Catching up - 18/10/2006 to 21/10/2006
18/10/2006 - Lone Pine
Went to a museum of film this morning, which turned out to be a museum of cowboy films. A lot of them were filmed around the location of Lone Pine, using the Alabama Hills which nestle just above the town, this was quite appropriate.
We enjoyed the museum - brought back memories of Saturday morning flicks ('Come along on a saturday morning, greeting everybody with a smile').
In the afternoon we walked in said Alabama Hills and I swear you could hear them thar' bullets ricocheting off the rocks.
We missed our bus ride back (last bus 4:30 p.m.), but were offered a lift by a complete stranger who became aware of our predicament when we were asking about taxis in the local shop - this is yet another example of the generosity we have encounteredd at the hands of the Americans since we have been here. I've got to say that most of my preconceptions about the Americans have been wrong - have found them very helpful, polite and generous - most of them aren't too keen on the Monkey either!
19/10/2006 - Death Valley
Drove to Death Valley today. The temperature was only high eighties today. The highest recorded this year was 127F in July. we were in an area which was 252 feet below sea level - amazingly it didn't seem wet at all.
We met a couple of the most ancient cyclists you could imagine - they were on sit-up and beg city bikes. God knows where they had travelled from as there was something like 100 miles of arid desert between them and the next settlement in every direction.
We arrived in a village named Shoshone just outside of Death Valley and decided to stay there for the night.
Had a swim in their hot tub swimming pool, then went for a 'meal' at the local restaurant. Crowbar - let Rita expand (oh no, she already has), Let Rita tell you more....
20/10/2006 - Shoshone then on to Vegas
Had Breakfast at a different cafe this morning. At first I thought that we had come into an antique shop but then among the artefacts, books, pictures and incongruous
piles of items stacked up we spied tables & chairs. Background music was the type that was Tai Chi medatative type.
When our proprieter arrived he was relaxed, cheerful & then served us the most delicious food which he cooked himself.
This place was in such a contrast to Crowbar. The other end of the spectrum.
Travelled on from Shoshone to Las Vegas (84 miles). Of course, we got lost in Vegas, but after buying a map eventually found our way to the RV site (which was located about 8 miles from The Strip, in what appeared to be a pretty dodgy area. Mind you with all that money sloshing around and all the lost fortunes & lost lives in the City, I should imagine that there are many dodgy areas, peopled by desperados and losers, literally.
Went for a swim in a very cold pool, whilst Rita dipped into the hot tub with an elderly couple from Oklahoma. Apparently they lived in Vegas for six months of the year (oct-Mar)and it looked like they had stacks of dosh.
We came to the conclusion that they came to Vegas for their plastic surgery each year and spent the six months there allowing their bruises & scars to heal.The woman had had so many face lifts that they could not do anymore - next time she was going to have her body lowered!
We prepared for tomorrow's big gambling debut (ok I might have done it once before), by playing a card game called Lexicon with dimes & bottle tops as the stake.
21/10/2006 - Las Vegas
'Ohhhhh Las Vegas, you'll be the death of me, night after night, watching the wheel go round'.
So Saturday comes and today we are going to the Strip. Some dollars have been cashed and Rita's given me $140 spends. Let's see how it goes.
We caught a bus into Vegas (free, because the Bus driver couldn't be @rsed to collect the fares). That was the last freebie of the day.
We arrived at Ceasers Palace & were instantly met by huge banks of flashing slot machines, being played in the main by oversized people with vacant faces. Occasional loud whoops from one area of the Casino would indicate that someone, somewhere had won some bucks.
We wandered down the Strip - each Hotel/Casino trying to outdo each other in it's ostentation.
Leigh's become restless and so it is Rita's voice here now. And so: 'Mornin'Yall' or as they say in some parts, 'How Are You?' (voice rising - doe,ray,mee).
