| usa trip 1996 | |||
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Three days later they moved on by train and ended up in a students mansion somewhere up in the 86th street near the Bronx. The shoes of them were ruined during the next five days: they walked up and down the rotten pear and enjoyed the nightlife on the Fifth Ave and Broadway that was so different from the life at home. After filled up with dumb movies and even more popcorn they planned to go for a last walk through the central park, when one of the street punks showed up and wanted to sell something nice. "No!", the long haired boy replied, "we are from Germany and we are used that nothing can be bought after 8p.m.!" - The dealer got angry and wanted to sell his stuff. So the boys "took the feet in their hands" ("die Füsse in die Hände nehmen" [German phrase]).
And then - the miracle - no, they didn't found any aliens, they found another train leading them to Pittsburgh in less than 12 hours. There they met a nice Steubendorfer Kumpel, who first showed them the airport (and some counties behind) by night. The next days he helped them to get the ulitimate walking-help of the American nation: a people's car (but not a Volkswagen) called Joschi the Hoschi. Well equipped they made their wheels to Gettysburg, where a big party went on for the heroes - unfortunately they were all dead - how bad. So they continued their journey and visited Bill in Washington D.C. who lives still there for 4 more years. Then they met the nice citizens of Baltimore who also liked their car very much - and the practical idea of socialism - everything should be shared. So they shared their IDs, their Camera, their flight tickets and their backpacks. The boys told that to the fishes of the SeaWorld and to the cops - but this was not much of a help.
So the boys moved on to the HI/AYH (=Jugendherberge) of Philadelphia, where they first cooked Italian Maccaronis and they heard the soft sound of the gorgeous liberty bell (Jingle Bells....). Then they moved on - Joschi still drove them to Darien in Connecticut, where they met Doris, her husband and their friendly children. There they got the real American taste - Löwenbräu, brewed in Texas. They also managed, to get their stolen duffle bags back on a tour de force (Darien-Baltimore-Darien in less than 14hours). Their visit to the New York Yankee stadium was a success for their Bavarian health. One of the boys had to see the rest of the baseball game in a pub, because he was forced to leave the stadium (remember: beer and young Germans don't fit together - at least in New Yawk). Still irritated they continued their trip to Burlington/VT (A special award for Burlington: most beautiful American city!), where they enjoyed a shopping walk trough the fabulous "Peace Store" and a strange wood factory. They also liked the cuisine vermontaise and talks that ranged far after the liberal borders of Vermont.
After a scenic sunrise in the totally crowded Acadia National Park they drove one full day and night (with some naps on road stops) to the Niagara Falls to watch the Amish walking hand in hand and get their first shower. Then they decided to drive back to good ole' Steubenville - but one of their tires had an other opinion. So they fired it! (That's the American Way of Life...)
In this tiny little Dorf at the east-end of Ohio they met various people; at another scenic drive to the airport (but this time by day) where a visitor from the land of the rising sun arrived. First they drove to a wonderful 08/15-Restaurant while Alicia was trembling about John`s Fahrvergnügen (John seemed to get some of his Vergnügen in the land of Volkswagen the week before, where he visited some beautiful castles in Bavaria.
Then the voyage continued. Because they almost catched a cold in the North, they changed their plans and headed south. They passed Columbus, Cincinnati and entered the KFC-State. When they saw the people driving they almost felt home. Then they heard about a special offer: free pralinees at Jim Beam's distillery - so they left the Interstate. On the road again the car seemed to be drunk too. They saw a light flashing and said to each other: "What a funny car, it makes jokes!!!!" But then the radiator-pump broke and they didn't think that was funny any more. With the last energy they reached tiny Boston/KY. A village in which you can hear 24 hours country-music everywhere. And they met Eddie, the only mechanic of this Dorf. There they stayed for three days - Eddie worked very hard and charged not much - a fine guy. He also told the boys every detail of the interior life of their car - in a rather strange - but very, very colourful - language. Sometimes they got the metaphors a few hours after he said it to them. Then their car was better than before - it needed more than 30% less gas and drove 10 mph faster than before (after removing the catalysator even 30mph - but they didn't feel safe without it).
Then they had a vision: Elvis(TM) is still living!!! At Graceland they realized what really was living: cheap commerce and lots of golden vinyls. So they fled to Lorraine's Motel to see the real Dr. King (not Don King). There they learned more about history - much more than in school. After this lesson they needed rest at a Missssiiisssiiipppppi-steamboat (enough i's, s's, p's?). From Memphis they left the home state of Al Gore and entered Arkansas - home of the American king (remember Marty: "We don't like him - we love him!"). Their loves were not as deep as Marty's, but they visited the Governor's Mansion in Kleiner Fels and the tower in the black-forest-like Heisse Sprünge. After some snapshots in Texakarna, the frontier-town, they entered the legendary Lone Star State, where the men are real men and wear real toys and funny boots. They thought they could get sun-burns again - but they only got wet backs in rainy Dallas.
Desert. Open land. Oil-pumps. Grass. Night. A broken transmission. A rather dark moment of the trip for those two boys. Nobody came. They were alone, they were afraid and they couldn't speak Spanish. But somehow they organized a towing truck which brought them and Joschi to Carlsberg, eh, Carlsbad/Neumexiko (I just remembered the delicious Danish dynamite tasting beer). On the traces of Max Frisch and James Larkin White they explored the near-by caverns for some nuggets - chicken nuggets - 300 feet below the surface. Joschi, fixed again, brought them to White Sands N.M., where they had to wait until the kids from the army finished their boombastic spectacle.
