Indian Wells

That's it - I am getting into the rhythm of long week-end excursion trips again! Switching continent does not change the good old habits. Still, there are several differences with doing long week-ends in the USA as opposed to in Europe: the jet-lag, the same shops/business and the same language across the continent, the 5-lanes freeways. From Los Angeles, it is a three hours drive to Indian Wells. For the first time, I use a GPS and it is certainly not more efficient than the good old maps. This instrument even manages to make you to exit a freeway, when you are in the middle of the desert... This GPS is no competition for my sixth orientation sense!
The trip to Indian Wells led us to the Master tennis tournament. Federer and Nadal played against Djokovic and Del Potro respectively. Great players and great games!
Since this blog is not a history book, you can check the final scores in your newspaper or online.
The stadium is very modern and I must admit that the spectators behave better than in Washington. The vibe is good, but it is not as passionate as in Europe. Very few flags, and of course the rowdiest supporters are the ones for Djokovic. Federer remains the crowd's favorite.

Besides the tennis tournament, Indian Wells/Palm Springs is mostly a recreation oasis and a place for retired people. So when we hit the tennis court, we were asked to play doubles against 70 year olds. Hard to believe, but we almost lost... thankfully I managed to compensate my teammate's mistakes. There are also three nice canyons. I am not going to say how long ago I visited these same canyons, but they have not changed a bit - and I have not changed a bit too, right!

Well, the canyons have changed, but it is just because of the season. This time there is lots of water running down the small streams.
Back in Los Angeles, I stopped at Venice Beach. It is a huge beach, where cool people hang out. Nice to see and touch the Pacific Ocean. But facing the wide ocean here is not the same feeling of remoteness, adventure, openness and unknown as in Sagres/Portugal or Cape Agulhas/South Africa. Maybe because LA is not the end of "my" world. But most probably because of the planes flying out of LAX airport.