Report US trip 7/24/1989 to 1/2/1990 Home | Reports: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 | Route

Hint: Click on the images for an enlargement.

Vail, 4-Jan-1990

We left Switzerland in the early hours of the 24th of July 1989. We drove our camper (called "JOKER") to Emden, West Germany, where we left the car for the shipment to Albany, NY. The next day, we traveled with a rented car to Luxemburg. On 7/26/1989, we took the plane to Reykjavik, Iceland. The day after, we flew to Greenland, the largest island in the world, where we spent five cold, icy, interesting and wonderful days. We visited Narsaq, the second largest town in Greenland, a small Eskimo village and an inland glacier. On 7/31/1989, we returned to Iceland, where we picked up a rented car the next day. It was a Mitsubishi Pajero, a four- wheel-drive car, perfectly suited for off-road driving. This was a must, because we planned to spend the next 14 days in the highland of Iceland. There are only dirt roads, small, winding and bumpy. The highlight of our stay on Iceland was our trip to the volcano "Askja". The road to this volcano lead through a large lavafield, there were no visible traces to follow. All we could see were poles, it was up to us to find the best way from one pole to the next. It was a real adventure, shaky, rough, tough but fun ! Also not to forget the famous river crossings, sometimes the water was up to 3 feet deep !

Volkswagen vessel at the harbor of Emden		DC-8 of Icelandair at the airport in Luxemburg		Spectacular landing in Narsarsuaq
Greenland from above		Icebergs in Greenland		A very beautiful iceberg in Eriksfjord
The F98 leads across a lava field		Crossing a river with our rented Mitsubishi Pajero		Crater lake in Iceland

On 8/15/1989 we made the final jump over "the pond" and landed safely at JFK airport in New York. To our surprise we had no trouble at all to cross the border, even if we had no ticket for the flight back home. We spent 7 wonderful days in New York City, including a 15 minutes helicopter flight over the Hudson river, a 2 hours boat tour around the island of Manhattan, a visit of the platform on top of the world trade center and an attendance at a performance of the musical "cats" at the world famous Broadway.

Statue of liberty		New York City		Central Park
Broadway by night		New York City by night		China town in New York

World Trade Center

Empire State Building

On 8/22/1989, we picked up our JOKER at Albany, NY. Even if a few things had disappeared from our camper, we felt home immediately. We spent a couple of days at Lake George, NY to arrange ourselves in our new home and to solve some daily problems like shopping, washing clothes and so on. Four days later happened one of the very special moments on our tour so far: we met Cheryl Grime, a DEC employee with whom Reto had contact over the worldwide computer network of Digital Equipment for years. We had talked to each other like friends, but we have never seen each other before. We spent a wonderful weekend in the area of Saratoga, NY. And we were so happy, that the feeling of friendship even grow after we met in person. As you might know, sometimes it's no longer the same, if you meet a pen-friend, but fortunately, i did not happen to us.

Forests as far as you can see ... (Lake Placid)

Campground in New England

We spent a month in the area of New England, including a side-trip to Montreal and Quebec, Canada. Before we visited Cheryl at her home in Merrimack, NH, we stayed at the "Acadia national park", where we had the chance to observe beavers in there own living space. We spent a few days at Cheryl's apartment. For the first time on our trip, we lived outside of our camper. We enjoyed Cheryl's friendliness and the space in her apartment until we left her on 9/24/1989. The following weekend, we had the pleasure to visit a local fair in Bolton, MA, with another friend from Reto's time at DEC. Ray Pfau showed us all the vegetables, people grew and exhibited at the fair. We also saw different kinds of animals and some funny competitions. Reto also had the opportunity to meet some other friends at DEC, which he enjoyed very much.

Downtown Montreal		Olympic stadium		Grand Hotel in Quebec
Huge waves at the Atlantic coast in Acadia NP		"The Mill" - head quarter of DEC, Reto's former employer		Reto, Susanne, Cheryl and Bill

On 9/27/1989, we left our friends at the east coast and started our long trip to Los Angeles, CA. Our first stop was at the Niagara falls, where we saw the huge waterfall from both, the US and the Canadian banks of the river. During the next 3 days, we crossed almost half of the country from the state New York to South Dakota. In the "badlands national park", we had the luck to see many animals, like pronghorns, mule deer, prairie dogs and bison. In the "wind cave national park", a ranger led us through a large cave, where she showed us a very special kind of rock formation, called "boxwork". On 10/5/1989 we turned south to Colorado. After a night in Denver, we spent four extraordinarily wonderful days in the "Rocky Mountain national park". The first day, we drove with our camper over the more then 10'000 feet high "fall river pass". The next 3 days, we hiked to the "Andrews Glacier", to the "flat top mountain" and the highest mountain in the park, the "Longs Peak", elevation 14255 feet ! Up to now, the "Rocky Mountain national park" is our most favorite national park in the whole USA.

