Palm Springs

Photo: The pack sizes in the U.S. do not necessarily reflect our habits, but as they say in the U.S.: Size matters

(It is now 6.00 am in Palm Springs and the bathroom of the so called "Comfortable" Inn is too tiny to do some push-ups. Frankly, not only to ease - push-ups are my little mid-life crisis. To prove an attempt to me that I have not grown old . Or not sooo old. Up to 47 push-ups - that's a little emotional support when the back or knee is aching and it's cheaper than a BMW convertible and is presumably more family-friendly than a young girlfriend.)

So let´s recap: We move away from LA and on the freeway towards Palm Springs. "Hotel California" by the Eagles match up exactly. After only an hour slow traffic, we really leave LA behind us . In fact we can not assess accurately, because the exits of the freeways show only the street names where they lead to, but in which city the road is located, one can only guess.

Increasingly the desert takes over its traditional rule, which was ripped from her arms with the help of the transported water from the Colorado River. The traffic is dense, in places, but sometimes you can even exceed the speed limit of 75 mph. And I'm not alone - that gives hope for the rest of the trip.

Palm Springs - a traditional name with the flair of celebrities. Meanwhile, it is basically retirement home for the middle class, whose tanned skin is still not leathery enough and besides shelter for tourists as we are. The Palm Canyon Drive offers as much exclusivity as the tourist boulevards in Jesolo and Las Palmas. Souvenir shops, cheap clothing and bars, which spray lots of water steam in the air to cool down some square meters.

It is the land of extravagance and megalomania. The latter shows an evening visit to the supermarket. The packages are at least twice as large as in Europe. Even the toothpaste tube has 250 instead of 100 ml and the jelly bag weighs 1 kilogram. Then, if an article can not be increased as easy as a coke can, the smallest package size is a 6-pack and mostly a pack of 12. 80 dollars at the checkout counter and the idea that instead of two drawers like in our home they need two storage rooms in US homes.

Four (half!) Subway sandwiches round out the dinner, which is in absence of cozy outdoor seating then served in the hotel room. The emerging bloated feeling in our stomachs - maybe because of the likely 97 % share of fat in the sandwich filling - motivates us for a stroll on Palm Canyon Drive. Since it is already about 10pm and due to the diligent work of water evaporator, temperature drops towards the 40 degree mark. Celsius of course.