Desert. Open land. No grass. White sand. Day. Some clothes cooking in the hot air. The boys went for a walk - and lost much sweat! Luckily Joschi's AC cooled them down again - and the ice-cold A+-Cola. Their next goals: the Apalachian Forest, Petrified Forest and Canyon de Chelly - Indian country. They almost heard the advertisement slogan: "Come to Marlboro Country". Giant rocks - a beautiful scenic like in those good road-movies (Thelma & Louise) and a reason to celebrate - they drove 10,000 km!
This should not be their last canyon. Canyonlands N.P. was waiting for them. Surely the continental National Park with the least visitors. Reason: No space for cars; that's poison for a motorized society. Joschi also felt the hardness: His license-plate was severely damaged by the rough road. And then - that must have been even harder for him - the boys left him and walked with their tent into the wilderness. It was very hot. Some days later they returned thirsty and hungry - and ate at the only fast-food-restaurant at the Park. The manager was an emigrant from Freiburg/Baden-Württemberg. So they heard a well-known slang again, which made them believe in the future. Where they should be - even in the meanest regions, they always will find a Badener oder a Schwäble.
In Mesa Verde and Arches they almost heard more German than English, so they didn't find it funny any more. Especially the hysteric "Ei, kucke doo" of some Saxonians. So they headed north again. First stop: Grand Junction, where they met the famous management-couple of the HI/AYH, Sandra and Marcus. The evening ended in a big discussion about which movie should be watched - and Kurt Rusell won ( "Just call me Snake!"). But one of the boys thought: "Sandra Bullock was much nicer and goldiger!"
Then Vollgas (full-throttle): Rocky-Mountains N.P. (a Deja-vu for one of the boys). Behind Aspen the boys found a Glacier and enough snow for a small snowball-battle. Passing Denver they continued their journey to Yellowstone N.P.; raining again! Hot geysirs, lots of buffaloes and one more roll of film (Like John said: "Dennis, are ya gonna vastin' your films?"). After two cold days of freezing in the tent (less than 30 degrees Fahrenheit) they went south again. "Celebrate Idaho!" This sign welcomed the boys. Before they re-entered the Mormon State they decided to buy stuff which should be more difficult to get in Utah. In S.L.C. they drove the whole night to find a place to sleep. At last a cop showed them a campground, filled up with cows. After the touristic standard-program, many showers and a big laundry-day they drove on. First to the Salt Lake, which was invaded by Saxonians again. Maybe it was hard to believe for Americans that Saxonians don't need any changing cabine - they change their clothes where and when they like to.
Then the boys arrived at the Holy Land - Zion N.P. First it didn't seem very holy to them, because there were so many Krauts, eh, crowds. Luckily they got a campsite and so they layed one day under the holy sun. But the next day they waked up Joschi at dawn; they had a mission: to climb up to Angel's Landing as the first one's this day. And they made it. Amen. Before noon they returned and met the crowds again. Another day under the holy sun.
The next day they broke up to the "stoned people" (here our literally meaning: "people who became stone"), also called Bryce Canyon N.P. A few days of impressing hikes and film-wasting followed, then Grand Canyon North and South Rim. From both sides they discovered the Canyon, the camera didn't survive that. At their zero dollar sleeping-spot somewhere in the forest they almost were shot by some crazy hunters - while in the radio Mr. Dole announced the right of every American to defend himself with weapons.
The Flagstaff posse should be their home for the next days. Wuptaki N.M. and Sunset Crater N.M. were impressing one-day-trips; a ghost-town above a former coal-mine was also worth a visit. At the way back to Flagstaff they got their "Bulletproof" (only in the movies!).
Then a dream became true: to drive at a original part of the legendary Route 66. Joschi now can tell every car he meets, even BMW's and Daimlers: "I've been at Route 66", and the other cars will wish that they were also that lucky! The Hoover-dam was the last stop before Las Vegas, where one boy celebrated his 21st birthday. Now he will not be an illegal every evening like he was the days before. But although he had this anniversary he had no luck at the Roulette-table and lost some dollars. Life is so hard! But they were impressed - at no other town they could smell the odour of decadency and injustice better than there. But they also enjoyed the big show going on every night.
After Las Vegas they wanted to see a really hot place: Death Valley. The ability to hike lasted only a half day. Then they felt the heat coming in their brains - short circuit! But they didn't want to miss this experience! At a zero dollar campground they shared their site with an Aussie who had to tell a lot about his half-year trip through the US.
California dreamin'. The first real stop in the Golden State was at the ghost-town Bodie, that should become a problem for one of our tires, which thought, it was time to become flat. But their voyage continued yet. A stop at the overcrowded Yosemite N.P. was not that impressing, but the hike through the Sequoias was not bad; also not the first Deja-vu for one of them.
Und jetzt - the home-town of the 49ers. A 24 hour town with much more to discover than they could do in three days. Haight-Ashbury, Fishermans Wharf, a Cable Car trip, Alcatraz, a Walk on the Golden Gate Bridge (including spitting down! - Boys always do that.). Surely one of the most atmospheric cities, besides Tübingen, of course.
The end of their trip became more and more present. A drive along the Surfers Highway 1 with a short stop in San Luis Obispo followed. The last 10 days were used to relax, read some books, to learn surfing and to damage some cars unwanted (in Huntington Beach). Joschi was sold to a Swedish group after long trading discussions. But before that - they enjoyed the eight lane highway to L.A., really funny, better than home! If the traffic became too much, they always could use the car pool lane. The Universal Studios showed them the real America and Beverly Hills real life. A one day trip to Joshua Tree N.P. with the German Surf-champion Petra was also one of the highlights of their trip.
Joschi, driven by the Swedish guys, brought them to the Airport. Tschüss Ami-Land, Tach Schwaben. It was a real good time for them! If the boys aren't dead, they live still today. That's the end of a story that lasted more than three months.
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