Question mark is academic as they neither want or request an answer. Nevertheless force of habit compels me to reply each time with a demure 'I'm fine thank you'. This exchange is completed by a non-plussed expression on the face of the 'inquirer'.
I have yet to complete my episode on Dining with The Elks but this is on hold for now as I need to catch up a bit chronologically-speaking and as Leigh has started Las Vegas I will complete it. I read somewhere that Las Vegas was Spanish for 'Lost Wages'. It was so apt I ventured to say to Leigh that I was surprised they had been so honest in naming this city that, as everything else about the city appeared to be completely dishonest and besides it is hardly a PR exercise is it? He enlightened me. How naieve am I?
Anyway, 'lost wages' aside, my experience of this place is that I would rather have spent the day at the Derby Evening Telegraph! On the Saturday morning (21.10.06) we arrived at The Strip in the city of sin at 10.30am, after a really promising start of a free busride. I offered the driver a $20 bill and he growled at us to 'Sit down'with a dismissive wave of his hand. Indeed this augured well. Into Caesar's Palace Casino first off as recommended by my hot-tub sharing bathers on the Friday evening.I felt immediately overwhelmed. I was spellbound, this was indeed science fiction. I was out of my depth, an alien, did not speak the language, could not read the signs and felt dizzy, giddy and started to wonder if I had my migraine tablets in my bag. And that was only looking at the carpet. I needed time to summon the courage to look up. Before me was a sea of slot machines, row upon row, sparkly silver screens with the most abject-looking people working them. This area was vast - on the scale of the Grand Canyon - but hey, I heard we live in a world of contrasts, and so we do. And so we do. Everywhere you look was flashing lights advertising every kind of gambling experience. One that struck me as particularly decadent was 'TURN YOUR PAY CHEQUE INTO AN INSTANT $10,000'. I remembered that slogan again as we waited for our bus home that night and saw the beggers and the Depressed. Glenda and Leroy my Friday night hot-tubbers had advised me about which slots were looser, but I decided to give them a miss. This couple explained that they come to LV every six months for the hot weather and the gambling. (He is a farmer). They bring their 2 cha-wow-was (read phonetically as I have no idea how to spell that. What do you think I am, a genius?). Anyways, they look like they've had more face lifts and boob jobs (particularly Leroy) between them than hands of poker. Oh, I digress. Back to Caesar's Palace and the 'slots' loose or otherwise. Once inside, and warding off migraines, it seemed as if we had become encapsulated into some kinda theme park buzzing with dazzling bright lights and giant constructs of Temples and Grecian Gods. Suffice to say I had my flutter on roulette - it was the only thing I understood how to do, and having lost $20 in less than 5 minutes, I quit. Once outside we needed to cross the road, this in itself was a challenge. To cross the road you had to go over a bridge which was accessed both sides by a hotel lobby, a massive area, and guess what? Yup, it was full of 'slots' & poker tables, (actually as I later discovered, so were the local markets and garages - and probably your own private ward in the local hospital!). This city is a hard environment, a nightmare and it erodes humanity and put me in a bad mood, (nowt to do with losing 20 bucks, 'onest!). My love of the place was not enhanced by the fact that we had to cross the aforementioned bridge severally times to get to the east side. Trouble was no one seemed to know which was the east side, least of all us. Trial and error were our guides.
Good night Vegas and never again!
Next installment is the closing episode of 'Dining with the Elks' (I know, I know, you can't wait)but for now I see that Leigh has wandered off so I go in pursuit.
22/10/2006 - Las Vegas to Salignan
Quiet day - drove over Hoover Dam and then into the night (and out of Nevada into Arizona). Stayed at a camp site in Selignan, which used to be on Route 66 (when Route 66 existed). We didn't get too many kicks here. We stayed on a near-deserted site, next to a railway line. There were only occasional trains passing (all freight), but they were about 500 trucks long and consequently took 15 minutes to pass. Still, we slep ok. Grand Canyon tomorrow.
