Las Vegas, Nevada

Monday 17 Aug

Well, here we are in Vegas

everyone a bit freaked by the 3 lane 75mph stream on the way in

a cop cruiser even passed me doing that speed

then there's the traffic through town

I got separated at a set of lights, but the hotel not hard to find, its only a couple of blocks off the Strip.

Its been a hot day, OK starting out from Laughlin at 88deg

but all this afternoon over 100, and up to 108deg.

Went passed what looked like a 100ac solar panel farm

then first stop for a sqizz at Hoover Dam.

Somebody said the water level is 100' below normal for this time of year

traffic was pretty dense, and while we rode over and back, we never walked it to have a look over the deep edge.

More impressive was the new road bridge under construction

Peter sent me some info about it, actually what I'll do is forward the email on to you

the pictures of the dam are better than mine too.

Then it was a quick dive back to the air-conditioned santuary of the Hacienda Casino, top of the hill on the way into Hoover

another stonking multi-course smorgasbord, $8 each, but we chucked in a tenner, unfazed about size of the tip for that price and value

no need for dinner tonight.

Spent a half hour on the phone, couldnt locate a new front tyre for Silver anywhere in Vegas

3-5 day delivery on an order, but we'll be gone by then.

It didnt look it, but I should have replaced it back in Rapid City when the rear one was done.

The bike's shod with Conti Road Attack's, hard compound on the top, and soft around the sides

theory is you get maximum mileage on straight running and better grip round corners.

Whats gone unusual is that I've worn the sides off from too much leaning over stuff and the crown is relatively unscathed

so, if I cant find one in the next town or two, Johnny's going to be doing the last 600 miles to SF fairly slow and upright.

Possibly the hotter tarmac of the last few days might have stripped a lot of the sides off.

These Conti's are relatively cheap here in USA, but dear as blazes back home

my new set on the CB1300 cost over $700 so I wont do that again.

I've done 6800 miles, 10,900 km, on that front tyre

could have expected more than that with my conservative riding.

In the evening its off to our pre-booked Cirque du Soleil Beatles Tribute Love Show at the Mirage

its totally fabulous, a circular theatre

the set's on a sectional floor, the various parts raising and lowering for each scene change

which presents no problem because most of the cast fly in and out on trapeze wires.

4 Lucies literally arrive from the sky, the rest tumble and jump around the floor set

all the while with a background clippage of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, chatting, shyacking, singing, plus soaring nostalgic orchestral.

Its a show where the eye cant possibly see more than a section of the full-on action

you could go and see it 3 times at least

but the seats are small like the Wanganui Opera House, I'm self-trussed like houdini

Johnny's discomfort coping mechanism kicks in, and I struggle to stay awake, oh misery.

The Mirage is a revelation, huge, full scale desert oasis in the atrium inside the front door

a football field of one-arm bandits, and craps, roulette, and blackjack tables

hundreds, maybe thousands, of people in its cool indoors, the air conditioning systems must be humungous.

The queue to get into Love Show, all inside the casino, is 100m long, and is lost in the vastness of the place.

Out on the street its stifling, the neon is ground to sky, wall to wall

Caesars Palace isnt just a palace, its a whole block

and there's a million people up and down, wandering aimless with mammon-glazed eyes

its midnight, the younger set are out

tight, low-cut mini-dressed, but not so appealing faceside.

Richard's hungry so we go find a restaurant, in O'Shea's casino

theyre all the same, huge, thousands inside, 24 hour operations, no windows

heck, being a croupier would be worse than dagging sheep day in day out.

I order a weiner, $6.50, cheapest on the menu

but the side of chips is $6, and the two G&T's are $20, so i walk out $32 lighter..........., plus tip.

Graeme remarks Vegas tips you upside down and shakes you till all your money falls out.

We watch some youngies playing a drinking game

several tables set up, each about 3m long

at each end of the table, set up 8 plastic tumblers in 8-ball configuration

team each end buys a jug of beer, empties it out round the tumblers, 2" in each

the idea is each team gets a throw of a ping-pong ball

get it in a tumbler of the opposing team, they have to drink it

lose the throw if the ball misses and goes on the floor.

Fingers in the beer to retrieve the ball, hygeine not a high priority here!

A taxi driver tells me everything is down this year, hotel occupancy well down and losing money

he's been here 10 years, and still hasnt made enough to leave

another driver is from Guam, been here 3 years

I ask him how he copes without the sea for a boundary, he replies its what he misses most.

Taxis here are the cheapest thing about this place, and fast.

Aint really my sort of town...

So I decide to do a bunk for a couple of days, back up the track, to a place that took my fancy.
On a bit of a whim and a prayer, but it was an adventure, and I learned a few things in the process.

First, to get around USA, and even further afield, try http://www.cheapair.com/,
say where you are and where you want to get to, and it'll give you a list of airlines and prices, cheapest first, put it on your credit card, plus a rental car if you want one, only requirement being you have to book at least 24 hours ahead. 
I get LasVegas - Seattle return for around US$250, and a chance to give myself my daily scare, this time navigating taxis, airports, and freeways in and out of Tacoma.
So, out I head to Brinnon, Olympic Peninsula, on the Hood Canal.
This time its not raining and it reveals itself as a fantastic spot.
At the same cafe, I find the best home-made raspberry cream pie, as one travel site commenter on Google records, "in possibly the whole of USA", but I'd add to that, "in the whole world", the whole lot was melt in the mouth stuff.

Early morning Hood Canal, Mt Rainier middle background

That was lunch....
For dinner I tried a bar about a mile away with a bill-board outside saying "Try our famous Oyster Sandwiches".
Sounds like me...,
and along with the taste-senses bombardment I get to eat it sitting on a back deck over-looking a tidal creek, much like the pic left, where a family of seals, dad, mum, and a pup, are playing in the evening glow, while hummingbirds whirr around the flower-pot honey-jars suspended from the pergola rafters.
Unbelievable......
and even more incredible the American at the table next to me is complaining about his meal!
The local  motel is only $60. I get a first floor room, downstairs in the morning a local community support group are doing meals for the not so fortunate.
In a land that dosent have the same social welfare system we do, it feels great to witness stuff like this.

The motel proprietor talls me there's a waterfall just up the valley, where I find it, and long summer grass in small meadows, fat cattle and cabins tucked under the trees, with a river doing its dappled business on the way past.
I could come back to this place, but carefully.
I've read somewhere you've got greater odds of getting shot by a miscreant hunter here in Washington State, than you'd get if you did a tour of duty in Iraq.

All too soon it was time to go join the busy 6 lane freeway back into Tacoma, and without a navigator or a GPS I get lost. I ask an Indian (from India, been here 3 years) taxi-driver for directions to the rental yard. He looks at me blankly and points to a gateway 100 yards back up the street, I'd just come past.

I nearly miss my flight back to Las Vegas, check-in have misprinted my boarding pass, the plane's waiting for me. The flight steward is a total comedian, keeps us entertained all the way home.
Air Alaska, great way to fly.

Fantastic couple of days adventure for under US$500, I could have done a lot worse at the Vegas casino tables!