Behind the Scenes - which hasn't made it into the individual blogs until now

Since we – more unconsciously than intentionally – always split our travel times here into thirds (that just struck me), we once again have a third of our stay in Palm Springs behind us. The first 10 days here were very relaxed and without any great experiences. On the one hand, that's because we didn't have a car until tomorrow and therefore stayed more in the house, at the pool and in the surrounding area (well, if you like to think of shopping at Ralph's as staying in the surrounding area ... ). With temperatures around 35 degrees it is also advisable to stay at home, put your feet up or in the pool and enjoy a refreshing drink from the fridge.

But it shouldn't stay like this. Starting tomorrow there will be another set of wheels for a week and then we'll be "op jöck" again...

But in order not to "forget" the first third of the entire trip, we wanted to immortalize one or the other from this time here. Experiences that did not make it thematically into the individual blogs because they are too insignificant, we now want to work through here. However, less with pictures than with words.

The impressions were so numerous that I currently have problems putting everything in a chronological order. But what the heck, then it's like this:

What struck us again and again many, many miles on our way through the different states was the realities of how the people live here. In almost every city - and even more so in the country - there were neighborhoods that looked like scrap heaps. We suspect that having at least 15 junk cars in the yard next to a neglected “house” or “camper” is considered “good manners”. Here you can find old butchered hams that are probably 50 or 60 years old. Totally rusted, but apparently you can still do something with it. I tried – bravely – to take some photos from the street side to document it. Always a little with the uneasy feeling that someone could come running at me and shoot the camera out of my hand with a pistol, or get an arrow between the ribs ... after all, we were on Apache or Navajo land ...

The villages are practically dead. Not a soul to be seen on the street, the houses are derelict and abandoned. No one has lived in many houses for decades. We are always concerned with the question of how ownership is in the States. Who owns the eternally wide land? Is there a land registry here, who is allowed to settle where? Can you just reoccupy any abandoned wooden house like that? It seems to us that this is not really regulated, at least outside of the cities ... or are we just too German???

A fact we didn't know was that in New Mexico we drove "for days" through pistachio country, with huge pistachio plants on both sides of the road. Apparently, the pistachio requirement for the whole of the USA is covered here. We had therefore planned a visit to the world's largest pistachio. Days before we were reminded again and again to do this with large advertising signs on the side of the road. Okay, was on the way and then we wanted to have a look and possibly taste pistachios on site. Unfortunately, "the Nuttiest Place" was closed before 10 a.m., so we only had to make do with a photo of the pistachio and a few funny puns in the parking lot.

I don't remember in which city it was (in Alamogordo (note by Thorsten 😉)). But as usual, in the morning when breakfast wasn't included, we had bagels with provolone and "wet sausage" in the form of just randomly rolled-up slices of ham that took all your fingers to separate if you cared if they Discs shattered or not. And "wet sausage" because the whole sausage was put in while it was still wet. Of course you can now say: yes, then don't buy that kind of stuff ... but the selection is not really big in "dry" sausage and in the end we like the whole thing too ...

But back to the story. On every bed in the hotel there is some sort of rug that no one actually needs and that is why it usually lands directly on the floor. Once we had a runner with circular ornaments on it. After the bagel had been lubricated and filled, the plate with the bagels was placed on the runner, which this time had not yet been transported down. There was a nice hidden object game: "Who will find the bagels first?" We were amused...

What we also found strange was the fact that Americans get married everywhere. In Sedona, the bride and groom, a "minister" and a photographer were on a small island in the bushes of the river we had to wade through and sealed the vows. Or like here in Palm Springs: Wedding in an open view RV lot at a crossroads, with car and truck traffic... To each their own!

Our first animal encounter with our "garden roommates" was as soon as we arrived in the house and opened the patio door. Whoosh, a lizard fled into the living room. Small, quick and agile, as these Lizards are, they immediately looked for a hiding place under the couch. But just as we didn't want to take the Alamosa locust on our tour, we booked the house for humans only. Who knows where the nimble squirrels crawl to... we didn't want to find out and immediately had the kitchen utensils and a firm surface to hand. We caught them and released them back into the fresh air. Always close the doors to the outside directly again was the solution. Somehow word must have gotten around in the Lizard family, because two days ago, in a careless moment, a slightly larger lizard quickly smuggled itself into the house. But we were also successful here and had promoted them outside after a short time.

Oh, and then there was my "photographic battle" with the ever-present hummingbirds. I've been on the lookout for days to capture these small, bustling and constantly moving animals on the chip. We have a dispenser hanging from the ceiling on the patio filled with sweet liquid that the hummingbirds "drink" from. These candies are so fast and above all silent that you only see them when they are about to take off again. And since you can only photograph these 5 or 6 cm large planes with a zoom lens, you have to be ready to take pictures with the appropriate camera settings at all times. In the end, it often didn't work out to photograph the hummingbirds in motion. How often have I "run after" them and shot what felt like hundreds of photos in quick succession, only to find out that the focus couldn't be as fast as the little animals. But at some point it happened and our "house hummingbird" let us take a picture.

Not that the hummingbirds' constant after-game with me was enough... no, of course, after I'd taken the pictures for myself, the little things continued to play with me. As if they wanted to poke my nose at me, they now flew constantly and in persevering time on the spot, came in pairs and played with each other in the air ... as if to tell me, we do what we want and you don't catch us ... Well, then that's the way it should be and we both, the hummingbirds and I, make peace.

Now I can sit relaxed again on the terrace or by the pool without a camera ready to shoot.

Oh no, isn't that nice!!! 😊