Went to a museum of film this morning, which turned out to be a museum of cowboy films. A lot of them were filmed around the location of Lone Pine, using the Alabama Hills which nestle just above the town, this was quite appropriate.
We enjoyed the museum - brought back memories of Saturday morning flicks ('Come along on a saturday morning, greeting everybody with a smile').
In the afternoon we walked in said Alabama Hills and I swear you could hear them thar' bullets ricocheting off the rocks.
We missed our bus ride back (last bus 4:30 p.m.), but were offered a lift by a complete stranger who became aware of our predicament when we were asking about taxis in the local shop - this is yet another example of the generosity we have encounteredd at the hands of the Americans since we have been here. I've got to say that most of my preconceptions about the Americans have been wrong - have found them very helpful, polite and generous - most of them aren't too keen on the Monkey either!
19/10/2006 - Death Valley
Drove to Death Valley today. The temperature was only high eighties today. The highest recorded this year was 127F in July. we were in an area which was 252 feet below sea level - amazingly it didn't seem wet at all.
We met a couple of the most ancient cyclists you could imagine - they were on sit-up and beg city bikes. God knows where they had travelled from as there was something like 100 miles of arid desert between them and the next settlement in every direction.
We arrived in a village named Shoshone just outside of Death Valley and decided to stay there for the night.
Had a swim in their hot tub swimming pool, then went for a 'meal' at the local restaurant. Crowbar - let Rita expand (oh no, she already has), Let Rita tell you more....
20/10/2006 - Shoshone then on to Vegas
Had Breakfast at a different cafe this morning. At first I thought that we had come into an antique shop but then among the artefacts, books, pictures and incongruous
piles of items stacked up we spied tables & chairs. Background music was the type that was Tai Chi medatative type.
When our proprieter arrived he was relaxed, cheerful & then served us the most delicious food which he cooked himself.
This place was in such a contrast to Crowbar. The other end of the spectrum.
Travelled on from Shoshone to Las Vegas (84 miles). Of course, we got lost in Vegas, but after buying a map eventually found our way to the RV site (which was located about 8 miles from The Strip, in what appeared to be a pretty dodgy area. Mind you with all that money sloshing around and all the lost fortunes & lost lives in the City, I should imagine that there are many dodgy areas, peopled by desperados and losers, literally.
Went for a swim in a very cold pool, whilst Rita dipped into the hot tub with an elderly couple from Oklahoma. Apparently they lived in Vegas for six months of the year (oct-Mar)and it looked like they had stacks of dosh.
We came to the conclusion that they came to Vegas for their plastic surgery each year and spent the six months there allowing their bruises & scars to heal.The woman had had so many face lifts that they could not do anymore - next time she was going to have her body lowered!
We prepared for tomorrow's big gambling debut (ok I might have done it once before), by playing a card game called Lexicon with dimes & bottle tops as the stake.
21/10/2006 - Las Vegas
'Ohhhhh Las Vegas, you'll be the death of me, night after night, watching the wheel go round'.
So Saturday comes and today we are going to the Strip. Some dollars have been cashed and Rita's given me $140 spends. Let's see how it goes.
We caught a bus into Vegas (free, because the Bus driver couldn't be @rsed to collect the fares). That was the last freebie of the day.
We arrived at Ceasers Palace & were instantly met by huge banks of flashing slot machines, being played in the main by oversized people with vacant faces. Occasional loud whoops from one area of the Casino would indicate that someone, somewhere had won some bucks.
We wandered down the Strip - each Hotel/Casino trying to outdo each other in it's ostentation.
Leigh's become restless and so it is Rita's voice here now. And so: 'Mornin'Yall' or as they say in some parts, 'How Are You?' (voice rising - doe,ray,mee).
Question mark is academic as they neither want or request an answer. Nevertheless force of habit compels me to reply each time with a demure 'I'm fine thank you'. This exchange is completed by a non-plussed expression on the face of the 'inquirer'.
