THE LAST FIVE ... Closing up shop It may be time for a change Entry in the air Still here Music of the moment Or ... BE RANDOM! GOOD READS 101 in
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1998-07-26 - 23:00:10 Las VegasSUNDAY, JULY 26, ST. GEORGE, UTAH � This morning, Karen and Dave took me out to Pt. Vicente Light. Much more like northern California � or even Maine � than SoCal. Then Karen packed up my brownies, I packed up the �Vo, and headed ... east. Kinda neat to be going toward home, but sad to leave Karen, Dave and Jeff � who I didn�t really say goodbye to. The thermometer in Baker was neat � the largest in the world, they say � then I continued on. It said 111 degrees at 5 p.m. Immediately leaving Baker � the self-proclaimed Entrance to Death Valley, lying just south of the actual national park/monument � the road climbs to 4,000 ft. and the heat subsides a little; cooler air prevails up high. It was neat to experience that change � at 6 p.m. from 110 degrees. Somewhere, too, in the eastern California desert, I pass an exit for ZZYZX Rd. � somebody got lazy in assigning names. Or, rather, got a little too creative. Las Vegas suddenly appears around a bend, as the road � I-15 � bisects two mountain peaks. Ahead the casinos and hotels loom, always ready. I exited at the first sign for the Strip, Las Vegas Ave., and drove into Vegas. The New York New York and MGM casinos were the most impressive on that early, southern end of the Strip. I parked a little further down and walked back to take some pictures. NYNY had an entire block set up, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the skyscrapers in the background, serving as the high-rise part of the hotel. MGM just has the huge lion. After my Blimpie dinner all the lights had come on � and everything is lit up. I thought it�d be fun to hang out, stay there, but not so much alone � better with someone. The Mirage was spectacular too. Then, driving out of Vegas on 15, I looked in the mirror to check the lane before switching to pass and saw the city shining in the dark desert like a diamond � a sheet of yellow lights with the Strip rising in the middle disappearing in my mirror as I climbed out of the valley. The desert took on its sweet smell again as I made my way north in darkness � nothing but the head and taillights of other cars to look at. In Arizona, the road climbed through more mountains, which must be quite a sight during the day. At times I saw nothing but the white or yellow roadside reflectors guiding me � if yellow lay ahead, it was a right turn; white meant left, both corresponding to the lines marking the lanes. North and southbound vehicles came and left my view, sometimes straight ahead, other times off to one side or another, above or below me. Shortly after entering Utah I saw the white glow of St. George on the other side of a mountain and pulled in to crank the AC in the room while writing postcards and, now, going to bed. Vegas city lights
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