North America 2009

Deep deep deep underground lie the Carlsbad Caverns. Stalagmites and stalactites intersect majestic cave halls and offer a refreshing cool contrast to the pressuring heat of Texas. And where there are caves, there are bats. The up to a million bats emerging simultaneously from a cave opening at sunset is supposedly a remarkable sight. I had half expected to see something similar to the smoke monster in Lost, but no such effect was to be found. Big ouverture, small show.

Apparantly there’s a New Mexico now, as Monty Burns would put it. The state’s capitol Santa Fe was visited, along with it’s interesting architecture of claywork.

Capitol though it may be, Santa Fe is not the most famous town in New Mexico. That would be Roswell, and whether the 1947 landing occurred or not, the aliens are everywhere in this small military town. In the form of plastic mugs, fridge magnets, guitar picks and t-shirt, to name a few.

Along an empty, deserted highway, Tom Hanks’ character suddenly decided to stop running, after having run from coast to coast and back. As did we. Stopped, that is.

On the protective alcoves on the vertical cliff walls of southern Colorado, there once lived a tribe of skillful potters, masons and stonecutters now known as Ancestral Puebloans. However, they disappeared back in the late 1200’s. Just so you know.

You know the scene from MI:2, when Tom is climbing a rock? That’s in Monument Valley, that’s Navajo land, and that’s where we went. After a lot of photos of various rock formations it was high time for a dinner and a show, starring the local tribe and eventually incorporating us paleskins.

Starry sky, crickets, the occasional coyote howl and snake rattle, combined with the beans we had for dinner completed the feeling of being in the Wild Wild West.

Possibly the grandest of canyons was visited this day, and the rim was hiked along. Sunshine, rain and everything in between made for good photo opportunities. Luckily the weather stabilised on the sunny side on the afternoon, cause that was when we got into the helicopter for an amazing flight over Grand Canyon. Sunset over the canyon while having pizza ended the day.

I awoke in the city of gambling and took a stroll on The Strip. Immersed in tackiness, the casinos were as bombastic as plentiful. Main point of the day: finding a casino with a decent tournament for the evening. And so, while my co-travellers hit the pool for some drinking game, I headed to the MGM Grand for some serious poker.

50 of us seated, $80 buy-in, no-limit hold’em. Top six pays. After two much needed doble-ups (QQ against AA, hitting the trips on the flop and AA against JJ, holding all the way) I found myself at the final table. Two of the finalists were really shortstacked and disappeared quickly. Then one more went down, and another, and I started singing ‘In the money’. I had bled a while, antes and blinds were high, and eventually I had to go all-in, finishing fifth. That’s a $205 win, thank you very much, and after buy-in and tip I ended upp $100 plus. So, not only have I gambled in Vegas, I have actually won in Vegas.

Hot enough for ye? Death Valley was 45 degrees, and I don’t mean the angle. Badwater, Devil’s golfcourse and Zabriske Point was also on the agenda, and then we crossed the border into Nevada. A party bus drove us around town, drinks were had by any and all, and the bus had dancing poles, which some utilised. And what town would that be, then? Vegas, baby!

As the sun rose over Yosemite NP, so did our collective spirits. The view from Glacier Point is nothing short of amazing, and the Yosemite Falls weren’t bad either. As a special treat, we all jumped in the natural 37-ish degrees hot springs. With beer.