Road Trip USA 2006, Part 3

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So, where and how do I prioritise? For a start Route 66 was and is Number One, the Steinbeck Museum is Two, and Twister Country is Three. One and Three are close enough together to do together, so, basically, it’s “fly to Oklahoma, hope there’s a Twister, hire a car for part of the way (I never was going to drive all the way to California, especially as I’d be on my own), and then it’s overland to the Pacific Coast”.

To be honest, Mount St. Helens is much more attractive to me than Yosemite, but it will be much more convenient to cut down on the travelling, and concentrate California into a small (small?) area - Yosemite, Monterey, Bay Area rather than add on another few days to drive Highway 101 and then go back from Seattle or Portland.

Decisions, decisions.

You’ll have seen the words “on my own”, for my wife had always made it clear that she wasn’t interested in storms or tornadoes. She was perfectly happy for me to go by myself, and although I’m grateful for the opportunity, I still wanted to know that it really was with her 100% approval. It was, by this time (Easter 2006), certain that the Twister Tour was off the agenda, anyway, for the monetary reasons that I have mentioned, and it was also, by now, evident that my trip would be out of season, and, what’s more, I now had a part-time job where, despite being semi-retired and working when I liked, I couldn’t actually take more than two weeks’ holiday at any one time. So, any twister chasing would be in either a museum or a cinema. Even that failed to convince her that she could/should accompany me, so I then started to look VERY seriously at the options. We had had a few separate holidays in the past, for good reasons, namely specific projects of one form or other, (one of which will be alluded to in “Germany”).

What was so special about Easter 2006? Simple: I was talking then to my younger son, (who’d been to the US several times), about the fact that this plan had been meandering around in my mind for a while, and he said, simply “don’t mess about Dad, just do it”. I told him where I was planning to visit, and he told me not to miss Las Vegas. Originally, that was the one place that I was determined to miss, but “well, we’ll see” was my thought.

The first priority, then, was to cost the exercise, and work out a route. For a number of reasons I decided upon early October for the trip: away from school holidays, time to save up, and as the Twister Tour was off the agenda the date wasn’t otherwise really relevant. I looked at so many flight deals, and so on that I got so confused. “Is it really worth the effort?” was a question I asked several times. It was evident, however, that Oklahoma direct from London is not necessarily a practical option. Thanks to the Lonely Planet guide it turns out that there are only a few main entry “hubs” so it was “get to one of those and make my way on from there”.

It became evident, though, that Philadelphia would be the best entry point. Direct from London; not too long a flight - don’t forget I’ve not flown “trans-atlantic before); and convenient (fairly, for Washington DC where I’d decided to try to fit a day into visiting the National Geographic Society to see what it has about tornadoes. After all, as I said, there’s no need to worry about the seasons.

The only real problems with a schedule came with leaving Albuquerque. As I’d be by myself, I wasn’t really that keen on driving too much: just want to get the taste of what’s left on Route 66, stay overnight in a roadside motel, and say “that’s it; done it”. Yes, I know it’s a superficial approach, but I’ve got to draw a line somewhere.

Amtrak onwards and Greyhound, up to Yosemite - Merced seemed to be as good an entry point as any, so that was the target. Up to there from Bakersfield - and the best way to get to there seemed to be rather long-winded, and going round through Los Angeles. The only advantage, it seemed to me, of going that way, would be to visit Monterey before Merced.

Unless........

Las Vegas might be option if it means “cutting off the corner”. Back to the time tables, and maps, and somewhat surprisingly, it began to look like a feasible option.

As I say, it’s cutting off the corner to avoid Los Angeles, and means a trip onwards from Albuquerque, as far as Kingman AZ. Amtrak tells me that there’s one train a day, the “South West Chief”, which arrives at Kingman at 23.39. As long as there’s a taxi available to take me to a suitable motel that shouldn’t be a problem. So, first experience of Amtrak.

Next day, quite a short journey, and then it’s Las Vegas. This will be by Greyhound and my first venture (or should that be ADventure) with them. I’ve said it before, and will no doubt say it again but “we shall see”. On paper it looks like a fairly gentle trip. I bet it’s not.

I’m still not sure, though, if I want to go there, but everybody I know who’s been there says “go and see for yourself”. OK, so I will. I will either be agreeably surprised, or my worst fears will be (comprehensively) confirmed. I expect that, however, the reality will be somewhere between the two, in that it won’t be as bad as I’d feared, but, on the other hand, I may not be falling over myself to return. We shall see. Oops, said it again.

I do know, however, that it’s supposed to be a great place for entertainment. “Who’s going to be in town that week?” I wonder. Back to the internet, and “What’s On”. Wow. Penn & Teller. I just love those guys. They knock spots off any other magic show, so it looks like an addition to my “must do” list. $85 are the tickets; is that cheap, dear, or middling? It’s so long since I’ve been to a top act that I’m a bit out of touch, but a friend of mine told me he’s going to a concert in England at £40, only marginally cheaper than P&T so it sounds like a bargain. Still, who cares? I quite possibly may never have the chance of seeing these two perform live again, anywhere, so as I write this with four months to go, I’m almost certain to go.

In one of those surreal twists of fate, the performance is on my Wedding Anniversary. Little did I imagine on the 11th October 1969 that in 37 years time, I’d be planning an evening out in what’s said to be the world’s leading gambling and entertainment centre.......

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