Today was almost all wasteland travel, followed by a trip up the strip.

Best Laid Plans

For Day 18 (June 26, 2010) the plan was this:

Today is a long driving day, along the California/Nevada border from Lake Tahoe back to our original launching point, Las Vegas. About the only sight of consequence along the way will be Area 51, which we will pass close to (but not see) north of Las Vegas. Once we get into Vegas, it will be time for Jordan to get his trip tattoo … just kidding – checking to see if you actually read this far…  In actuality, we will be staying at the Emerald Suites a couple of miles south of the Las Vegas strip.

What Actually Transpired

Today was the longest driving day of the trip – yeah! It was also probably the most desolate – there’s pretty much nothing between Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas but desert. One of the bright spots, though, was on US6, where we had 5 miles of “dips” that were more like rollercoaster hills – I was afraid of bottoming out on a couple of them.

We got to Vegas a little bit after three o’clock, and consolidated our stuff down into our two duffels and the extra bag we brought w/ us for souvenirs. We then took a six-hour “stroll” of the south Vegas strip from Mandalay Bay up to Treasure Island and back, with a trip celebration dinner at Outback. We also agreed that Las Vegas is not a place for a solitary person to walk through, and we also identified a number of jobs our daughters will never be allowed to hold.

Tired and thirsty, we stopped at the Coca-cola store and tried their “16 Flavors of the world”. Our thirst was somewhat quenched, but our taste buds were unsettled. Finally, we returned to the hotel and crashed, knowing we’d have to wake up at 3:30 am for our return flight.

Odometer Start: 39834
Odometer End: 4035
Total Miles: 525 miles

Funny/Deep/Odd/Profound Observations

“The coffee demon has come to scald me! It’s gooftastic!” – Mark Driscoll on demon-sensitive folk…

Jordan (spotting Joshua Trees): Are we almost out of the desert?
Chris: Well… We’re almost to Vegas, if that’s what you mean.
Jordan: How much of Nevada isn’t desert?
Chris: (long pause) What percentage of all the pizza you’ve eaten in your life has been dessert pizza?

Pictures

Here’s a link to the day’s photo album and its slide show.