America 2017: shots that never made it to the blog

For five months in 2017 we drove across America in our own car, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic and back. Pavel posted the camera shots on the site, and along the way we sent to the family chat the things we snapped in between, whenever we found an outlet and Wi-Fi at a McDonald's. These are those shots: nature, the road, and our camping life.

We cooked on a gas camp stove we had bought back in Nepal. This is what one of our modest dinners in Yosemite looked like.

We spent several days at a campground in Yosemite. We expected our first hike to take three or four hours, and we were out for seven or eight: we crossed the river and climbed up to where few people ever go.

At Fallen Leaf Lake near Tahoe we didn't need firewood: the pine cones there are huge, and we grilled chicken right over them. We burned a pile of cones for three or four hours. We also liked campgrounds for the price: in 2017 a campsite at the lake cost 20 dollars, and a hotel room right there cost 230.

In Lassen Volcanic National Park there was still snow in June. A blue crested jay came to our breakfasts: shy at first, it later started taking food from our hands.

Crater Lake in Oregon is the deepest lake in the USA: it fills the caldera of a volcano that collapsed about 7700 years ago.

After that we simply drove along the Oregon coast, stopping at viewpoints and beaches. The wind there is so strong that the sand dunes are constantly on the move.

In Newport we stopped at a self-service laundromat, just like in the movies. In 2017 a wash cost 2.5 dollars, and drying cost 25 cents. On the road you start to appreciate simple things like a shower and laundry.

In the morning we had coffee on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Most of the time we slept in the car, in the front seats: we got enough sleep, though our bodies got stiff, and nine times out of ten we chose the car over the tent.

After Yellowstone the roads became long and empty. The land along them is fenced off and belongs to farmers: fields and pastures, and on the way to Badlands, nothing but prairie.

On August 21, 2017, we watched a total solar eclipse. The rest area by the highway was packed with cars, and in the field next to it people sat with folding chairs and telescopes. It didn't get pitch dark, more like evening; it got cooler, and the shadows of the leaves on the ground turned into crescents.

The road to Key West runs mostly over bridges between the small islands of the Florida Keys. It feels like you're driving right across the ocean.

In Colorado we once spent the night in a spot full of mushrooms: we picked some and cooked pasta with them for breakfast. The landscapes there look just like Russia.

In Rocky Mountain National Park the road climbs above 3000 meters, and the highest point is about 3700. Breathing is hard up there: any movement leaves you short of breath.

In 2017 we often spent the night on public land: you could pull off the highway a hundred meters and build a fire, and we looked for free overnight spots on a website listing free campgrounds. Once the wind was so strong that Pavel built a wall of stones by the fire. As soon as we had grilled our sausages, the wind died down.

And this is Pavel, who ended up in one panorama four times.

On October 16, 2017, we flew from San Francisco to Phuket.