30. Day - day 30 (for english scroll down)

Today we had another slightly longer car ride planned. Our first destination was the wild west village of Oatman on Route 66. On the way, we stopped at a funny gas station with a very eccentric attendant, but definitely worth a smile. Oatman is nestled in the rugged Black Mountains, an original relic from earlier times. The main street is only 300 meters long and populated with 'burros' - descendants of the former gold miner pack animals. Zoë sensed danger everywhere (they bite, they have fleas, they stink, etc.) but it wasn't half as bad. The walls of the Oatman Hotel were really funny, covered in $1 bills. After that, we continued on an incredibly hilly road. It was like being on a gentle roller coaster - up and down, up and down... through desolate landscapes. Well, guess who quickly fell asleep and enjoyed the ride... it wasn't the driver ;-) Along the way, we passed by a shoe cemetery!! I have no idea what that was supposed to mean, but it was entertainingly strange :-) Eventually, we finally arrived in Palm Springs. The palm trees look really cool - they all have these 'beards', old leaves that haven't been trimmed. I think they're very pretty! However, the joy didn't last long because it was soooo hot. We went to the downtown area, but with 52°C and a high humidity, even the biggest shopping junkies couldn't handle it, even though water mist was sprayed from the palm trees. We found refuge in a bar and had a very pleasant conversation with an American who was ashamed of Trump and loved skiing in Vermont. Plenty of topics to fill the evening. Later, we visited the weekly evening market, but it didn't offer much, except that the temperatures hadn't dropped at all and we were sweating from every pore. We came back to the hotel soaking wet, where we watched a news report about Palm Springs and the market and how people were coping with the unprecedented heat. We also realized that there are large fires everywhere we had previously been, and for example, Yosemite has been closed for 3 weeks now!! We were very lucky!

Today we had a longer journey on our plan. Our first destination was a wild west village Oatman on the route 66. On our way we stopped at a funny fulestation with a comical filling station attendant - we were rather amused. Oatman is in the middle of the rough Black Mountains an original leftover from earlier days. The mainstreet is barely 300 meters long and packet wit 'Burros', descendants from the gold mining pack animals. Zoë sensed danger everywhere (they bite, they have fleas, they stink etc.) but it was not that bad at all. Real fancy where the walls of Oatman hotel which were plastered with 1$ notes. Thereafter we proceeded on a seriously dipy street. I mean seriously! Like a gentle roller coaster - up and down, up and down... through lonely landscape. Guess who rocketed herself gently into sleep within seconds.... it was not the driver:-) Somewhere mid way we encountered a shoe cemetery! I have no idea what it was meant to be, but it was rather funny :-) Finally we arrived at Palm Springs. The Palms are really beautiful - they have kind of 'beards' - old leaves which have never been cutted. But our joy did not last long - it was sooo hot! We went to the downtown but with 117 Fahrenheit and an extreme humidity, even the hardest core shoppers cave in, even the waterspray's from the palms did not help anymore. We rescued ourselves into a bar and had a lovely chat with an american who was embarrassed about Trump and loved skiing in Vermont. Lots of topics to fill an evening. Later we went to the weekly market, but it wasn't very special other than we sweatted from every pore of our body. Completely drenched we returned to the hotel where we saw a report on TV from the Palmsprings market and how people cope with the extraordinary/never so high registered heat. There we also realised that nearly everywhere we were before great fires are going on and that Yosemite for example has been closed for the last 3 weeks. We were very lucky!