Thursday was another wish-fulfillment day. For a long time we promised the children to visit a water park in California. In the land of roller-coasters and theme parks, we hoped for a special experience. Unfortunately, the water parks in California usually open not before may, which was after our departure date. The exception is the "Wet n 'Wild" in Palm Springs, which was already open.

After a short shopping detour we drove to the park and curiously entered it. But either our expectations were just too high, or the parks here really do not offer much. In addition to a wave pool, there was a channel in which you can float with a tube and five slides. All this for over $30 a person seemed very expensive. But we soon recognized the system: for only about $20 more, you could buy a season pass and don't have to pay all season. For residents of Palm Springs that's reasonably priced, for tourists who come only once accordingly expensive. The same was true for the drinks. Basically, it was forbidden to bring anything except water into the park, so also sweet drinks or snacks were forbidden (bags were searched). There were drinks in special souvenir cups, which cost around $ 10. For $ 2 more you could then refill them for free all season. Again, a great offer for repeated visitors, for people who come only once accordingly expensive. Incidentally, the same principle was also used for eating (season combo meal vs. a single meal).

But no matter what, we had a vacation and did not let it spoil the fun for us. So we started to try the first slide. And here we encountered another "problem" of the Americans. The danger of getting into a legal dispute and having to pay massive penalties is very high here. The more stringent are the security conditions, which then affect the visitors. An example: the slide we were standing in queue for was about 20 seconds long. But on was only allowed to start every 60 seconds. So 2/3 of the time the slide was empty to make sure that no one was in danger of getting hit. And the time was not automated. No, there was a Life Guard at the start of the slide and pressed a button, whenever someone slipped. And only then did the 60 seconds begin to run.

As a result, of course, the waiting time was correspondingly long. We were probably in line for about 45 minutes, just to slide once. We didn't really feel like doing this a 2nd time. No idea how the Americans endure this.

But the safety thinking was even more curious: the slides all ended up in a pool. One was about 5m x 10m and a single slide ended there. Every 60 seconds a guest arrived there, got up and left the pool. The rest of the time it was empty. Actually, nothing can happen, right? Well, to be on the safe side there's a Life Guard stationed there. He is not only there, but constantly moves his head up and down while he scans the pool, When he ends at the edge of the pool, he moves his head lowered along the edge, then to start again with the up-down. When we asked an employee, he said that was wanted to give the visitors a higher sense of security. People belief the lifeguard is watching the water better when he makes that nod ...

Well, we really felt sure, but if this nod really made sense? If you want to get an idea of ??yourself, you will find a few video examples (not ours) on YouTube. Look for "Life guard head bob". I do not think this technique is really better than an attentive guard ....

Conclusion: The kids still had fun, we wondered about the Americans ... and the food we got after leaving the park in a Burger King;)