The Year of the Sloth

Dear friends,

It would appear I haven't written in awhile. eek.

Well, let's review what you missed, okay?

- I moved into my mom's house.

- I haven't left.

ack!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I have watched endless hours of television: both good and bad.

I can tell you that while 10 and 11 am are good times to watch tv, 9 and noon are not. Also the best movies start at about 11 pm and are on really bizarre channels. Personally I'm loving the 1950 & 60s movies.

There was a month when I was working. I had my mom's job while she covered someone else's job. It was actually really cool to be an interpreter for a hearing impaired/visually impaired 16 year old. It was strange to re-walk the halls of my high school. Seeing former teachers. Seeing former prom dates who were now teacher. (ok, admittedly, there was only one that fits that description...rumor is other prom date ended up a stripper...uh, whatchya gonna do?)

Since that time, I've celebrated at least 4 Christmases, one New Year, visited Cincinnati twice, played with my god-nephew (sure, that's a real thing) numerous days, read 3 books, written a skit, and hid from all actual responsibility.

I'm tired of all this though. I'm absolutely ready to move on. I think I have it down to Los Angeles or Cincinnati.

Thoughts?

Until next time, super faithful readers. :)

Everything you need to know from 24 days on the road!

Bests:

Best homemade preserves, bread, everything else: Marilyn in Deer Park, WA

Best pizza: Jupiter in Berkeley, CA

Best donut: Voodoo Donuts in Portland, OR

Best Travel buddy: (can I answer this one without offending a family member?) Leann

Best host: I cannot answer this. I was truly, truly blessed!

Best home-cooked “Midwestern” meal: juiciest hamburgers of my life made by Vic in Seattle

Best lunch: Thai (both in Deer Park…Yum! And in Colorado Springs with Dad and Jim…their first Thai!)

Best car snack: dried mango and berries from Costco in Chicago, IL

Best home-cooked breakfast: Marilyn’s pancakes in Deer Park, WA

Best bought breakfast: blackberry pancakes at Wade’s Café in Colorado Springs, CO

Best Groupon: Crepes Francaise in downtown Colorado Springs, CO (it was much more expensive than I expected. We wouldn't have gone with the Groupon)

Best Yelp suggestion: Bridgeview Inn in Chamberlain, South Dakota

Best Couchsurfing hosts: Eric, Kathy, and Blaze in Colorado Springs, CO

Best chain hotel: Courtyard by Marriott in Las Vegas, NV

Best Gas Price: $2.53/gal in Missouri

Best carrot nickname: “nature’s popsicle” from Deer Park, WA

Best unexpectedly borrowed tool: the Garmin that the Browns loaned us in Madison, WI

Best gas station purchase for the car: the 3 in 1 car charger that fit in the cup holder!

Best car tool: the 3-prong wall charger to car charger converter (I could charge EVERYTHING in my car!)

Best world event I was apart of: the grand opening of the new Hoover Dam Bypass in Hoover Dam, NV (it was featured in last week’s USA Today)

Best news I received on the road: Kylie’s birth (my cousin’s baby)

Best “thank you” present I received: the blackberry tea candle from Jim bought in Old Colorado City, CO

Best new friend I’ve made: Wendy in Deer Park, WA

Best late night conversation: Blaze in Colorado Springs, CO

Worsts:

Worst meal: the fly in mayo at Subway outside of the Redwood Forrest

Worst breakfast: grilled jelly and oatmeal at our campsite at the Grand Canyon

Worst gas station snack: dried papaya from Greybull, WY

Worst item that got left behind: huge Costco sized Dove ultra moisturizing shampoo and conditioner in Seattle, WA

Worst case of taxidermy freak out: a little store in Alsea, OR

Worst set back: hitting an animal on the first day (4 hour delay!)

Worst accident when I was in a hurry: the blow out of the bladder of my camel bag on our way to Pike’s Peak…needless to say, we didn’t make Pike’s Peak til the next day

Worst wifi hotspot: the Hilton in Las Vegas (16.99 a day! No thanks!)

Worst Gas Price: $4.59/gal along the coast of California at a little gas station ran by a sneaky little old man (it was a dollar more a gallon than anywhere else around! ie: Santa Barbara was only $3.09)

Worst traffic jam: 4 miles in 45 minutes at Hoover Dam, NV

Mosts:

Most boring stretch: toss-up between Kansas and the Eastern side of Wyoming

Most exciting stretch of road: Yellowstone, WY

Most beautiful stretch of road: the Californian coastline

Most taxing on my body: all the time changes back to the Midwest. Ugh.

