We flew with Spirit Airlines. It wasn't for nothing that they joked about it in Family Guy :) The ride was unbearably uncomfortable, my legs kept going numb, and there was very little legroom in front of the seat. But for the sake of saving an extra hundred dollars, one could endure this relatively short flight.
You won't see this back home
If you ask me what the West is like, I'll answer in one word: different. The nature there is completely unlike ours, the people have a different character (we even met cowboys), and the average temperature felt higher.
Las Vegas airport greeted us with a bunch of slot machines. As it turned out, that's their thing. Machines are everywhere there. Even if you go into a grocery store, you can play the one-armed bandit.
On the plane, my travel companion lost his camera, and we spent the first hour searching for it and contacting all the authorities. He might have left it in the plane's restroom, but it was nowhere to be found now. It's a pity about the lost photos, but it's good that most of them were backed up just in case before the trip.
Tip: keep a close eye on your belongings and store photos in cloud services. Even if you lose your electronics, the most painful thing would be losing the captured memories. They are priceless.
Having given up hope of finding the camera, we went to get our car. A very good person helped us rent it, a seasoned "J-1" participant who had taken part in the exchange program 4 times. With his premium accounts and various discounts, the car cost us very little. Huge thanks to him; without him, we would have had to squeeze into a tiny box for the same money.
Our ride
Instead of birch trees, there are cacti and palms here
In the evening, we checked into a house via Airbnb and went for a walk around Vegas. All the activity in the city happens in one place called the Strip. There are heaps of hotels, casinos, and other things there. All the fun of Vegas is there.
Tip: book accommodation in advance. As we saw later, on weekends and holidays, the cost of the same accommodation increases by 2 times.
The next day we went to the same place. On the street, we met a granny kindly handing out some flyers. I thought: "How great that a grandma is working at such an age." But the flyers contained 18+ content, and she was likely making some serious money.
The Strip
In Vegas, you are only allowed to gamble from the age of 21, but that didn't stop us. Too many unattended machines. I walk up to a machine, insert 1 dollar, and press the button. Lost. Okay, let's try again. Lost. And again. And again. After losing 4 dollars, I decided to try one last time. The machine beeped happily, and the balance showed 5 dollars. That's enough! Time to stop. The machine issued a voucher, which I went to cash out at an automated kiosk.
Life is good
Emil – 1, Vegas – 0. Feeling like a winner and master of life, I got away from the machines before it was too late.
And there was so much talk
Next, we went to a place that changed my life. I had never felt happier.
This place was the fountains in front of the Bellagio hotel, which started their show every half hour. Watching these dancing fountains, and also feeling the whole atmosphere of what was happening around me, I just couldn't feel happier. This memory still makes me think and smile involuntarily to this day. Be sure to visit there and see it with your own eyes! The whole trip, all the years of preparation were worth these 10 minutes.
It was incredible
After Vegas, I didn't need anything else, but it was time to move on. The next stop is the Grand Canyon.
And as per tradition, no matter how hard we tried to get there before evening, we arrived just as it got dark.
Late, but beautiful
We had to search for and book the nearest hotel at more or less affordable prices. There were no vacancies anywhere, and we ended up in some obscure place dozens of kilometers away.
We drove there for a very long time. The hotel looked very mediocre, and there were also problems with payment and room keys. While we were sorting things out, not everyone in our group could stay standing :)
I hope Vika doesn't see this photo :)
Deluxe Room
This is what our room looked like. The TV didn't work, the bathroom was terrible, but it was fine for sleeping for 1 night.
The main thing was to get some sleep to set off to see the canyon with renewed vigor!
Tip: don't try to sleep in the car. I tried to save money and stay there for 1 night, but I couldn't get any proper sleep at all. Moreover, I caught a cold, and in the morning I felt disgusting. I had to spend time and money on treatment, and this was happening during our travels!
In the morning we returned. The canyon looked stunning. It's impossible to convey how huge it was. A helicopter would have been very useful to look at these giant forks, lowlands, and mountains from above. In such moments, you just want to freeze and look ahead, never leaving this place.
You definitely won't see this back home
The viewing area was limited by a fence, but would that stop our student?
Having admired the beautiful views to our heart's content, we headed to the next point. Death Valley was waiting for us ahead.
