wanderungen und Camping, was dort kostenlos ueberall moeglich ist. Das ist eine super Sache, auf sogenanntem BLM-Land kann man machen was man will. Spart Geld!

Die erste Wanderung war etwas abseits, nicht ganz einfach zu erreichen. Aber unser Auto hat uns sicher hingebracht. Teilweise war es etwas beaengstigen, vor allem, als wir streckenweise nur auf 3 Raedern unterwegs waren... aber unser Ford Explorer ist ja ein Offroader und hat einen guten Job gemacht! Die folgende Wanderung war’s auf jedenfall wert!

Ein kurzer Weg fuehrte uns durch ein ausgetrocknetes Flussbett zu einem sogenannten “slot canyon”. Nach starken Regenfaellen nimmt der Boden das Wasser nicht auf, da es Wuestengebiet ist. Daher braust das Wasser von dem Flussbett in eine Schlucht aus Sandstein und frisst sich dort nach und nach tiefer hinein. Genau in dieser Schlucht sind wir herumspaziert. Um in die Schlucht zu gelangen, musste man ca. 4 Meter steil herunter klettern. Die Schlucht selbst ist nur ca. 1 Meter breit, daher hatten wir vollen Schatten, sehr angenehm! Was das Wasser mit dem Sandstein macht ist wirklich atemberaubend. Ungewoehnliche Formen und Kurven und kleine Buchten sind in den Stein gefressen und man kann die einzelnen Schichten sehen, die durch die Erosion zustande kommen. Sehr beeindruckend!

Als naechstes haben wir an dem besagten Bogen halt gemacht. Dort waren mehr Leute... wir haben nur ein paar Fotos gemacht und dann unsere Dosensuppe im Picnicbereich gekocht. Ein aelterer Americaner hat uns gefragt ob er ein Foto von uns machen kann, weil wir seiner Meinung nach den Lifestyle eines Road Trips verkoerpern. Vielleicht war es nur mein enormer Bart, der mittlerweile herangewachsen ist, der ihn zu diesem Kommentar verleitet hat, aber wir machen anscheinend etwas richtig! RoadTrip!!

Anschliessend haben wir nach einem Campingplaetzchen gesucht und sind auch recht schnell fuendig geworden, neben einem kleinen Fluesschen. Das gab uns die Gelegenheit unsere faltbare Dusche zum ersten Mal auszuprobieren! Sie fasst 10 Liter Wasser und hat uns ca. 7 minuten seltene Duschfreude beschert! Mitten in der Wueste war das wunderbar erfrischend!

Bryce Canyon National Park! -Heather

“Where can I find free dispersed camping near Bryce Canyon?” This was my google search - Manni likes to make fun of the fact that I search google using complete sentences and fully formed questions instead of just typing key words. Despite his ridicule, my query succeeded and resulted in several responses- most of which offered vague directions and quite a few semi-confident suggestions. So, there we were, rolling in to Bryce canyon at near-sunset, with our interpretation of the ambiguous directions supposedly leading toward the fabled campsites. We turned off the road and back on to it, repeatedly, making little loops on that section of highway.

“That road doesn’t exist… neither does that one…Oh No… Manni, our GPS sucks…!”

We decided on trying one final road, and there, a half mile in, a right turn, and some maneuvering around a fallen tree later…. We struck gold- Our favorite campsite of the trip: A large circular clearing amongst a forest of trees, with an old fire ring sooty black from use and an unforgettable view overlooking the bright reds and brilliant hues of pinks yellows and oranges that make up the bluffs and spires of Bryce Canyon’s neighboring ridgelines. We were just outside of the park, about 5 or 6 miles, which meant we were on National Forest rather than National Park grounds…. For those of you wondering why that matters… the words “free” and “uncrowded” should be mentioned.

That night we made a big feast of… drumroll!!! …Dehydrated mashed potatoes and a huge can of bush’s baked beans. We rolled the windows down a little extra that night.

The next morning, we lounged around, utterly content to sleep in, waste time, and be both Lord and Lady of Leisure. Once we got going we did a big “drive-by” tourist trip… it was great. Pull over, PICTURE, look how good I look next to this tower, back in the car and on to the next sight… repeat. We did the whole “Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive” all the way to the point, where on clear days you can see for hundreds of miles, on especially clear days you can even see the earth begin to drop away at the start of the Grand Canyon (this is in another state!). We took, or rather attempted to take, a hike at the Rainbow View Point, but at nearly 9,000 feet in elevation, our trail was covered in snow and fallen trees which made our hike less than successful- we had to turn around and head back. We substituted our failed hike with some canned soup for lunch at the picnic area. This concluded our wonderful drive tour… Manni liked to call it the “AMERICA!!! Tour” because we didn’t even have to leave our car to see the beautiful views.

