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Published: September 10th 2008
Mojave Desert
40 degrees and hot!From L.A. to Las Vegas 6th - 9th September 2008
Santa Monica early mornings are not so different to others in California except that there are more joggers, cyclists, Tai Chi enthusiasts and bag people on the promenade. All week I have been waking early due to the time difference (and I am an early-riser anyway) to creep outside, leaving John sleeping for Spain, the UK and the US (I envy him) to have a fag and watch the world go by. By 6.30 there are always dozens of people about doing their thing and strutting their stuff. I don’t envy them, however, because most of them eat far more burgers and fries than I do. I just enjoy watching them. It is a calm time of the day, mist rolling in from the ocean as it does nearly every morning waiting for the sun to burn it off, the traffic to start roaring and the robotic voice recordings to start giving instructions at the traffic lights… “Don’t walk!” “You are crossing 2nd Street” or “You have 5 seconds left to cross, 5,4,3,2,1, get on the sidewalk”. This is probably very useful to the blind but it’s quite disturbing
John, Mojave
Very very hot! to everyone else. There is a strong and not surprising fascination with automation here n the States. Yesterday we went to a large supermarket and there wasn’t an employee in sight, only customers. At the checkout one has to zap the goods oneself, pay the machine, collect the change, and bag the goods and go. Rather surreal, especially since there were few customers, dozens of these robotic checkouts stood in a long row and, most strange to us Europeans, no queues! It is quick, fast, efficient and dismal.
From Santa Monica we went down to Venice Beach to do some more ”people-watching”, which is what Venice Beach is for and why all the want-to-be-famous flock there, to parade and boost their egos. Great fun! Actually, we are really glad we chose Santa Monica instead of Venice, which is a bit tatty. We spent ages getting out of LA and on to Highway 15 towards Las Vegas. Stopped at Barstow for the night, not much there, but it is about halfway to Vegas so convenient. On the plus side we got a really great deal at a Holiday Inn. John used his charm, explained that we were on a long
Terrible's Resort
41 miles from Vegas - yes, Terrible's is the right name! trip so on a tight budget and got a great room for the price of a hostel on the coast! I’m not sure how he did it (I was still in the car) but the girl on Reception told him the price, which he said was too much, then knocked a massive 50 dollars off bringing it right down into our range. So we got a huge bed, huge bath, fluffy towels, cooked breakfast and free coffee and snacks all the time. Pretty good stuff! Good air con too, which is essential because it was over 40 degrees of desert heat when we arrived at about 5 p.m. We didn’t drive all on the freeway but headed off across nothingness on Route 66 so arriving at the Holiday Inn was like reaching an oasis.
We’ve just done the accounts and the first week has only cost us 566 dollars for accommodation which works out at an amazing 28 euros per head per night. Unbeatable and it also means more money to spend in Vegas!!! We have, however, spent more than expected on food and drink, quite a lot more in fact. However, we have eaten in some pretty good
Viv, Vegas
On the Strip, Vegas restaurants so it is well worth it. Basically, the choice in California seems to be either rather pricey restaurants or walking around with a polystyrene cup of coffee and a burger in the mouth! Unlike in Europe, there isn’t much in between these two options. I really cannot enjoy eating my dinner out of bloody polystyrene containers. Not nice. It is amazing that a country which claims to be green, with “Caring for the Environment” statements all over the place allows about 99% of the food and drink to be served up in excess cardboard packaging or polystyrene. It is also surprising that wine is so expensive here in the restaurants, considering that California is now one of the great wine-producing areas in the world. Furthermore, Sainsburys sell Napa Valley wine much cheaper than the supermarkets here do. What is no surprise to us, however, is that we haven’t had a decent cup of coffee since we arrived. Hopefully our craving for good Spanish coffee will ease as the months go by. The other night, after just one sip, in a nice Italian restaurant, I left a 3.30 dollar cup of an insipid brew called “espresso coffee” on the table.
Paris, Vegas
Not the real one but then nothing is real in this town! Oh for a good cup of cortado, muy fuerte con poco leche!
And so to Vegas, Sin City, where the prostitution is legal and very in your face and the hotels are cheap to entice you to spend in the casinos. It is Disneyland for adults and not to be missed! We went on-line in Barstow got an AMAZING on-line “hot deal”, 74 dollars for TWO nights on The Strip at the Imperial Palace Hotel, opposite Caesar‘s Palace. Including tax it came to 80.67 so that is 20 dollars each per night in a deluxe room, about 14 euros!!!! However, everything else in Vegas is expensive (once they‘ve hauled you in).
The drive from Barstow across the Mojave Desert is a long and boring one. When we were 41 miles from Vegas, we saw ahead what we thought was a big service station and needed a loo and coffee stop. As we got closer we saw a big dipper and what looked like a Disney castle. It wasn’t a mirage; it was indeed a big dipper with a hotel inside it called Buffalo Bill’s Resort. Adjacent to this was Whiskey Pete’s hotel with its castle turrets and a
huge resort called Terrible’s (yeah - right OK). It was all so weird (and quite ghastly). A mini satellite Vegas stuck out amongst the sand dunes. We got the coffee, had a look around, gawping like visitors in an alien planet and then moved on, wondering “where do all of these people come from?”
Las Vegas is quite surreal and we had a problem getting our heads around it all. The casinos are like glamorous transit lounges, with people coming and going, checking in, wheeling their cases, drinking (mostly whilst on the move), gambling and eating in one big constant flow. The noise is incredible, even early in the morning there is a constant drone of noise from air con, kitchen extractors, traffic, helicopters, aeroplanes, music and people. It is a constant background din, like a factory or a huge machine, which of course is exactly what Vegas is; a machine pouring in punters and churning out dollars. It is quite an experience and we are glad we came. Two nights was enough, however. The Bellagio dancing fountains alone made the journey across the desert worthwhile. During our second afternoon there was a storm, thunder, lightning and torrential rain.
It came on suddenly so caught everyone out. Crossing the Strip in flip-flops wasn’t easy because it was gushing down the street so fast. The rain cleared the air beautifully, however, and it stayed a bit cooler all evening. The next morning it was full-on desert heat again! We checked out and got on the road again, heading towards the Grand Canyon. Adios Los Vegas, craziest place on the planet! Great to have seen you but we won’t be back; we prefer real places!
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