After we left the Grand Canyon today, we booted on out with destinations set for the Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and ultimately Bakersfield. So far we are two for two. As I begin to type we are traveling down CA-58 en route to Bakersfield about an hour away where I can find me some WiFi and put this day to bed. Literally. I am exhausted and want to sleep for like four days. However, as a good friend of mine likes to say “Sleep is for sissies!”
Today’s theme was desolation. We drove through some of the most barren empty, unforgiving looking landscape that we have seen yet. And that is saying something given some of the shitholes we have been through since Sunday.
Over all today was another good day of traveling. As we stated before hiking in the Grand Canyon was unbelievable. That was definitely the highlight of the day as both the Hoover Dam and Vegas were impressive yet left me wanting more. The bummer about Hoover (the Dam not the vacuum cleaner or the former head of the FBI) was that we were unable to secure a good vantage point for the Hoover Dam with out forking over $12 bucks to park for 10 minutes to take 10 pictures. If we had more time, perhaps we could have spent more time there for a tour, etc. but it was not to be as there was road to be traveled. That being said it was intriguing to see the sheer size of everything and try and picture in my head how the hell they made it and put stuff where it was. And to top that off, Lake Meade looked absolutely incredible.
Next up was Vegas which was about 30 minutes away, mostly due to traffic. Almost immediately after getting out of Boulder City proper you could see Las Vegas down on the valley floor. The casinos stuck way out above all else and we could see them from about 25 miles away. There were a couple of thoughts that I had while driving down The Strip – one, I would like to come back here some day when there is time to explore the casinos, catch a show, etc. Do all of the things that make Vegas – Vegas. Well, everything except the prostitutes, marrying a stranger and seeing Carrot Top. The second thought was wondering what the chances were that we could pull off our own Oceans Thirteen type of heist… it would be Oceans Two. Until I realized that we are not master thieves (unless it is WiFi!), we do not have a knack for dressing in expensive tailored suits and we do not have a penchant for poorly executed dialogue. All in all, it took a little more than an hour to drive down the strip and then we bailed to hit the road.
To help motivate us as we headed to California, we sang Sheryl Crow’s “Leaving Las Vegas” a cappella until we crossed the line. Needless to say it took about 10 minutes because really… who likes that song? After crossing into California we drove through… yep you guessed it…. more desert. Although this time, it was a special desert. It was the Mojave Desert. Which provided some great mountain views and forests of cacti as far as the eye could see. It was kind of fun driving through here however, because it reminded me a lot of driving through Vermont. We drove through ridge after ridge with the highway twisting and turning as it wound itself around the various mountains. The only difference of course is that the deep, lush forests were replaced with barren, brown wasteland.
Overall however, I am glad to be in California finally. At the very least tomorrow will bring a real change of scenery and I am looking forward to diving into the Pacific Ocean.
Today’s Stats:
Miles Traveled: 562.5
Overall Speed: 50.3
Moving Speed: 63.1
Max Speed: 86.7
Moving Time: 8:54
Stopped Time: 2:16
Overall Time: 11:10
Number of Times Pulled Over: 0
Number of other Vehicles Pulled Over: 5
Number of Mule Tours Seen: 4
Number of Tumbleweeds Hit on Highway: 1
No comments:
Post a Comment