We decided to get some ice-cream and groceries at this ‘little’ market connected to a hotel on the outside of the park. They sold EVERYTHING- Fake Indian beads, t-shirts, groceries, “hand-made” (in china) tourist trinkets, gasoline, and all those ridiculously cheesy/trashy mugs and bumper stickers and magnets that say things like, “My other car is a fishin’ boat!” and “Cowboys do it with a rope!” and even “No fat chicks" (probably with a picture of baby chicken to complete the terrible pun)… yes that store was classy. So were the creepy people who just stared at Manni and Me. I mean Really… Stared… like drop all the things they were holding, stared. It was weird. I just don’t think we look that interesting. But maybe they could just tell, by our scent, that weren’t from ‘round there.

…Which is why I don’t feel bad about “robbing” them by using their hotel’s guest internet. We went in to the car, and streamed a live Redwings vs. Sharks Stanley Cup playoff game for over an hour until our battery died. Ha.

The next day we woke up at 5 am to drive to Sunrise Point for… SUNRISE!!!! It was absolutely beautiful, if not a little crowded (apparently word got out that sunrise point is a good spot to watch the sunrise… go figure eh?). But, we beat the crowds by doing a mini-hike out to an opposing point. We definitely got more bang for our buck at that vantage point. After the brilliant golden rays had blanketed the valley floor of Bryce canyon, it was time for that vital fuel, which all travelers must have: coffee! We just whipped out our backpacking stove and had boiling water in 3 short minutes, followed by that precious liquid-ambergold drink shortly thereafter. Suddenly, our peaceful morning, with sunrise and freshly brewed coffee, was very abruptly and rudely shattered by the piercing screech and echoing annoyance of someone’s car alarm. It lasted for a long while, and my ears and then eyes quickly directed my attention to the offenders of our serenity. I appeased their obvious need for attention by glaring at them with a menace unrivaled… after several minutes the alarm stopped. Only to start again a few minutes later. The people just stood by their car doing nothing, then it would stop, and they would try to open the door again, and the whole obnoxious cycle would repeat. < at about 5:30 in the morning>> So the car alarm goes off for probably the 8^th time (not exaggerating) after the people try to open the hood of their car. At these careless people and their little spectacle I ultimately yelled, “This is a National Park! For God’s sake respect this place or go home!!!” It was then, when I put my glasses on in order to further enhance the authority of my visual-, and now verbal-chastisement, that I realized it was a group of very confused and utterly helpless Asian tourists. A family. Without English. Obviously with a rental car or even a new car that was very simply, out of their control.

I only felt a little bad about yelling at them. The whole saga continued for about 45 minutes and finally a nice young man, (nicer than Manni or I) came to their aid. He set the alarm off too. Apparently it was actually a problem with the car computer and it really was out of their control. The helpful man called a Ford dealership and they sent help. I felt a little bit worse, knowing that they just didn’t know what to do, but seriously, call AAA or something, if you try and fail more than 3 times to get your car working, call for help!… preferably before you send all the birds in Utah fleeing into the next state for fear of your thunderous car alarm- which ultimately lasted more than an hour echoing and reverberating off of the canyon walls and famous red spires of Bryce Canyon National Park.

After that little fiasco, we went to the visitor center for hiking information. In the center, they had a little display supporting a “Save our Prairie Dog” charity. If you donated $25 you got a “birth certificate” of a Prairie Dog being protected and a cuddly little stuffed animal to represent your contribution. To my enjoyment, I discovered, that not only were they indeed fuzzy and adorable, but they also had a little squeaker inside them!! Just as I squeezed the fuzzy animal toy and giggled at the little squeak, an older couple walked up… I held the toy tightly, and giggled nervously to hide my embarrassment and obvious delight in playing with a child’s toy, “ha, ummm… it’s a Prairie Dog!!” I stuttered while smiling with guilt. And then… the man replied, in a most unexpected way: “I wanna SHOOT ‘em!!” he exclaimed, with full seriousness and an awkwardly proud little grin.

