Today, I made the long trip between Groveland, CA and Las Vegas, NV. I left Groveland at around 7:15am this morning. After driving across Yosemite National Park (which was about the first two hours of my drive), it was quick driving through relatively pretty country. On the way, the main attraction was Death Valley National Park. I started to enter Death Valley at around 11:30am and the temperature quickly rose from 80 degrees or so to peaking at 113. Death Valley is quite majestic to say the least and I wish I had more hospitable conditions (as well as more time) to appreciate the scenery. In the park, I stopped at two overpoints: one just inside the boundaries of the park (when it was just in the 80s) and one at Zabriskie Point in the center of the park, where it was a sweltering 108 degrees. Below are some pictures from both of these points, although I really don't think my pictures do justice to the scenery (much more with Death Valley than with many, if not all, of the other parks):
After Death Valley, it was a pretty quick straight shot to Las Vegas, where I arrived just around 4:00pm. After checking into the Golden Nugget, which is one of the few hotels in Las Vegas that has a check-in age of 18 instead of 21 (which is why I reserved--there were other options that would have been cheaper and perhaps nicer, although I'm not complaining. With taxes & fees, I believe my night will be under $65 in a very nice hotel). The Golden Nugget is located in downtown/Fremont Street, not the Strip. After getting to my room, I went to the discount ticket booth (the Las Vegas equivalent to TKTS) location at the Four Queens, which is across the street from my hotel. I didn't go with a set show that I wanted to see (there were various things I was open to. Although I saw them in New York City 7 years ago, my favored option might have been the 9:30 show of Blue Man Group. A lot depended on price). I ended up going to see a magic/comedy show of Mike Hammer at the Four Queens at 7:00pm, which was cheap (the ticket was $18.35 versus $20-$40 for other comedy shows, $56 for Blue Man Group, and $65+ for Cirque) and well reviewed online. The show was an enjoyable way to spend 80 minutes although I would not say it is a must-see when in Vegas. Between buying the ticket and the start of the show, I went to Tony Roma's at the Fremont Street Casino (in the same neighborhood) for their $8.99 Prime Rib dinner special. The food was perfectly good (and I wanted some red meat not in the form of a burger) but the service was slow (took 15+ minutes for a waitress to take my order).
Following the show, I headed down to see the Las Vegas Strip lit up at night. I had hoped to see the whole strip. However, traffic was so slow due to road work that I only got as far down as the Mirage in the course of over 45 minutes. I parked at the Mirage and explored the Mirage and the Venetian (didn't capture interior pictures--the interior of the Venetian attempts to replicate Venice, and in many ways, it does a good job although nothing can do justice to actual Venice). Seeing the strip lit up at night is impressive (as well as the interiors of both the Mirage and Venetian). I think Las Vegas would be a particularly good place to travel if I was able to gamble (the gambling age is 21 although they don't seem to be checking IDs) and had lots of money to eat well and attend exciting shows. Nevertheless, it was a nice stop.
I'm back at the Golden Nugget now. Tomorrow, I'm planning to hit the pool in the morning (it is surrounded by a fish/shark tank), then take my car to get an oil change, and then head down to Phoenix. Since I'm attending the Netroots Nation convention in Phoenix, I'm spending four nights there (and I have a short drive to Tucson on Sunday) so I'm not as crunched on time as I have been in other places.
Next Stop: Phoenix, AZ
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