Colorful Las Vegas

We cruised along at 67 m.p.h. toward Las Vegas at 8:30 a.m. "Granted, the speed limit is 70 m.p.h., but everyone is passing me," said Andy. Not so, the other direction. Moving at the same speed but in a heavy stream, the vehicles were a mere car length apart going 70 m.p.h. "They're crazy drivers," said Andy. He commented about the tailgaters, a new pet peeve since we started this trip and a driving peculiarity he had not resented so much back East.
The weather channel alerted listeners to blizzards in Spokane and Salt Lake City, heavy fog in Seattle and storms around Cleveland. We had deep blue skies with a few white clouds lining mountain peaks on the horizon. "Cold and clear," Al Roker had predicted. He was right. He was also right about the 60 m.p.h. winds.
The road climbed to 4,120 feet. Covered with snow, Charleston Peak in Nevada stood out behind the treeless crags of the Clark Range. All around us the flat plateau supported only sage and creosote with an occasional spindly Joshua tree at the higher elevations. "It's really beautiful through here," said Andy. "The rugged mountains make gorgeous pictures." We pulled off Route #15 for photos. Every step threatened danger with broken bottles, glass and plastic litter covering the ground. At 4,700 feet yuccas intermingled with more Joshua trees. "I'll take the panoramic view any day here," I told Andy.

"Well," he said, "people can be slobs, and no one has cared for that exit off the highway. It's sad, but it shows we have a ways to go with environmental education."

Thanks to the help of Joy and Katherine and a pleasant half hour perusing fliers at the Nevada Welcome Center in Primm, we collected travel information for the area and lots of special deals for Las Vegas. When we tooled back on the road at 11:00 a.m., the traffic heading west crawled bumper to bumper. "That's Californians going back to work for Monday morning," said Andy. Fifteen miles later we zipped along, Andy holding the steering wheel with both hands to counter the cross wind gusts and steady Little Red, but traffic going the other way still inched bumper to bumper, with overheated vehicles parked, hoods up.

If after Thanksgiving to Christmas is the slowest time of year in Las Vegas, the city shows no dearth of visitors. Streets jammed in spite of the blustery weather (high of 45 degrees with 25 m.p.h. winds), lines waited to check in hotels and slot machines clicked away. Bundled up, we walked the streets, stopping at the attractions, checking out shows, picking up "deal" circulars. Indoors the Fire and Ice display at Caesar's Palace in the Shopping Forum drew the usual crowd. Later in the evening we returned for the free Bacchus animated show in the mall.

That was only after Treasure Island's Sirens cancelled due to extreme winds. Waiting outside for the performance, we missed the Mirage volcano eruption.

Window shopping in the Venetian, I pointed out all the luxuries I didn't need and many things I didn't want. The Bellagio conservatory disappointed more than a few people since Christmas decorating in progress kept visitors out, but we snapped pictures of some remaining harvest displays in the lobby from Thanksgiving. Gorgeous!

"I've never had a bad time in Vegas," said Andy. "And now we have already collected a few more colorful memories."