At this, I said, “oh nooooo” while releasing the pressure on the Prairie Dog tummy… letting out a long slow and melancholy squeak… echoing my surprised dismay....

And it was to the poor little Prairie Dog that we waved goodbye as we headed out of Bryce Canyon National Park… beautiful and bizarre (including the people… minus, probably, the beautiful part)…

Entering Utah, Zion NP - Manni

Leaving Vegas, we went north towards Utah. For the German readers, Utah is a Mormon dominated state. From my observations so far, Mormons are basically people(.) who strongly (and strangely) believe in God and the strength of their community. To ensure their power and existence of their communities, they encourage their members to have LOADS of children.

This mindset leads to some crazy laws like alcohol is only allowed up to 3,2%. I don’t know why I fulfill the Germany-cliché in every single post, but YES, I was a bit bothered by their 3,2% beer!

The nice part of that conservative state is, that they have tons of National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests etc… the landscape is undoubtedly gorgeous!

Also they have large areas of so called BLM-land. These areas belong to every American citizen and can therefore be used for whatever you want, as long as you do it respectfully. In our case, we are using it for free-camping in the middle of nowhere!

Arriving in Zion at night time made the search for “the middle of nowhere” a little bit more complicated. We ended up finding ourselves on a steep, muddy, wet dirt road, with a cliff right next to us. Even with 4wheel-drive it was an obstacle we could not pass. Giving up in the middle of that road, however, required sliding back down the muddy way we came from. Scary! Almost at the end, we bypassed a car. The driver basically told us, that we are –right- next to one of the turn-outs we were looking for! Perfect! Free-Camping it is!

Only after waking up and opening our curtains, we found out how beautiful this camp spot was.

After arriving in the Zion National Park, we got some written information on hikes and things to view and do in the park – in Zion, this is a lot. The ecosystem of Zion is very special, as desert environment and forest environment merge. Therefore there are parts where you walk on a sand dune with pine trees, meadows and cacti around you. Also there are huge bizarre shaped sandstone walls all over Zion. After some research, we decided to get a backcountry permit to be able to camp on the trail and do parts of the East Rim Trail. It is probably not the most popular hike, but it is very beautiful. And it is not a Zoo. (We didn’t meet very many people on the track). These circumstances gave us the exciting feeling of being in the wilderness! When it started hailing approx. 1,5 hours before we wanted to set up our tent, we realized, we ARE in the wilderness. Fortunately, it stopped hailing! Unfortunately, it rained instead. Our first outdoor camping experience in our new tent was therefore a cold and wet one. We enjoyed it nevertheless.

"Viva Las Vegas!" or "Just a Cupcake?" -Manni

After my exciting first outdoor climbing experience in Joshua Tree, we left California, direction Nevada. As we didn’t shower for a couple of days, we decided to spent some money on a nice hotel room in LasVegas! After some research on the internet, we found this great deal – Hooters (yes, boobies!) , on the strip, right next to the MGM Grand, for 36 bucks! We didn’t expect a 5 Star Hotel, but we were pleasantly surprised! We got a nice little room with a King Size Bed in a mid-size Casino. But for me the best part was undoubtedly the 1,50 $ Budweiser Deal!! Awesome!!

If you thought that is as much crazy deals as it can get, you haven’t traveled with me yet! After showering for ages and washing our desert hair three times, we went out for a nice little dinner. We stopped by the “2for1 Ticket Shop and got ourselves some dinner vouchers for an American restaurant in “Planet Hollywood” and enjoyed a Tuna-Steak with mashed potatoes and veggies as well as a Hawaiian Blackened (spicy) Rib-Eye Steak! Lecker! (delicious)

With our batteries recharged, we continued our tour along the strip, stopping at a great French Patisserie in “Paris”. Waiting in line to place our order, we observed a funny old couple. The grumpy grandpa asked what the hell this specific pastry is. The nice waitress answered: “it’s a chocolate cupcake, sir!” … “Oh, it’s just a cupcake?!” …. “no sir, it’s a super duper yummy delicious chocolate cupcake!” … oh, I see…what do you want for that, a dollar or something?” … “it’s actually 2,89 including taxes, sir.” … “Jesus Christ!...”

We were so busy laughing, we never found out whether they got the cupcake or not. But we got a carrot cupcake and a French éclair, and I can assure you, it was super duper yummy!