Valley to Vegas ...

We were out and about in Las Vegas until late last night, thus I am writing this a little late.

Waiting for Van

Yesterday morning we moved on from Ridgecrest, 100 miles from anywhere, as the sign on the outskirts of the town said.  We avoided the main route to Death Valley and drove through Trona, where there a two factories extracting the potash and borax from the lakebed that produced the Trona Pinnacles.  It is hard to describe how different the town is to anything we have in New Zealand.  It would appear that as Ridgecrest has developed, Trona has become less popular and is rapidly falling inn a state of disrepair.  Many of the houses were derelict, there was just dust, no lawns or gardens and the few shops there looks uninviting.  We compared it to Kawerau, as a town based on the local industry, but that was where the comparison ended.  One of the strangest things was the Catholic church, as concrete building with a cross on the top and two double doors - no windows at all.  It would have been really interesting to see what it was like inside.

We connected up with the main road to Death Valley and climbed over a pass that was almost 5000 feet before dropping down into the valley’s lowest point of around 280 feet below sea level.  There has been quite a bit of development since we were there last and, as with all of the National Parks, a $US30 fee to enter, even if you are just driving through.  As we are intending to visit other parks, it was cheaper to purchase an annual entrance card so, if you know of anyone travelling to the US who would like it, let us know.  Wonderful names - Stovepipe Wells, Badwater.

Once again travelling the less popular route, we drove down the eastern side of the valley, climbed trough the mountains and dropped down into Nevada.  When we crossed the state line the contrasts were instantaneous.  Massive billboard advertising fireworks, palm readings, a variety of churches, pawn shops and instant loans.  Talk about contradictions!

Arriving in Los Vegas was a bit of a shock having been in less populated places and because it seems to have expanded hugely since we were last here.  Driving on massively fast roads in the dark didn’t help but thankfully GPS did and we safely arrived at Royal Resort, just off Las Vegas Boulevard - The Strip.  Funny that wifi was free in Ridgecrest which here it is $US10 per device, per day.  Guess they have to make money somehow!

We walked The Strip and had a delicious meal at a foodcourt in one of the malls.  Discovered that the pirate ship show outside Treasure Island stopped in 2013, but we did see the erupting volcano at the Mirage and a delightful dancing waterfall.  It is interesting to visit but Los Vegas really is quite bizarre and more than a little sad.

Dat's Bad Water man...

Church in Trona