Though the night was cool for New Mexico, the morning did not disappoint. It was warm, the sky was blue and there was a mountain behind the city. THIS is why I want to live in the west. It almost makes up for the lack of proper trees. We got ready and had a quick pow-wow about the game-plan for the day. It was going to be a long push strait through to Vegas. It would be hard. Grueling. We needed Denny's. Thankfully My brother saw a sign for on the way into town. We saddled up our steel horse and I took the reins again. Eager, but dreading the morning rush in a strange city looking somewhere for a Denny's. Until a few feet later when we realized we had just pulled out of the parking lot of the Motel that it shared with Denny's. Chagrined but determined we set about the manly work of Denny's breakfast. It was a big meal, but it had to sustain us and we even managed to block out the next table where a very large homely girl felt the need to read aloud to her (similar) boyfriend- from a trashy romance novel disguised as a Tolkien-esque fantasy. I'm no stud, but I hate that such people flock to things I like forever prejudicing everyone else against them.
With no time to loose we sped on, out into the desert. The car got warm inside but oddly the engine was running cooler than normal. But who am I to complain? We enjoyed the view of the painted rocks in the distance and the rolling hills. New Mexico is red. Very red. Even the pavement is red, or was before all the new construction started.
We passed several Indian reservations and their accompanying casinos, and suddenly We were in Arizona where the rocks are mostly not so red (for a while anyway) and bigger. But still with the reservations. I find it hard to believe that so many roadside shops have the "best" Indian art. Flagstaff was the next goal but before that we had one big stop to make. The Meteor Crater.
I have always subliminally wanted to see it, but somewhere I thought I would never get the chance. I have even been nearby it before if the Meteor Museum is to be believed. It says that the Lowell Observatory is nearby and I do remember going there as a young-in. While doing research for the trip we decided this was a definite stop, and it's only 20 min. off the main road. On the aptly named Meteor Crater Road. We found that literal road names are a trend in Arizona. The Meteor Crater Road is actually freshly paved now, and winds across fenceless cattle country. It's pretty flat almost as far as the eye can see. But sure enough- soon we saw a little jagged hill.
The edge of the Crater while jagged is not little. It juts up from the floor of the plain over a hundred feet. Set into the side of the outer wall is the visitor's center. This includes the Ramada inn, but don't worry- it's discrete. We got out of the car and discovered that for a flat plain it's fairly high altitude. Which was about to get worse. After shelling out the 15 bucks we wandered into the museum, forgoing the hour and a half movie for the quick and dirty tour of the facts on the museum's wall. Thusly armed with the facts (which are roughly- over a mile in diameter, 550 feet deep and about 50,000 years old.) we went outside.
The crater is impressive to say the least. It's just so huge and it doesn't entirely seem it. Eventually you realize that the basketball sized rocks at the bottom are really house size boulders and then your body realizes it's supposed to respond with vertigo. The the next thing hits you- It's silent. Your standing on the top of the largest thing in sight in the middle of a plain and there is no sound. Not even wind. Nothing but your ears ringing. It's almost hard to hear the person next to you. A very sobering experience. We are really a fragile little ball.
Interesting fact- the crater was used to practice for the first moon landing.
And that is why in the center at the bottom is a life sized cutout of a space suit and a replica of the flag on the moon. But unless you know where your looking it's REAL hard to see. Big- people, we're talking- big.
With a ton of pictures in the camera (for the panorama I'm going to make) we retraced our steps and headed out again.
I admit it, I was wrong. I assumed most of Arizona was- well- like the rest of it. Flagstaff is actually quite nice. And it's even in a forest. Right in the middle of a protected forest. Odd. And a mere 300ish miles away was Las Vegas. Easy distance. The sun was setting, why not shave another day off the trip and have two extra days there. So as we left and the landscape got hilly we were treated to a beautiful sight.
I'll skip past the long dark road for the most part, but when we got about 100 miles away it changed. Behind the hills the sky was ablaze. That's really how bright it is. We tried in vain as the terrain grew more mountainous to get a view of the city but it was on the other side and down. One of the best parts of the trip so far though was just a sample. We drove over the Hoover Dam at night. In the next few days we are going back so there will be pictures. The movies and pictures don't do it justice. I never expected to be so awed by it. I don't think I have ever seen any man made object so massive. And not just big, parts of it are everywhere, growing out of every rock. I can't wait to see it in the daylight.
And then we were down and staring across the desert at the sea of light that is Las Vegas. It's big too. I've seen big cities before, but Las Vegas is really wide. And it's really odd to see a big city with no skyscrapers, just hotels and a beacon to space. I'll go more into depth in the next few days, but for now tonight's highlights.
The first stop was to the Sahara to go to the bathroom and generally expose me to the cacophony that I will by experiencing the next few days. Then we went for a little drive around town to find a hotel. We found one right on the old strip, and after unpacking thats right where we went.
It's a bright busy place with so much going on, but it's apparently tame next to the new strip. I tried a few slots tonight, but no real luck- hopefully that will change. C'mon- daddy needs a federal grant payment! To the blackjack tables tomorrow.
Tonight's random crowd drawing event- a fireman competition. And one more parting thought: Drunk women ogle and drool worse than men do any day of the week. It's degrading. Really, your supposed to be the more evolved gender. Sigh. Now to bed, and tomorrow the world!
Always-
Vivaaaa Las Vegas...
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