Most taxing on my ability to breathe: Jim’s smoking. Ugh.

Most memorable shower: the pay showers at the Grand Canyon campgrounds (8 quarters = 8 minutes!)

Most expensive tolls: Illinois - $4.20 (the only others were in Kansas - $2.50)

Most pointless National Monument: Four Corners (though we’d do it again!)

Favorites:

Favorite people I met: the people of Christ’s Church of Deer Park in Deer Park, WA

Favorite baby: Olivia…the walking cabbage patch doll...I love her little laugh!

Favorite dog: just kidding…you all had dogs, except Jenny…she had cats, super soft cats… I loved them all: Bennington (and the other two), Gypsy, Jessie, Frida*, Buddy, Elsie, & Bristol!

Favorite bridge: Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA

Favorite national landmark: Mt Rushmore, SD

Favorite national park: Redwood Forrest, CA

Favorite mountain to explore: Mt Spokane in Spokane, WA

Favorite volcano: Mt St Helen, WA

Favorite train ride up a mountain: the COG railroad up Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs, CO

Favorite “dam” joke: “You all know our official photograph policy, right? Take all the dam pictures you want. Hehehe…” – our weird little underground tour guide at the Hoover Dam, NV

Favorite animal sighting: bison in the road in Yellowstone, WY

Favorite Museum: tie: the Getty in LA, CA and the Pioneer Museum in Colorado Springs, CO

Favorite geek out moment: walking around the soundstages of Chuck on the WB lot in Los Angeles, CA

Favorite Hollywood star: Charlie Chaplin’s on Hollywood Blvd in LA, CA

Favorite city that we drove through too fast: San Francisco

Favorite movie to reference during this adventure: So I Married An Axe Murderer

Favorite Vegas show: Mac King Comedy Magic Show

Favorite slots in Vegas: Mermaids on the Fremont Street Experience

Favorite random sighting: a cowboy herding sheep in Big Horn Mountains

Favorite random sound: seals calling each other from the rocks in Crescent City, CA

Favorite state: Idaho

Favorite picture:

Favorite Souvenir: Geode necklace from the Western Mining Museum in Colorado Springs

Favorite roadside saying: “Raising a teenager is like trying to nail jelly to a tree” a storage unit saying in Washington State

Favorite random Indiana question: “You know that hamburger place that Indiana’s known for? C’mon, you know it… no, no, no…the other one…c’mon…” a guy in a coffee shop in Portland, OR (I ended up realizing he meant Steak N Shake) He also asked me repeatedly if I lived on a farm. I do not.

Favorite place to tell people I was from: “the Midwest” (sorry, I have no specific town or even state anymore. it’s been a weird decade)

Favorite state highway symbol: Washington State (it’s a bust of George Washington, not just a state shape…Kansas is a sun…weird…)

Favorite color of the road: pink

Favorite quiet place: The Writing Lab in Santa Monica, CA

Favorite cd: Megan's random mix

Favorite activity with Mom: driving through the mountains of WY, MT and Idaho

Favorite activity with Catie & Kelly: traipsing about in the Redwood Forrest

Favorite activity with Leann: camping in Grand Canyon

Favorite activity with Dad & Jim: the Pike’s Peak train

Numbers:

Number of water bottles left: 2

Number of boxes of cereal left: 1 ½

Number of pounds of prunes left: 3 (I got on the road and realized they would not actually be a good snack)

Number of travel buddies that didn’t leave something in my car: 0

Number of pictures: 6,955**

Number of state license plates I saw: 37 out of 50 (plus I saw 2 Canadian plates and a couple government plates)

Number of wild animals: 11 (deer, sheep, big horn sheep, cows, horses, buffalo, bison, turkey, elk, pronghorn, seal/sea lions) ... I'm not counting all the unique birds I saw; the number would be much higher... seriously a blue pigeon!

Number different “beware of ______” signs: 7 (deer, big horn sheep, mountain lion, horse, elk, cow, some kind of bird)

Number of wild animal I wanted to see but didn’t: 1 (bear!)

Number of celebrities I saw in LA: 7

Number of sleeping bags I carried with me: 2

Number of tents I carried with me: 1

Number of people who could have fit in the tent: 6

Number of times the tent was used: 1

Number of people in the tent when it was used: 2

Number of days I was on the road: 24 days and 3 hours

Number of states I traveled through: 18

Number of gas station stops: 25

Number of pages in my $ tracking ledger: 6

Everything Else:

Total hours of driving completely by myself: 29 (5 Deer Park to Seattle, 4.5 LA to Vegas, 19.5 Colorado Springs, CO to Kokomo, IN) – this doesn’t count all the alone driving in LA

Longest solo drive: Topeka, KS to Kokomo, IN (10 straight hours!)

