As part of our road trip in the end of September, I managed to check off a couple of items from The List:

#4. Go on an American road trip.

With visits to four states (Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona) and 4000 kilometers (2485 miles) in a white Ford Explorer, I think we can safely call it an American road trip.

#48. Fire a gun at a gun range.

We went to Safe Shot Indoor Range on a Sunday, gave them some money and got a wide range of guns: A Smith & Wesson 686, a Beretta 92FS and a Heckler & Koch SL8. Klas also went nuts with an M16. If we’d been American citizens and Nevada residents without any prior run-ins with the law, we could have walked out of there with a legally bought fully automatic rifle within 25 minutes. Crazy.

#56. Go on a helicopter ride.

The helicopter ride was the classic Grand Canyon tour. We thought we were flying out from Las Vegas, but when we checked the address we were flying from the day before the ride, we realized we were actually flying from the South Rim on the complete opposite end of the Canyon. This meant we had to get up at five in the morning, drive 400 kilometers (250 miles) for the 25 minutes helicopter ride and then 400 kilometers back to Las Vegas. But it was totally worth it, and we on the way we stopped by Bearizona: Bison, Black Bear, Dall Sheep, Big Horn Sheep, Mountain, Goat, Arctic Wolf, Gray Wolf - and everything the American way; without even leaving the car.

We spent a lot of time in Nevada and three days in Las Vegas, so I could have completed #49; try my luck at the roulette table, as well. I had grand plans, but in the end it turned out I wasn’t able to put my money where my mouth was and I chickened out. That said, I still plan to live for quite some time, so maybe one day I’ll give it another try.