Michael You probably heard it in the news: There was a forest fire in California. However, it wasn't up here in San Francisco, but down in Southern California, more than 400 miles away. Sometimes people forget that California is larger than Germany.

Angelika After the fires in Southern California and an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 with an epicenter near San Jose (about an hour's drive south of San Francisco), another incident tested our nerves: Two weeks ago, a container ship rammed a pillar of the Bay Bridge in dense fog. Surprisingly, the bridge withstood the impact because there is something like a giant cushion around the bridge pillar, a kind of shock absorber for collisions of this type. However, the container ship "Cosco Busan" (not to be confused with Michael's favorite store "Costco") lost 58,000 gallons (about 220,000 liters) of motor oil, which spilled into the San Francisco Bay. It's madness! Unfortunately, the Coast Guard initially underestimated the extent of the disaster, assuming it was 140 gallons instead of 58,000. Quite a significant difference!

Michael Only recently, we finally had the opportunity to visit a national park that had been on our list for a long time, but was so far off the beaten path that we just couldn't bring ourselves to go: Yellowstone. It is half the size of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and extends into three American states: Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Michael Not only careless campers or malicious arsonists start forest fires. They often have completely natural causes, such as lightning strikes or intense sunlight. The fire then renews the forest. The old trees go up in flames, the pine cones fall to the ground, and the heat of the fire releases the tree seeds contained within them, which then slip into the soil and, after some time, allow new trees to sprout.

Michael In Alaska, on a kajak tour ( Rundbrief 05/2006 ), we once had seen bears from a distance. In Yellowstone Park, while driving through the northern parts by car, we suddenly came across a larger crowd of people being kept in check by a ranger. In such cases, there's usually some kind of animal to see, and we looked around curiously. And indeed: On a rather steep slope to the left of the road, a bear was crawling around! I immediately grabbed my camera from the back seat and took a few photos through the windshield, but a ranger was wildly waving her arms, indicating that I should move on and not hold up traffic. We parked a few hundred yards further along the roadside, walked back, and joined the crowd to watch the bear. And there were actually two, a bear cub traveling with its mother, an impressive black bear sow.

Angelika Yellowstone is of volcanic origin and offers a unique worldwide concentration of 300 geysers, as well as bubbling mud pots and hot springs. We often felt like we were in a witch's cauldron, as it bubbled, steamed, and puffed everywhere quite intensely.

Michael Bisons, also known as "buffalos," number about 5,000 in the park. They are quite peace-loving if you don't get too close to them. However, if you breach the recommended safety distance of 60 feet, they quickly turn into aggressive furies that have been known to gore tourists and cause serious injuries. On a hiking trail, we didn't even notice a bison lying in the sand behind a stand of trees until it suddenly stood up when we got too close. We cautiously stepped back, and since there was no way to continue on our path without upsetting the buffalo, we reluctantly turned around.

Michael On the way to Yellowstone, we stopped in Salt Lake City for a day to browse around in our favorite library, the Family History Library of the Mormons. We have already reported on this fascinating collection of books and microfilms ( Rundbrief 11/2006 ).

Angelika On October 31st in San Francisco, not only do children go from house to house to collect sweets, but the traditionally more adult-oriented Halloween party also takes place in the Castro, the gay district. We have already reported on this tradition ( Rundbrief 11/2001 ), which has been maintained for 30 years. Admittedly, the party always gets quite lively, especially as the night progresses. Last year, the city moved the curfew forward to 11 PM for safety reasons.