Photos · 37 from the road
North America
USA
The rules are back
The first thing you notice when entering the USA is that every single thing is regulated. Not a bad thing, but sometimes a bit silly..
Roswell and Area 51
Roswell was as cold as outer-space. I guess that's why the aliens feel so at home. They must be the most exploited life form in the universe.
White sands, New Mexico
A desert with sand as white as snow, but a lot warmer.
Canyon de Chelly, Arizona
In my very humble opinion this is the most beautiful canyon in the world. As you can see there are small roads down there and it is possible to enter it by vehicle, but due too bad weather I did not.
Monument valley, Arizona
It stars in many movies, but in reality it is to widespread to be really impressive. It's also heavily exploited by the Navajo. At one point I had to buy a ticket to go to the cash register to pay the camping fee. That was where I turned around and headed for the more impressive and free "Valley of the gods" a bit north.
Las Vegas, Nevada
They have copies of all the beautiful places in the world, and the copies are more beautiful the the original. This scene from Venice is inside a building. The sky is fake.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Have a quick snack in one of the many buffets inside Cesar's palace..
Death Valley, California
Not what you would expect from one of the hottest and driest places on earth, but the freaky weather that had pestered me from the moment I arrived in the USA had also provided rain for a rear phenomena: Death Valley in blossom. Unfortunately the result was a stream of over a thousand motor homes that filled up all campsites and parking lots.
Tiny little town, California
On the way from death valley to Los Angeles I stumbled over this tiny little almost deserted town. It was like a life museum. I think the name of the town was Randburg.
Venice beach, California
Ever seen 'Bay Watch' or 'Beverly Hills cop'? Well, real life in Venice beach is a little more 'common'. I guess the bikini-skinny tanned and silicone molded beach babes don't need to work out on their roller-skates. Only these girls do.
Hollywood, California
Los Angeles itself is a city so vast it's hard to determine where the city-limit is. Finding Hollywood in that massive chaos is not easy but luckily they have a large signpost.
Sequoia tree, California
Now this is a pretty big tree. It's actually the largest on earth, or so they claim.
Sacrifice for..?, California
Walking around this immense war-cemetery and reading the headstones makes me wonder about American people. Each and every one of these crosses represents a American man or woman that has died as a soldier. But not defending his home country, not even close to it. They died fighting over a piece of dirt on the other side of the world, against an enemy that was no threat to home. Bruce, 19 years old, died in Vietnam. Kevin, 18 years old, died in Korea. Mike, 19 years old, died in Cambodia. John, 17 years old, died in Iraq. Philip, 20 years old, died in Lebanon. For what was this sacrifice? There are many of these cemeteries across the USA. I wonder if anyone knows how many have died.
Golden Gate, San Francisco, California
Even though the Golden gate bridge is not the largest one in San Francisco, it is the most enigmatic. Maybe it's the color, maybe the scenery.
Cold Yosemity, California
I entered the valley with on a nice, warm sunny day. I wandered around the scenic waterfalls. I climbed a bit of 'El Capitan' and generally enjoyed the incredible scenic area. Until I woke up in the snow the next morning. No more views, no more sun. Time to move on. Notice the thermometer on the dash.
Tricky campsite, Nevada
Since the shrub was very thorny and bushy, I decided to camp on the road itself. It did not look like it was used a lot anyway.
Valley of the gods, Utah
A few miles north of the heavily exploited and expensive 'Monument Valley' you can find 'The valley of the gods' with it's free campsites, free roads and free scenic sites.
Cliff dwellers, Colorado
Remains of the Anasazi culture in the 'Mesa Verde'.
Moab salt, Utah
The salt-basin of Moab salt is the bluest lake you have ever seen.
White rim trail, Utah
A 100 km trail following the cliff of 'Canyon lands NP'. No sign, no fence and a 100 meter drop. Not very USA-like. They do have some strange rules here. One dirt-biker fell down on this trail and received a citation of 100 U$ for being 'unable to maintain control over the vehicle'. Strangely enough the same ranger wished me a pleasant day after finding out I was camping illegally in the park.
Planet Mars, Utah
I think that when NASA landed on mars, they actually got lost somewhere and ended up in Utah. This is my photo from mars.
Planet Venus?, Utah
When your in the desert long enough you start to see weird things.
Tynda, Oregon
The dog Tynda likes to ride a bike. Since he has no valid US-driving license (he is from Russia) he settles for the shotgun position in Eric Haws's sidecar..
Hawsville, Oregon
Eric and his wife Gail are fanatic motorbike travelers. being the first to ever cross Russia east to west on a motorbike, they now live in Oregon and organize bike-rallies. That is, if they are not on the road somewhere.
Snow on Grand Mesa, Colorado
Invited in the home of Roger and Diana we toured the Grand Mesa. Snow in May?
Rushmore, South Dakota
The idea was to inspire everyone who saw it. However, I found it little inspiring that after buying an entry-card for all national parks and monuments, I still had to pay 18 U$ to park my bike (which I did not do). I guess these were the presidents that invented capitalism.
Waiting for 'Old Faithful', Wyoming
It might not be the most spectacular geyser of Yellowstone NP. It is the most reliable. Exactly on time (90 min. interval) it spit out it's bad breath. Many were waiting.
Colorful soil in Yellowstone, Wyoming
They should not have called it 'Yellow stone' but 'Many color stone'. Color are amazing here and everywhere little mud pools bubble up more colors.
Canada
Mosquitoes at lunch
In the hills of Canada you do not want to go for a pick-nick in June.
Got some food to spare?
This guy was very interested in my doings. I think he wanted me to fall asleep before I had eaten all my food.
Piece and quite
Typical scenery from Canada. Lakes and pine trees as far as you can see. It actually gets a bit boring after a few days.
Alaska
A sort of lawless town
On the border of Canada and Alaska lies Hyder. 'A town of about a hundred happy people and a few old s...-heads' as the sign explains. When I entered the shop it turned out the owner was one of the few 's...-heads'.
The last frontier
Actually Hyder is not so far north. To enter the real 'last frontier' you need to go a mile or thousand through Canada before entering.
The real 'last frontier' is damn cold
Near Fairbanks, Alaska it starts to et really cold, hence the name of this town.
Trapper truck
This man has it all worked out. His truck even has a distillery onboard.
Tundra
The sun shines 24 hours a day here, but unfortunately it has no strength. It creates light but no warmth. The tundra is empty. Nothing moves. No birds, no wolfs, no caribou. Only me.
The end of a journey
After three years of travel I reached the end of my journey. There were no cheers, no welcomes and it was bloody bloody cold but I was satisfied.