Beauty, speeding and urban clusterf*cks...Otherwise known as the last 3 days in the "Adventures of Eli"
I wish I had written this two days ago when things were so fresh in my mind, but after pushing myself to reach Dallas in 3 days, I got sick, and cranky, and over tired, and I just didn't want to write...or drive, but clearly THAT wasn't an option.
So, today's update will probably be lackluster and short...ok, let's face it, nothing I write is EVER short, but lackluster, well, what can I say? Decide for yourselves.
Wednesday morning, I already mentioned, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise; one I saw from the front seat of my jeep which, by the way, is the only space in my car not taken up by my precious possessions and some other crap. Despite the crazy driving I did to get to the southeast side of Northern California, and in spite of the claustrophobic pretzel position I slept in, I woke up feeling great and ready to tackle the day. Waking up feeling great generally doesn't happen to me so, I took it as a good sign and started to think maybe I was a badass traveler afterall.
Driving through Tahoe was spectacular, which is saying something coming from a girl who has lived much of her life in a place painted in beautiful greens and blues; with massive Volcanoes, capped in snow, sleeping peacefully in front of glistening lakes and tributaries that remind one of Pompeii...well, prior to the lava, ash and decimation; but it's on that scale of spectacular. The rain? We can talk about the rain another day...since it has nothing in common with my Pompeii analogy, and this is my note and my rules.
Out of sheer determination...I seem to have a stubborn streak that can't be squelched...I refused to stop until I'd reached Vegas. I took my time through Tahoe, but once I hit the open road I enjoyed an average speed of about 90mph which, if you're wondering, is really, really FUN. But here's the thing: I don't like driving. I like to get where I'm going as quickly as possible and get off the road. However, I also dislike tickets. After careful consideration a long time ago, I came up with a philosophy to cover both bases: When in Rome, do as Romans do. Come to think about it, maybe I wasn't the one who came up with that philosophy...but, in short, I watch what everyone else is doing and follow their lead. In high school, we called it "tagging". You pick a car that's going fast, and is also in front of you, and follow it's lead. That way, if someone's going to caught in a speed trap it'll be the guy you're following. Anyway, that to say, everyone else was going way faster than I was and, up until I reached Death Valley, the highway had been long and flat and easily maneuverable so it felt safe-ish. Once I hit the twists and turns of Death Valley, I had to re-evaluate my technique...also, my Jeep isn't so efficient over 90 with 4 tons of books in the back...
My only disappointment was not being able to drive through Death Valley in the daytime. Not that it wasn't an adrenaline rush trying to make it through DV in the dark, but I was looking forward to taking pictures and enjoying the vastness of what looks like a lot of nothing until you get up close. Even in the dark though, it's still pretty intense. It was also the first chance I had to really enjoy the stars. If my car roof hadn't been covered in dirt and pitch from home and travel, I would have climbed up on top and indulged my love of stars...but I didn't want to get dirty. I guess I could've laid down in the road to do some star gazing, but the desert, already being intense, is also pretty creepy when you're there by yourself.
Had I realised just how long it would take me to get through Death Valley and on into Vegas, I probably would have come up with an alternative. But, that stubborn thing, being what it is, I pushed my way through Day 3 even though it meant stress on my cold ridden (still not sure whom to thank for that...) body which was already angry after being in one position for so damn long, ridiculously over-priced gas mid-desert ($5/gallon! I felt violated,) and more crazy sleep deprivation which, on a good day, anyone can tell you, does a number on me. I was pretty exhausted by the time I finally reached a tolerable hotel, and not very happy about it.
The worst part about my jaunt to Vegas though, was Vegas itself. I know what they say...it's the city that never sleeps, where people come to see vastly over-priced shows (even putting Manhattan to shame,) to gamble away junior's college fund and...well, they DO call it "Sin-city"...with "sin" being a euphemism for fun of a sometimes sordid sort. But, seriously? Who the hell designed that clusterf*ck?!? I felt like I was driving through a life-sized version of a 5 year old's Simcity or Lego town. I suppose it makes sense in a jejune way...but when did school children start designing urban landscape? Utterly annoying. Trying to find a Starbucks was like looking for a needle in a stack of other needles...and then fighting the inane road construction (for which I never saw a single ACTUAL contractor or giant contracting machine in action) that left mile long, single file back ups on what COULD be 4 lane (8 if you count both directions) roads, drove me mad; pardon the pun. I'll never go back. Not even for the cheap buffets.
On my way out of Vegas though, it was as if beauty herself beckoned: Lake Mead is the ONLY redeemable portion of greater Las Vegas. See picture above. Cheers, kids...
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