I have yet to complete my episode on Dining with The Elks but this is on hold for now as I need to catch up a bit chronologically-speaking and as Leigh has started Las Vegas I will complete it. I read somewhere that Las Vegas was Spanish for 'Lost Wages'. It was so apt I ventured to say to Leigh that I was surprised they had been so honest in naming this city that, as everything else about the city appeared to be completely dishonest and besides it is hardly a PR exercise is it? He enlightened me. How naieve am I?
Anyway, 'lost wages' aside, my experience of this place is that I would rather have spent the day at the Derby Evening Telegraph! On the Saturday morning (21.10.06) we arrived at The Strip in the city of sin at 10.30am, after a really promising start of a free busride. I offered the driver a $20 bill and he growled at us to 'Sit down'with a dismissive wave of his hand. Indeed this augured well. Into Caesar's Palace Casino first off as recommended by my hot-tub sharing bathers on the Friday evening.I felt immediately overwhelmed. I was spellbound, this was indeed science fiction. I was out of my depth, an alien, did not speak the language, could not read the signs and felt dizzy, giddy and started to wonder if I had my migraine tablets in my bag. And that was only looking at the carpet. I needed time to summon the courage to look up. Before me was a sea of slot machines, row upon row, sparkly silver screens with the most abject-looking people working them. This area was vast - on the scale of the Grand Canyon - but hey, I heard we live in a world of contrasts, and so we do. And so we do. Everywhere you look was flashing lights advertising every kind of gambling experience. One that struck me as particularly decadent was 'TURN YOUR PAY CHEQUE INTO AN INSTANT $10,000'. I remembered that slogan again as we waited for our bus home that night and saw the beggers and the Depressed. Glenda and Leroy my Friday night hot-tubbers had advised me about which slots were looser, but I decided to give them a miss. This couple explained that they come to LV every six months for the hot weather and the gambling. (He is a farmer). They bring their 2 cha-wow-was (read phonetically as I have no idea how to spell that. What do you think I am, a genius?). Anyways, they look like they've had more face lifts and boob jobs (particularly Leroy) between them than hands of poker. Oh, I digress. Back to Caesar's Palace and the 'slots' loose or otherwise. Once inside, and warding off migraines, it seemed as if we had become encapsulated into some kinda theme park buzzing with dazzling bright lights and giant constructs of Temples and Grecian Gods. Suffice to say I had my flutter on roulette - it was the only thing I understood how to do, and having lost $20 in less than 5 minutes, I quit. Once outside we needed to cross the road, this in itself was a challenge. To cross the road you had to go over a bridge which was accessed both sides by a hotel lobby, a massive area, and guess what? Yup, it was full of 'slots' & poker tables, (actually as I later discovered, so were the local markets and garages - and probably your own private ward in the local hospital!). This city is a hard environment, a nightmare and it erodes humanity and put me in a bad mood, (nowt to do with losing 20 bucks, 'onest!). My love of the place was not enhanced by the fact that we had to cross the aforementioned bridge severally times to get to the east side. Trouble was no one seemed to know which was the east side, least of all us. Trial and error were our guides.
Good night Vegas and never again!
Next installment is the closing episode of 'Dining with the Elks' (I know, I know, you can't wait)but for now I see that Leigh has wandered off so I go in pursuit.
22/10/2006 - Las Vegas to Salignan
Quiet day - drove over Hoover Dam and then into the night (and out of Nevada into Arizona). Stayed at a camp site in Selignan, which used to be on Route 66 (when Route 66 existed). We didn't get too many kicks here. We stayed on a near-deserted site, next to a railway line. There were only occasional trains passing (all freight), but they were about 500 trucks long and consequently took 15 minutes to pass. Still, we slep ok. Grand Canyon tomorrow.
posted by Leon Trotsky | 5:11 pm
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