Niagara falls		Sand rock formations at Badlands NP		Pronghorns
Andrews Glacier at Rocky Mountains NP		Longs Peak, highest peak in the Rocky Mountains NP		Susanne and Reto on the top of Longs Peak (4345 m.a.s.)

During the following weeks, we visited most of the national parks (NP) and national monuments (NM) in the states Colorado, Utah and Arizona. In most of the parks, we drove the park road on the first day and hiked one or more of the trails on the second day. In this order, we saw "Arches NP", "Canyonlands NP", "Mesa Verde NP", "Monument Valley NM", "Capitol Reef NP", "Bryce Canyon NP", "Zion NP" and "Grand Canyon NP". Please don't ask us, which one was the most beautiful. Each park or monument is somehow unique, we liked all of them. But there is always a "but". "Grand Canyon NP" is definitively another of our most favorite parks. We spent one day at the north rim, which unfortunately was already closed for the season. On the second day at the south rim, we hiked down to the Colorado river and back to the rim on the same day. The hike was not as hard as we expected, but impressive and wonderful anyway. We like to do it again this year. Another remarkable day on our trip is the 10th of October 1989: This is the day when we met Debbie and Rolf Steeve from Escondido, CA. While we cleaned our dishes in the laundry, Debbie started talking to Susanne and from this moment on, a friendship began to grow, which led us to unforgettable days in the US. We met this couple, their children and parents again in the "Monument Valley", where they invited us to stay with them whenever we should come in the area of San Diego, CA.

Rock formations at Arches NP		Delicate Arch at Arches NP		Landscape Arch at Arches NP

Rock formations at Canyonlands NP		Rock formations at Canyonlands NP
Ruins at Mesa Verde NP		Ruins at Mesa Verde NP
Monument Valley NM		Sunrise at Monument Valley NM

Bryce Canyon NP		Bryce Canyon NP		Bryce Canyon NP
"The narrows" at Zion NP		Reto in the "narrows"		Zion Canyon at Zion NP

Side valley at Grand Canyon NP !!!		Colorado River at Grand Canyon NP
Hiking trail at Grand Canyon NP		Sunrise at Grand Canyon NP

We continued our way to L.A., the next stop was in Las Vegas, NV, where we increased our cash by $8 in the casinos. On 11/2/1989 we entered the "Death Valley" in California.

Approaching Las Vegas		Casinos in Las Vegas		Circus Circus - casino, hotel and campground
View from Dantes View into Death Valley NM		Colorful hillside at Death Valley NM		Sand dunes in Death Valley NM

Finally, on 11/5/1989 we arrived in Los Angeles, just in time to meet our friend Hermann Mueller, another DEC employee. He lives nearby Munich, West Germany and came to L.A. to attend the US DECUS symposium. While he joined the different seminars, we cleaned up our car and clothes, got our first hair cut in the United States and enjoyed the "Disneyland". At the end of the week, on 11/11/1989, we left L.A. together with Hermann and another friend from DEC Munich and followed US #1 up to San Francisco. While the two Germans had to go back to L.A., we spent four wonderful days in San Francisco, where we especially enjoyed to ride on the cable cars.

Skyline of San Francisco		Downtown San Francisco		Cable car
Golden Gate Bridge		Fisherman's Wharf		Sealion at Fisherman's Wharf

In the next few days, we visited the "Miur Wood NM", the "Yosemite NP", the "Kings Canyon NP" and the "Sequioa NP". Even if some places and roads were already closed for the winter, we saw many of the most beautiful spots of these parks. We faced the up to 2000 years old sequoia-trees with respect, we found it unbelievable, that a living being can get that old. And we decided, that we would like to come back for more in spring 1990. On our way back to L.A., we had the luck to see a black bear on the road through "Sequoia NP". But we even didn't have the time to take a picture, the bear too quickly disappeared on the other side of the street.

Yosemite Valley at Yosemite NP		Tjoga Pass at Yosemite NP
Sequoia		Sequoias

We spent the weekend after thanksgiving in Palm Springs and in the "Joshua Tree NM".

