In America, in the Rocky Mountains, I saw the only reasonable method of art criticism. In a bar above the piano hung a sign: “Do not shoot the pianist — he is doing his best.” Oscar Wilde On the morning of September 9th, we woke up at 3 a.m., packed our tent and belongings, and since no one from the campsite administration had arrived, we got into the car with peace of mind and left. Since our tent was a 2-person one, the girls slept in the car, which is also a pretty good option. In general, if you are going on a long trip, it is best to leave early in the morning, specifically at 3-4 a.m. 3 a.m. is better. A person's best sleep is from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., and it is truly better to sleep during this time. During these 5 hours of sleep, you can restore your strength for the whole day. Leaving in the evening is not a very good option, as you will most likely fall asleep at the wheel. So, we left at 3. And according to the old scheme — 2 hours for me, 2 hours for my brother. And we talked constantly so as not to fall asleep. That’s how we drove for about 5 hours. Then, at one gas station, we discovered a pretty decent Texas diner and decided to eat there. What I especially liked about the state of Texas is the people. Everyone is very hospitable and treats tourists well. While we were having breakfast at the restaurant, almost half the people in the room got to know us. In the end, we took a group photo and drove on. And soon enough, we left the state of Texas for the state of New Mexico. It got even more interesting after that. We drove into the city of El Paso. This is a legendary city on the border of the USA and Mexico. The American part of the city is called El Paso, and the Mexican part is Juarez. I once read on the internet that Juarez is recognized as the most criminal city on the planet. Constant drug cartel wars are waged there, which is why innocent people die. That's how it is. The border between the two states runs almost in the center of the city. And from Interstate 10, you can see poor Mexico very well. Also, there are a lot of Border Patrol agents in New Mexico. It feels like there are more of them there than regular cars. At the exit from the city, we were stopped by border guards at a random checkpoint and ordered to get out of the car and show our passports. They checked the trunk of the car and our visas, and asked where we were going. We honestly answered that we were students from Ukraine and were going to California for a vacation. It wasn't hard to believe, since by that time our car was already quite decorated with abbreviations of different states on one side and a huge inscription “Cali TRIP” on the other. In short, they smiled at us, wished us a happy journey, and let us go. I was also curious about what the US-Mexico border looks like, so we drove to the checkpoint itself. Nothing special, I tell you. An ordinary 2-story building and a few patrol cars near it. And I thought... There is also a wall about 2 meters high, red in color, separating the two states. I once heard a myth that there are a lot of illegal immigrants running around near the border, dirty, with plaid bags on their shoulders. We didn't see a single one. Apparently, they run at night. On such a wave, we drove through New Mexico. Here, in the desert, we began to feel the lack of gas stations. Before, they were practically every 20-30 miles. Here, you could drive 100 miles and not see a single one. It is a desert, after all. Next – Arizona. The last state before California. We all always associated Arizona with cacti. I especially wanted to see big ones, 2 meters high, like they show in movies. But here we were disappointed. There are NO cacti there. Big ones, for sure. Having already passed the state capital, the city of Phoenix, we saw a small area where cacti grew, fenced with barbed wire, of course. But unfortunately, only small cacti grew there. And, oh miracle, we saw one big one. I still managed to photograph this legendary spec
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