On Las Vegas

After leaving the near religious serenity of Death Valley, we headed east towards Vegas. Once out of the park and across the Nevada state line the contrast was shocking. The road houses, gas stations and third rate casinos along the highway have all the charms of a wet fart. My favorite was the truck stop we gassed up at near, well nothing. The market had almost all of its lights shut off and behind it was a honest to god brothel, brothel museum and "trucker showers" located in a double wide. We did not go in there.

As we motored down the highway towards Vegas I was bemused to see how seemingly the whole of rural Nevada seemed to survive on the larges of the federal government. I note bemusement because Nevada seemed to be a state of all tea party nuts. One of the rangers we ran across in Death Valley went on and on about how he had no choice but to home school his six kids because Nevada couldn't take care of its schools and he couldn't go on paying sixty six percent of his pay check for nothing and this government had better get all this debt figured out. The irony that he was a federal employee was seemingly lost on him.

Anyway enough politics, on to Americas Sodom and Gamora. We made our way down the strip towards the MGM where we had a room for the night, gawking all the way. I should note this was the first time to Vegas for Liz and me and the "sights" of the strip were really something to behold. Getting in to the MGM took a lot of work. In fact all of the places there seemed to hide there entraces from the street. You never seemed to head up to their front doors but into some side tentacle that passed you further into the maul of the beast.

What floored me the most about these places were the scales of them all. They were much more like huge airports than hotels. The check in desks like departure counters and all of the hallways lined with Cinnabons and crappy gift shops.

After we washed three days of dust off we headed off down the strip to see the highlights of world culture in hotel form. For niceness, we picked City Center. It was the most "minimalist" of the places there and really felt absurdly appointed throughout without being some theamed monstrosity. We had dinner there at their italian restaurant DOCG and it was great I have to admit.

As for the tackiest place, the Excalibur won hands down. Wondering through it was like wondering through a second rate mall, but everywhere sold booze, everyone was drunk and they put up a thousand slot machines where the food court should have been. A lot of Vegas felt that way. I guess we won't start saving for our next trip back anytime soon. Give me an island shack any day.

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Hoover Dam. Kind of underwhelming in person. It's not nearly as cool as the Grand Coulie Dam in Washington. We paid seven bucks for the honor to park to walk across it admit the tight security, but we weren't about to pay another sixteen bucks just to go in a visitor center. So now we're back on the road, headed towards the Grand Canyon.

I'd post some photos of it all, but you know what Vegas looks like.