Even as we approached it, we were hit by hot air. Knowing what temperatures can be there, we stocked up on a huge amount of water. And we didn't miscalculate: it was very hot there. Water was being consumed at a catastrophic rate.
Death Valley itself reminded me of another planet. It seemed like we were on Mars: deserts all around, no vegetation or wildlife, no water at all. Only a couple of dried-up salt lakes. Yes, and the temperature is off the charts. And also silence. Have you ever heard silence? It's probably even hard to imagine. When we went down into the lowland to the salt lake, it felt like I had gone deaf. You couldn't even hear a breath of wind (which wasn't there anyway), and a crushing silence reigned in the place.
On another planet
After Death Valley, it was very pleasant to see green trees and bushes. Not very far away was a place that was radically different from where we were now.
Yosemite National Park (or simply Yosemite) was full of greenery, mountains, and waterfalls. I would have gladly stayed here with tents for a couple of weeks, but we had less than a day for this. This is another place that I added to the list of places to revisit.
Wonder how to get to the other side
Good for a painting
The next step was San Francisco. It greeted us with cold, wind, and fog.
The roads were very surprising, and how do they even drive there? They go sharply down, then sharply up, as if you are riding a roller coaster. By the way, during our time in San Francisco, we didn't find a single free parking space.
I really liked the exhibition of sculptures and paintings. Now I can't remember exactly what was depicted there, and taking photos at the exhibition was forbidden. But looking at these sculptures, I could say with confidence that I saw real art.
Naturally, we also visited the Golden Gate Bridge. It's just a pity that the weather wasn't sunny; it must be even more beautiful there.
Golden Gate
And also in San Francisco, people dressed quite funnily. Looking at them, only one word came to mind: hipsters. It was surprising that even homeless people begged for alms in fashionable clothes.
Not far from San Francisco
Then we headed to the last point on our route – Los Angeles.
I really liked LA. It is there that you can fully feel the difference between our countries, the East of the USA, and the West Coast. Walking along the streets of Los Angeles, I felt detached from all past problems and constant bustle. A feeling of lightness and serenity filled me, and it seemed as if nothing in the world could hurt or upset me.
It's incredible to lie on the beach in complete relaxation and not think about anything. Even a couple of hours were enough for my brain to completely reboot. I remember lying under the scorching Californian sun, thinking that very soon I would be back in gloomy and gray Belarus, start dealing with university, and then distribution and the military enlistment office awaited me. Ugh. Why couldn't we lie there forever?
After lying on the beach, we decided to go to Hollywood and look at the famous sign. On the way, we popped into Beverly Hills. Everything around looked rich and even a little unnatural. Unusual houses with completely different architecture, a bunch of expensive cars, and people walking around in semi-formal outfits.
Residential house
It was not easy to get to the sign itself. If you follow the signs, you will end up at an observation deck where everything is visible quite well, but "Hollywood" can only be read with 20/20 vision.
After winding around a few circles, we found a decent spot. I would have liked to be closer, of course, but this was not bad either :) Especially since time was inexorably slipping away, and there was still a lot to see.
Finally, we reached you, Hollywood
We didn't bypass the Walk of Fame either. It is just a long street, the sidewalks of which are dotted with stars. Finding the ones you are interested in is not so easy, because in total there are about 2500 of them.
Hollywood, near the alley
When we returned to the car, an unpleasant surprise awaited us. There was a fine for illegal parking on the windshield. We didn't see any prohibition signs, so we decided to go and sort out the situation. We were explained that we stopped near a red curb, and you can't park there. We had no chance of noticing it! So here is another tip for you.
Tip: pay attention to red curbs and don't park near them so you don't have to spend your hard-earned money on paying stupid fines.
By evening, the girls in our group wanted to visit the house where Charmed was filmed. I didn't watch this series and didn't share the enthusiasm, but since they want to so much, why not? :)
Something to be proud of? :)
The next day was the last one of our happy vacation, so we decided to return to the beach. It was too pleasant to lie there and not think about anything. I wanted to stretch this day as long as possible, and the beach was perfect for that, helping to enjoy every minute.
This character is not yet unlocked
I really didn't want it to end, and I felt sad in my soul. But there's nothing you can do, all good things come to an end. We parted with our car, which had become dear to us during this period. We hugged goodbye and went our separate ways to the planes. New York and the Statue of Liberty, which had slipped away at the beginning of the summer, were waiting for us ahead.
