Bright and early, and out the door. Today marked a three state crossing,
and not cheating like circling Four Corners... nope, a crossing of Arizona,
150+ miles of Nevada and into California before the sun sets. Or... after
it sets, as the course of events carried us.
After a few requisite stops for fuel and soda, we managed to get
back onto Interstate 40, at the renowned exit 163.
9:56am
We passed through Kingman, loading up on, yup, more soda, and various
snacky cakes. (Peeps may look like they're just marshmallow fluff,
but they can really sock it away, let me tell you.)
11:25am
We approached the biggest instance of man damming it along this
coast, at Hoover Dam. There was a couple of check points to ensure
we weren't one of the prohibited vehicles across the dam, of course.
11:38am
We passed through Boulder
City (it was more or less built up from the dam's construction
crews and became a lasting town after the fact).
After missing the I-215 cut-off, we found ourselves on 515 and then
wandering down Las Vegas Boulevard... at lunch time. Eek.
12:48pm
Finally navigating the Boulevard, we park in the shaded Tropicana
lot, which offers some slight protection from the 101°F temperatures
that are gracing us on this visit.
1:12pm
Lunch becomes a food court adjacent to M&M World along the Boulevard.
Not horrible, though annoying in that at the pizza court, the chica
told us whole pizzas weren't available for another two hours, yet
10 minutes later someone else ordered one anyway. Grrr!
1:37pm
Off and running from lunch (figuratively, no sane person runs in
101°F heat), we wandered down the Boulevard.
2:42pm
Calling it a surrender, we abandon the mission of walking as far
as Treasure Island, and retreat into an indoor shopping mall whose
name escapes me.
3:37pm
Back outside from the cozy, air-conditioned haven of the mall, but
we were bummed to learn we'd only saved ourselves maybe 200 feet of
walking outdoors.
4:22pm
As I'm waiting to cross over one of the over-pass walkways, I happen
to observe WHY it seemed to blasted warm along the sidewalk... the
sidewalks are either glazed or coated with something reflective, so
the heat is not only pounding from above, but being reflected off
the ground... surely a tactic to push pedestrians to walk through
the casinos, surely.
4:57pm
We're back in the car, and somewhat disappointed to see the temperature,
for all our shaded parking, hasn't dipped one iota. Blast!
6:14pm
It hadn't gotten much cooler since leaving Las Vegas, and in fact,
when we arrived in Baker, California,
the temperature was 108°F, though the world's
largest thermometer said otherwise.
6:17pm
We settled down for dinner in Baker, knowing it was going to be
another hour or so before we set webbed feet down into Barstow.
7:22pm
Back on the road, but...
7:48pm
...it wasn't long before were at a dead stop for construction delays.
It did give us a chance to get some sunset
pictures, and even one of the highway
patrol standing by.
8:21pm
We finally arrived in Barstow and checked into another fine Motel
6, this time being assigned to 131.
9:58pm
After sitting though a bit of the Mythbusters cable flick,
it was off to sleepies with me.
