The Great American Road Trip--Days 12-15

Traveling back through the Mojave we braved the Mad Greek's billboards, Zzyzx Road, and the World's Tallest Thermometer (registering 110 degrees). The "Gateway to Death Valley" sign mocked us as we pulled into Burger King to get some Cokes and to rest the truckster.

Pressing on, we once again saw Las Vegas on the horizon. When we told the old man working at the Nevada welcome center that this was our second trip within 3 days, he just shook his head and acted like we were nuts. That's ok. L.V. just does something to you. It's a powerful place.

This time we upgraded (thanks to our former winnings) to the nice new casino hotel, the Luxor. This one had an Egyptian theme, and the hotel/casino is inside a huge black pyramid. You even enter through a giant Sphinx, and there are talking camels in the lobby right next to a miniature Nile River that you can ride through! Yes, a river tour that runs through the center of the hotel. The Luxor is a cool place.

On our second visit to Las Vegas, we began to overanalyze Nicolas Cage's "predicament" in the film LEAVING LAS VEGAS. Okay, he had all that money to burn, so he used it all to buy liquor and stay at that dumpy Whole Year Inn motel. What a dumbass!

We decided that he really should have taken his $200,000 and gambled. As Matt said, he could have played forever at the $10 blackjack tables, and consequently would have been comped and "rewarded" with posh accomodations for free. Not to mention the fact that all casinos give you free drinks, as many as you can handle, when you are gambling at their tables or machines. Honest! Just sit down, plunk a few nickles in the slots, and the cocktail waitresses are right there, bringing you free booze. So why did he have to buy everything? This began to distress us greatly.

After hanging out in Vegas as long as we could stand, we hit the road to Utah. I don't remember too much about Utah except that everybody was very casual and drove big Jeep-type cars. And Army recruiters work the local Burger Kings on the weekend. We didn't drive through the most scenic part of Utah (we saved that for our second road trip, where we hit all the beautiful national parks), but we caught a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake and spent the night in Provo, right across the street from BYU's football stadium. This was a loooong day of driving, so there's not much I remember.

Our change in schedule also rearranged our driving plans, so this way we were able to pass through Idaho (a gorgeous state, believe it or not, rich with lush trees and forests). We also saw lots of abandoned potatoes along the road; victims of overloaded potato-truck fallacy. Seriously, though, Idaho gets a bad rap for no reason! It's really a great state, and I wish we could have spent more time there. We stopped off at the Potato Capital of the World and the "Birthplace of the Television Set," and eventually we passed through the Targhee National Forest (unfortunately, we didn't see any moose, but I certainly was looking for them).

We breezed through Idaho and into Montana, where we were, excuse the expression, "Haulin' Ass." The no speed limit rule is such a thrill--we just waved at the cops as we zoomed by. As a result, we made it to West Yellowstone pretty quickly and had time to play in the hot tub for a while. West Yellowstone was an interesting little town--it had sort of an "outdoorsy trendiness" to it--one of those quaint little mountain towns. Nifty little boutiques and shops, and small, down-home type restaurants. (Don't miss the hand-carved wooden bear outside a deli on Main Street)! And don't forget to bring a jacket......it was freezing! As we walked around town, I wished I had brought a heavier sweater.

Keep On Truckin'

Please send any comments, suggestions, or questions to niftybugs@hotmail.com. As always, I'd love to hear your cross-country road trip stories, and I'm always happy to give advice to those of you planning a trip anywhere!

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