Walmart, a huge supermarket chain allows (that is what they confirm on their website) overnight stays on their parking lots. The idea that those who sleep there, shop there too, probably materializes in most cases. In truth, the free overnight spaces are extremely practical when transiting a place. What goes on during those Walmart evenings and nights could fill books.

We divide the Walmart parkings into two categories: the beautiful and tidy ones that attract a dozen or more campers a night and the shabbier, run-down ones.

The former often resemble small campgrounds. Huge RV buses extend their motor homes putting out their slide outs, running their noisy generators to operate their TV sets and washing machines and taking their dogs for a walk on the car park lawns. Some stay in the same spot for days, even weeks.

Many Americans have lost their homes during the current economic crisis and have permanently moved into their RVs. Others are less fortunate and end up sleeping in the driver’s seat of their cars or with their children in the back of their pickup trucks with a plastic sheet stretched over their bodies for protection.

On the Walmarts of the rougher areas, we almost obligatory meet at least one person who talks to him or herself, lost in a different world, and one person searching the bins for useful remains, a bitter mother who yells at her children with a rather bad language and someone who is trying to sell a vehicle. Recently, homeless and unemployed joined the Walmart parking crew. You see them sat down at the entrances holding a piece of card in their hands “looking for work, no matter what”. Fathers with their children, elderly and former managers: it can hit anbody.

At the Walmart in downtown Tucson, we watched a shoplifter being chased with a lot of shouting. Another time we were torn out of our sleeps by remote control cars. After all, a nearly empty supermarket parking makes a great testing area for such toys. In a military base town we were awoken by machine gun fire; obviously a nearby night exercise. Once a strange man stalked us and once an extra friendly security guard visited us for a chat. One even apologized to us for the inconvenience of the noise due to the nearby railway line.

Recently, in California, we were torn out of a deep sleep at 1o’clock in the morning. The unfriendly voice came from the parking megaphones and demanded everybody who was present to leave immediately. Otherwise we would be taken to court. The next morning we found out why this particular Walmart took such drastic measures. Apparently, more and more homeless people moved to the parking lot and brought a not to be ignored amount of problems with them. When a woman tried to sell her baby for 20 Dollars, the local government stepped in and stopped the overnighting.  

More and more Walmart supermarkets place signs to prohibit overnight parking. It’s inconvenient to us and many others, but who can blame them?

If we had to choose a favourite state of the U.S.A. it would probably be Oregon. A state of which we knew very little, its wild natural beauty and friendly people won us over in no time. 

Oregon. To us, the drive through this state in the North West meant dense forests, breathtaking snow mountains, wild rivers, digging for fossils and roasting marshmallows. Desmond could finally take off his plaster in Oregon and the boys had their first experience with bowling.

Snowy peaks.

Lots of farm land.

The Crater Lake.

Beautiful hills.

Fun at bowling.

Lenny looking for fossils.

Hell's canyon.

Frozen joghurt delight.

Pyramid mountain.

Marshmallows on the fire.

Two rainbows.

Soooo beautiful.

The snake river.

We chose the road up to Oregon’s Crater Lake out of a gut feeling. The place seemed to jump out at us from the map. What expected us at arrival was thick fog (where on earth is the lake, we wondered) and a lot of snow. So we tried again the next day and drove on the so called Rim Road, surrounding the crater. And that’s when we knew that our gut feeling had not deceived us! What a sight, what a lucky day.

The very high volcano Mt. Mazama erupted about 7700 years ago. A huge explosion covered eight American states and three Canadian provinces with ash: 150 times more ash than when Mt. St. Helen erupted in 1980. Then, the volcano collapsed in itself and slowly the crater began to fill with water. The lake is a closed eco-system; no stream flows in it or out of it. The Crater Lake is the deepest lake of the U.S.A. and the seventh deepest (and, so we read, the cleanest as well) in the world. Look for yourself:

Clark’s Nutcracker

Foggy first evening.

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

They are much more than just impressive, the redwood trees. Words like “majestic”, “pure” and “strong” fit, but don’t give a good enough picture. The giants are spiritual, sacred, energy giving and if it wasn’t for the many cobwebs clinging to the reddish bark, I would have hugged every single tree that put itself in front of me.

A very long time ago, the redwoods covered nearly the whole northern hemisphere of the planet. Today, they can only be found in California and a few places in Oregon. The coastal redwoods are the highest in the world; they grow as high as a thirty storey building. Some of the giants are 2000 years old. Their allies are the fog and the wet climate of the pacific coast, as they are not only necessary for a healthy growth, but those weather factors are also responsible for keeping a damaging urbanising away from the area.

Look at little Alfie...

It’s called Route Number 1, the narrow road, which snakes along the coast. Curve after curve and each view even more spectacular and dramatic.

Colourful wild-flowers, sacred redwood trees, foamy Pacific waves and steep cliffs. Lazy sea-elephants, cheaky squirrels and beautiful birds. And… what is even more of a priority to us at the moment… cool sea air. Mysterious fog in the mornings and sunshine during the afternoons.

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