Angelika We are known to love traveling and do not tolerate any blank spots on our map. As some of you know, we both met back in the day at a car rental company in Las Vegas and traveled with a spontaneously assembled group of 8 people through the national parks of the American West: Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches. Zion National Park was also on the itinerary back then, but time was running short and a winter storm was approaching, so we only drove through this particular park briefly. I believe we took some photos, but my memory of this park had faded significantly. That needed to change: So, at the beginning of November, we boarded a plane to Las Vegas, stayed for two nights at the MGM Grand Hotel, and then continued from there with a rental car to Zion National Park.

From our room in the MGM, we glanced over at the Motel 6 where my friend Marianne and I had stayed almost 17 years ago. Michael and his college friend Christian had chosen the youth hostel. The MGM didn't even exist back then: typical Las Vegas, the undeniably most surreal city in America, which is constantly changing at a rapid pace. Only one thing has remained constant in Las Vegas until recently: the show of the German-born magicians Siegfried and Roy. You know, the ones with the white tigers. The duo had been performing in Las Vegas for almost 30 years until recently, when a tiger attacked the dark-haired Roy on stage in October and seriously injured him. All of Las Vegas was in mourning when we visited.

But now to Zion: The landscape of the American West has fascinated me since I first saw it in 1987. This may also be because there is nothing comparable in Europe. Zion National Park can certainly be described as a mountain range, but it has nothing in common with the Alps. The gigantic, rugged rocks shimmer in red, orange, and ocher. A river squeezes through the massive canyons. To truly experience Zion Park, visitors must explore it on foot. Of course, that's what we did.

A hike with the poetic name "Angel's Landing" is considered the absolute highlight. It involves a rather strenuous ascent, initially leading to the viewpoint "Scout's Lookout" and then almost a mile over a narrow mountain ridge. I was somewhat surprised that the park brochures vehemently emphasized that the last half mile is not suitable for small children and people with a fear of heights. Arrogantly--despite being quite a coward when it comes to heights--I ignored the warning because I once again thought it was an exaggerated American precaution.

Ha, that lasted until we reached Scout's Lookout and I saw tiny dots in the distance climbing around on a hair-thin ridge: it dropped 1,500 feet on each side. The dots were "daredevil" hikers for whom the word "fear of heights" did not exist. After a feeble attempt to conquer the ridge, I declared Scout's Lookout as my summit after 100 meters. For Michael, who is known to love adventure, there was no stopping. So he conquered the summit, clinging to the chains serving as ropes, while I stayed back with the more faint-hearted souls at the viewpoint, exchanging horror stories. For example, that last year a man pushed his wife off the ridge to murder her after he had increased her life insurance payout.

After an hour, Michael came back safe and sound and showed me a short film of Angel's Landing on his digital camera.

Video: Angel's Landing: Not for people who are afraid of heights

Even just looking at the pictures made me dizzy. When Michael then told me that some hikers were crawling on their behinds at particularly narrow spots to get through, I thought to myself that there's really no point in experiencing everything in person.

On the return trip from Zion, we made a small detour to the little-known Valley of Fire State Park, which is about a 45-minute drive from Las Vegas. A bizarre desert landscape with sandstone formations, including prehistoric Native American drawings, awaited us. The rocks glowed in the most magnificent colors under the Nevada sun. So, dear newsletter readers, if you ever find yourselves in the area and tired of gambling, visit this park - it's an absolute insider tip.

To explore the park extensively, we stayed overnight in the nearby town of "Overton," which, aside from a Best Western motel, a supermarket, and two restaurants, didn't offer much excitement. When we travel through the vastness of America, I'm always amazed anew at the small towns (hey, I'm a city person) where people live. In Overton, it is also notable that it is located in the middle of the desert. Everything was bone-dry and covered with a grayish layer. The question plagued me as to how people can endure it here in the summer when the thermometer rises to unbearable heights.

Owning an oversized car ("truck") with a trailer apparently helps combat boredom in Overton. The trailer usually carries a Jeep-like contraption, which is used to race across the desert landscape. To each their own! Due to a lack of alternatives, we went to a Chinese restaurant one evening and to a diner called "Sugar's" the next for dinner. We immediately stood out as tourists from the big city because Michael wasn't wearing a baseball cap. When he then asked the waitress if they served local microbrews (often very good beers from small breweries), which made me want to sink into the ground with embarrassment, and she looked at him as if he came from mars, we were completely labeled as snobs in the place. It's a good thing no one knew us there.

It was also funny that our first server wasn't allowed to take Michael's beer order. She kindly explained to us that she wasn't 21 yet, but she would be happy to send her older colleague to our table. You remember: In most states in America, you can only buy alcohol at 21. We were a bit surprised that the girl wasn't even allowed to serve Michael his beer, because the state of Nevada--after all, Las Vegas is located here--is generally considered to be quite lenient when it comes to "sinful" behaviors. We only experienced comparable strictness in Utah, the state with an extremely high Mormon population, where Zion National Park is located. Buying alcohol there is similarly restricted as in Finland. For example, in the supermarket, you can find beer but not wine. Back to Overton: The next day, we bought a bottle of sparkling wine and a few other things at the supermarket. A very young person (apparently only teenagers work in Overton) was at the checkout, and as the bottle of sparkling wine almost reached the scanner, the cashier stopped, called her supervisor over the internal intercom, and said that she wasn't allowed to ring up the sparkling wine because she was under 21 ("under age" as they say here). Ahhhh!!!!

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Bail Bonds
  	San Francisco Neighborhoods: Mission
  	Copyright Mania
  	TiVo Hacking
  	Record of the Month: Fountains of Wayne
  	Christmas Stollen on Detour
  	Election of the Mayor in San Francisco