Our "Jogi" at Joshua Tree NM

Park road at Joshua Tree NM

Susanne and Reto having lunch at Joshua Tree NM

On Sunday afternoon, we arrived at Rolf and Debbie Steeve's house, where we spent the time before we left the mainland for our side-trip to Hawaii. On 11/28/1989 we boarded the aircraft to the 50th state of the US. We spent four days on "Oahu" and three days on "the Big Island". It was a brand new experience for us to swim in the ocean at the beginning of the month December ! We enjoyed the warm water of the pacific, we snorkeled and attended a native dance performance. On the Big Island, we visited the "Hawaii Volcano NP" where we had the chance to see some hot active lavaflow. We saw the earth bleeding, a very unique experience !

Our plane at San Diego airport		Sea World and Mission Bay		Pacific coast with smog over Los Angeles
Approaching Hawaii		Hanauma Bay		Beach at Waikiki
Bananas		Pineapple		Sunset at Waikiki
After the landing in Kona		Hilton Kona Hotel		Sunset on "Big Island"
Hot lava drops into the Pacific at Hawaii Volcanoes NP		A lava stream crossed the park road at Hawaii Volcanoes NP		Hot, flowing lava at Hawaii Volcanoes NP
A gorgeous flower at the botanical garden		Colorful plants at the botanical garden		A gorgeous flower at the botanical garden

Back in California, we had a very special time with Rolf, Debbie and their children. Rolf and Debbie took us to the world famous zoo of San Diego and to the "wild animal park" in Escondido. We also had the pleasure to attend a Christmas parade in their hometown. On Monday 12/11/1989, when Rolf had to go back to his office, we went to "Sea World", where we spent another unforgettable day. We felt in love with "Baby Shamu", the one year old baby killer-wale. But also the other animals and shows where so impressive and lovely, that we want to go back to this very special place next spring. The next day, we had to say good-bye to Rolf, Debbie, Kristen and Dustin Steeve, but not without promising, that we will come back in spring 1990. For the 3rd time, we found our way to L.A., where we visited the famous "universal studios".

Rolf Steeve		Debbie Steeve		"Family picture" with Steeves
Christmas decoration		Christmas decoration		Christmas decoration
Baby Shamu		Shamu and Baby Shamu		Shamu

After this, we had a strong desire to see some snow. We drove northward to "Lake Taho", where we had a look at California's ski resorts. But they did not completely meet our expectations, therefore we continued our trip to Utah. Several times, people told us, that we will find the best snow on earth in Utah. We finally ended up in Salt Lake City, UT, where we found a nice campground. We spent the days from 12/22/1989 until 12/25/1989 in "Alta" and "Snowbird", two wonderful ski areas, half an hour drive away from Salt Lake City. There was not too much snow, but still enough for skiing. And the sun was shining all day long. In the evening of 12/25/1989, we parked our camper on a parking lot high above the village of "Alta" and watched the lights of hundreds of torches, carried by skiers from the top of the mountain down to the village. And - of course - it was the time to unwrap the gift from our friends from Escondido !

Evening over Alta

Torches carried by skiers

On 12/26/1989, we drove to the "Dinosaur NM", where we saw the bones of dozens of dinosaurs.

Winter at Dinosaur NM		Dinosaur		Bones of dinosaurs
Skeleton of a dinosaur		Skull of a dinosaur		Skull of a dinosaur
Bones of dinosaurs		Bone of a dinosaur		Bone of a dinosaur

Susanne next to a dinosaur's bone of a leg

Leg bones of a dinosaur

We spent the day before New Years Eve, New Years Eve and the first day of 1990 around Aspen, CO. Unfortunately, this area is extremely expensive, a one-day ticket for the ski area costs $36. Therefore, we went skiing only on 12/31/1989 and 1/1/1990. On 1/2/1990, we finally drove to Vail, where we have rented a condominium for seven days. How we liked Vail and what we did after skiing, we will tell you in our next report ...

Home | Reports: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 | Route

Copyright © 1989-2010 Reto and Susanne Ambühler-Hauenstein - All rights reserved.
All online documents and web pages as well as their parts are protected by copyright, and it is permissible to copy them and print them out only for private, scientific and noncommercial use.

Production note: Images have been taken as slides using a Minolta 7000AF camera with various Kodak films. Images have been digitized using a Canon Scanner and have been processed using Microsoft Image Composer.

USA8912E.html (revised version) / 20-Apr-2010 (ra) / reto ambühler