Scott's Vintage in California: Post 10. Ready to let the Dogs Out? Pt 1

Hi All,

The answer to the above question (a Hangover reference to those who havnt seen the movie)? Hardly. I decided before I came to the U.S that Las Vegas was a place I wanted to see, even briefly. I knew I couldn't afford to spend any length of time there, also gambling dosent interest me, but I wanted to soak up the atmosphere and energy of the place. There was plenty of both as I found out. I opened up the vineyard at 5:30 am, did some jobs then headed of at 7:30. I arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was a long drive but I enjoyed it. I have heaps of photos taken from the window of the Taco (below). The landscape was dry and brown for the most part but not featurless. The mountain ranges were pretty spectacular and high enough that your ears popped regularly. When looking at the route to Vegas I saw I would go past Edwards Airforce base and I knew from reading somewhere there was a cool plane at the gate. So when I saw the signs to exit I got off the freeway and had a look. The plane (photo's below) was a B-52 bomber. But it was a special one. It was modified to carry the X-15 which was a rocket powered aircraft operated in the 1960s that flew regularly to the edge of space and beyond. The B52 below carried the X-15 to between 13 & 14 km's when it would release it for its mission (sorry for all the photo's. I think its pretty awesome).

Road to Vegas 1

On the turn off to Edwards Airforce Base

The B-52 that carried the X-15. The cradle that held it is between the fuselage and the first set of engines

A visual list of this particular plane's missions

Panorama

Yours truly

Joshua Trees (think U2's fifth album)

3 Solar Thermal power stations near the California/Nevada border

The border between California and Nevada. Meters across the border and there is a casino

Once I hit the border the Casinos started. The first one was "Whiskey Pete's". There was a casino one side of the highway and a carnival with show rides on the other. I mean, there is nothing in all directions, but this place is there. It turns out that I spent the night here but i'll get to that. From the border it was about 45 mins to Vegas and you drive over a rise and it just appears, rising out of the desert, shimmering in the heat.

Las Vegas

I drove straight to the MGM Grand and parked. My plan was to walk to each of the big casinos, have a look around, walk the strip, have something to eat and find a place to stay. I did all of that except find a place to stay. It was packed with people. There were no rooms left at the MGM Grand, the Bellagio, Aria, or the Flamingo. Caesar's Palace and a couple of others had rooms for upwards of $250. I tried the places just off the strip listed in the Lonely Planet but they were booked out as well. Anyway I walked the strip a couple of times, saw some cool stuff (below), got some early tea and headed back to Whiskey Pete's, thinking surely there would be a room there. I spent a total of 6 hours in Vegas (7 hours to get there, 6 hours looking around and 6.5 hours getting home the next day). And I would do it again as I wont be back for a very long time, if at all. I'll let the photo's and the video below do the talking. One cool thing I saw was the Gold and Silver Pawn shop featured on channel 7Mate, Pawn Stars. The Old Man, Rick, Corey or Chumlee weren't there but it was exactly as it appears on television.