Day 27: Vegas
We have 5 days to get home. Here we go. 10 out, 5 back. This will be a doozy. We head out into the desert. For the next 4 hours to Vegas, it’s a traffic jam. Sometimes we stop, bumper to bumper, in the Mojave, at 107degF. (Stay off freeways to stay sane!) But we do get to roll down through the amazing Red Rocks Canyon area just before Vegas. That’s a lovely stretch of big road. I recall being blown away by it when driving the other way for the first time. After nasty Vegas comes this soothing natural wonder with a gently twisting freeway. It’s not a big canyon and only about 10 minutes long, but it’s shady, cool, red and rocky. A great entrance back to the desert when you’ve just been assaulted by Vegas. We see an insane casino billboard that says “Remember when gambling used to be about winning?” Huh?
We blow by Vegas. From the road, it does look pretty amazing. I usually slowly cruise the old downtown when coming through, and stop for a cheap steak, an eyeful, and a few bucks of lever pulling. No time this time. But the new buildings actually look pretty cool. During some slow time of year it would be neat to stroll around.
I remember once driving across all that desert from Denver to Vegas and getting to a big multi-hour stretch of nothing. (Or was that Reno?) After awhile, I passed a pretty dark-haired girl. I just had to socialize. So I got a good tape out, slowed down, she passed me back, then I slowly passed her again, driving from the passenger side, then I waved, reached out and handed the tape to her. She waved, rolled down her window, and took it. (GulpSteely Dan.) I sped off. A half hour later she came rolling past me, weaving a little and reaching out with a tape, one of hers. Good listening. (UhVan Halen, I believe.) An hour later, I went past her again and passed her a note and she gave a thumbs up and in Vegas we had dinner. A nice way to make time go by across a desert.
