Michael The second half of our annual vacation (1 week) was spent in the deserts down by San Diego. Within California, you can fly around very cheaply, so the flight from San Francisco to San Diego, about 800 kilometers further south, and back costs only about 100 dollars per person. The weather there is a bit warmer; in San Francisco, it tends to rain in the winter, and although the temperature here rarely falls below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, we prefer it to be really sunny. We regularly buy the Süddeutsche Zeitung along with the "Magazin" from our "Pali" (as Angelika always calls the Palestinian newspaper vendor around the corner) every Friday, and Angelika had read there that in a small desert town called "29 Palms," there are not only 29 palm trees but also a nice motel that rents out small cottages with fireplaces and such.

Occasionally, illustrious figures from nearby Palm Springs, who have grown tired of the whole jet-set scene there, hide out in the cheap lodging for a few days to laze around without being recognized by anyone--because the dull folks living in this end-of-the-world area probably wouldn't even notice if Madonna and Dennis Rodman (for the older folks: Madonna is a pop singer and Dennis Rodman a basketball player with green hair) strolled arm in arm through the streets. Unfortunately, we didn't spot Cindy Crawford in a worn-out tracksuit or Steven Spielberg in swim trunks, but Angelika thought that an elderly gentleman who was lurking around the bar in the evening was a famous director, though she couldn't recall his name.

Anyway, we had our fun exploring the deserts in our legendary hiking boots during the day and inhaling the remarkable air, which lacks any moisture and smells distilled--the mountains surrounding the desert area block any rain, and the sun shines about 364 days a year. Nevertheless, various types of thorny bushes and cacti thrive there, which are nice to look at--though not to touch. There are said to be plenty of rattlesnakes too; we didn't see any, but one evening it seemed to us as if we heard one rattling away in the distance. Kssssrrr! Kssssrrr!

On the way to a rather rocky area at the foot of a mountain, where we had hoped to find a waterfall according to the travel guide, we came across a sign warning of mountain lions. Indeed, these not entirely harmless animals are quite common here in America. We were aware of reports that even near San Francisco, in Berkeley, a jogger was recently attacked by a mountain lion that had wandered into the city.

I must digress briefly here, because when we mentioned this topic to our motel host and I remarked that these lions had probably become city lions, the host interjected that they would no longer growl but only shout "Hey, Baby!" Back to the wilderness: From previous visits, we knew that if you encounter a mountain lion, you should make yourself appear large, wave your arms, shout, and throw small stones--and if attacked, never fall to the ground but stand upright and fight the animal--and always hit back hard! This is not a funny joke; it was actually stated in a brochure from the visitor center.

So, after passing the warning sign on our hike, we grabbed sticks and I picked up a rock, and we continued on our way. The path deteriorated noticeably, becoming narrower, and we had to push aside some thorny bushes to get through. When we finally reached a sort of oasis with palm trees, where a small stream flowed and we climbed a few rocks, we heard a suspicious rustling in the bushes and shortly after a loud splash, as if a medium-sized animal had jumped into the water.

That was too much for us, and we made a hasty retreat. Due to our rush, we pushed back the thorn branches rather carelessly, resulting in a few minor scratches, but eventually, we reached open ground without a rendezvous with a mountain lion. And "Hohoho! Hohoho!" echoed from the bushes in the distance--no, I made that part up, but the rest is true, really true!

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	German food in the USA
  	At AOL Headquarters
  	The German accent when speaking English
  	"You've got Mail"
  	"Perl Power" -- Go to Perl in English
  	Sales tax and mail-in rebate
  	Christmas tree in San Francisco
  	Getting connected to the Internet
  	Planning a Visit to Germany
  	Power Outage in San Francisco
  	New Year's Eve on the Bay
  	A Year In Review