First week

Hey kids,

Well, I have been here for a week now and have talked to lot of people about energy. Everyone is interested in what Germany is dong.

I started by driving through a forest with the biggest trees on earth. Look at this one on the left that had just been cut (click on the pictures to make them bigger).

And then I went to a lake that had been almost emptied to give water to the city of Los Angeles, where Uncle Lance and Aunt Dorothy now live. The things sticking out of the water are like the "Tropfsteine" (stalagmites) that we saw in the cave in France this summer. Remember? Anyway, all of these rocks sticking up used to be completely under water. The water there is now saltier than the sea water you swam in this summer when camping with Mom.

The fish can't live in water that salty, so Los Angeles decided to stop taking water from the lake and let it fill up again. But they have to use less water now.

And then I saw these crazy trees that grow right out of the rocks without any soil at all. Those trees must have strong roots! They have learned to grow there over hundreds of thousands of years.

I was then in a place called Bakersfield, where they drill for oil right in the middle of town. You can see the road at the bottom of the picture. The machine in the middle goes up and down, pumping oil out of the ground. This is how we get our gas to put in ours cars in Germany, too. But they are running out of oil now and don't know where to get more.

Then I went to Berkeley, which is one of the best universities in the United States. The professors and students there listened to me tell them what Germany was doing about energy (like windmills and riding trains instead of driving cars).

Then I went to San Francisco, where I am now. There is a big festival here about energy, and I am on a lot of radio shows. Tomorrow, I will even be on television talking about energy!

San Francisco is a crazy town. My hotel is in the middle of a place called Chinatown because of all of the people here who are not only from China but still speak Chinese better than English. Just look at the street just outside of my hotel! There is all of that crazy writing that I can't understand - and what about that tall skyscraper in the background that looks like a pyramid!

I will have to write you some more later. These days, I am only sleeping six hours a day. I walk around town to meet people and go on the radio a lot. But the weather here is good as you can see from the blue sky.

I hope you are both enjoying yourselves even though it is probably colder there. We will have to get the two of you over here to America one day - so you can learn Chinese, too!

Love,

Daddy