Hawaii, Maui (26. Nov. – 5. Dec.)

It’s greener than green surrounded by the bluest blue. The pictures speak for themselves. Maui is my favourite island. Less touristy. Nice and quite and still lots to see and explore. Just beautiful.
‘OMG’. Nick's friends Joe and Mike hosted me in Kihei. They were unbelievable nice and entertaining. Joe took me to some of the greatest places on Maui. And Mike was letting me sleep in his spare bedroom. Nick you have some really good friends and I will never forget them. I hope I will meet you someday.

Hawaii, Big Island (23. Nov. – 26. Nov.)

Different Island, different experience. I stayed with …. She introduced me to some Hippy culture. We went to this tribal places and happenings where people where dancing in the middle of the afternoon celebrating life. Some of them might have been a bit drugged but the bigger portion was sober. And yes I belonged to the bigger portion. So I thought let’s give it a try and do the Hippy Hippy shake for a while. I was surprised that you actually can dance without having had a drink or two. The only thing that was a bit strange was the smell and the looks. Some of the dancers didn’t seem to be using a lot of perfume or shaving gear. Just natural. But good to see that there is another kind of lifestyle.

Hawaii, O’ahu (20. Nov. – 23. Nov.)

The fact that she cares about the environment (guests included) makes her very likable person. She took me to different places on Oahu (Diamond Head and daytrip North Shore) and we had the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. Sara’s cool to chat with and I loved to paint with her. To sum it up she is a sweetheart. Always smiling, easy-going and right on!
There it was, the world famous Waikiki beach where I tried my first surfing. As soon as I got my board from the rental shack I crawled into the waves. I’ve been waiting around 45 minutes of my 1 hour rent for the perfect wave. And then there it was. It rolled it’s way towards me. I crawled, stood up and surfed the wave all the way back to the beach with a big and content smile on my face. Yeehaa.

LA (15. Nov. – 20. Nov.)

Before I went back to LA to drop off my rental car I went to see Sedona. There are several energy centers, or vortexes of subtle energy, located in the Sedona area. The energy from these vortexes saturates the whole area in and around Sedona, and can be noticed in a subtle but general way anywhere around town. If you actually go to one of the vortex sites, which is where the energy is strongest, it can be a very uplifting experience. Not for me though. I mean it was quite a quite place but I couldn’t feel anything. Anyway check out the pics of the place. Looks very much like Indian spirit.

Grand Canyon (12. Nov. – 15. Nov.)

If you are in Arizona there is no way around the GRAND CANYON. This is a must see. And I wasn’t disappointed when I first stopped the car, went up to that first fence to look down from that cliff. I don’t like to use this word but because I think it is over used but it was amazing. Seems like a tremendous cut into the earth crust, a never ending deep canyon. The total opposite of what the Alps are like. Just grand!
I stayed with the friendly couple Rob and Deb. I liked the whole family including the dog, the two cats and the birds outside.

Phoenix (10. Nov. - 12. Nov)

Driving down that almost never ending road towards Phoenix was a bit of a pain. The last two nights were still in my blood. On the side of the highway through the desert there were a couple of foxes luckily not in front of my car. It was around 1 am when I met Larry.
If I would ever need parenting advice I would call him. He and his kids are so amazing. Everybody is taking care of each other and so do they with their Couchsurfers.
He’s taken me out to Superstition Mountain which made me feel like being in a real western town. Yeehaa. The mountains, the horses, the cactus, the dusty boots, the cowboy hats, the country, the music, the sunset. Feels like what I’ve seen on TV is real.

Sin City (8. Nov. -10. Nov.)

After freezing my ass off in the Nevada desert, I tried to sleep in the car that night, I got up very early. The good thing about getting up early is that you can watch the sunset and a bad cup of coffee tastes so much better.
I left this little Motel in that little village in the big Nevada desert and tried to find my way to a city in the desert called Las Vegas.
The taste of sin is in the air. I think there is no other place where winning and loosing come so close together.
I was lucky to stay with a local. A real local. Shana the unstoppable bartender who is always up for a shot. We went to a fancy club called Tryst in the Wynn hotel and somehow sneaked ourselves in through the fast queue. The club styled throughout with a huge waterfall outside, the people shallow and a vodka red bull 18.- USD. Nevertheless it was good to see a bit of the real face of Las Vegas. Don’t go there and expect to meet your new best friend.
The next day I went to see the city and after that to the bar where Shana works. A life band was playing and after a couple of beers it was so easy to get up and dance before we started bar hoping until 6 in the morning.
Don’t go there and expect to win money and don’t go there to meet Sigfrid and Roy. And don’t forget the rule if you win run.