Shortest solo drive: my cousin’s house to Hollywood Museum (3 blocks)

Amount left in my checking account: $19.79

Lowest Elevation: sea level

Highest Elevation: 14,110 feet

Average speed: 68mph

Average mpg: 31.5

Starting mileage: 141,955

End mileage: 148,324

Total mileage: 6,369

Well, my dear friends, I think that about sums it up. If there is anything else you would like to know about the past month, please feel free to ask***.

Thank you so much for following this. On the road, I’d think of you all often. I referred to this blog as my “job” though honestly it’s become a job that I’ve loved. Sorry for the blank spaces. I know some of you (mom) were disappointed when I didn’t update. I got the angry texts (mom!) and emails (MOM!). Haha… Sadly, not everywhere is as wifi compatible as they should be in 2010 (I’m looking at you, Vegas!). I hope you’ve been as entertained reading about it, as I have been living it. Honestly, if anyone knows where I can get a job traveling and writing it up, just let me know.

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart…

--the nomad

*I’m ashamed to admit I had to ask for the name of Brent and Martha’s dog. I forgot her name. darn it!

**And the winner is…. Aunt Becky with the guess of 6,839! Hooray! I’ll deliver your prize in person next week. How’s that? J

***I will not be closing this blog. I intend on continually writing in here. After all, what really makes this adventure over? Nothing. I’m saying at my mom’s until the weekend and then I’m off again to Cincinnati for a few days. After that, God only knows…I still wish He’d let me in on at least a bit of it. But, ah…adventure! J

For the love of mercy, never click your heels.

When Dorothy clicked her heels and returned to home did she really know what she was getting into? Kansas. blech.

After driving through Kansas today, I've decided to never click heels again...unless I can finally master that cute little jump click that leprechauns seem to be able to do so well.

In others ... Colorado was a really nice place. Too nice. I realized yesterday (and then more so today) that I have neglected to purchase souvenirs along this journey. There are, of course, a myriad of reasons for that. 1. Who needs junk in their possession? 2. Why spend on the money? 3. I have all the memories already on this blog and pictures*

That being said, I fell in love with too many things in a little mining museum's gift shop. (I currently have a geode hanging around my neck) That's not even the worst part. Today some lucky gift shop guy scored a big scale. (definitely not "big" by anyone else's terms but my own, I'm sure)

I now have geodes, toys, jewelry, gold flakes and magnets of every state I hit on this trip (18!).

I now have $118 to get home.

I now have worry...

In other, other news.

I got a job lead in Deer Park... so be praying for that.

I got an apartment offer in Cincinnati... so be praying for that

I got to be staying with my momma til I figure it all out... so be praying for that!

Well, dear friends, I believe you are now mostly caught up. oh except for the 4 Corners story but I'll let the anticipation keep building. why? because you will really feel the story when I tell it.

the next post should be from homebase...how weird is that... only a quiet, lonley, ten hour drive stands in my way. (fell free to call...555-da-nomad or my real number if you have it)

thank you so much for following along for the last 23 days. Fear not, this blog is far from over. I have so many things to discuss, pictures to post, and stats to amaze. For instance, I don't think I've ever told you about "the Book of Nerd" or my ledger. ah...the fun that awaits. :)

--the nomad

*stand by for an official photo number on Tuesday. It's staggering. In fact, let's hold a contest... the person who guesses the closest wins something I bought in Colorado. you can even go over. just be closest.

The Ohioan who invented the box springs created the COG railway

I saw the coolest thing today...

And it wasn't The Garden of the Gods, Dad and Jim eating Thai food for the first time, Denver's Airport, Sonic's 1/2 priced happy hour, Castle Rock or even the amazing "salsa" (that including cabbage!) at the Mexican resturant...no, that was all yesterday!

This thing happened today.

And it wasn't the salads at Panera, Old Colorado's diverse and sweet little shops (including the Things Jewish shop or the enchanting candle shop), the Pioneer Museum, the cute historic parks, watching Dad and Jim eat French food for the first time, catching dad in a "moment" (snuffle snuffle) when he saw the Big Horn Sheep he'd been waiting a lifetime to see, or even taking a train up Pike's Peak.

...it was...the candle lady making a bow by pulling a string.

I really can't explain it. She had a purple ribbon. She pulled one side and a beautiful bow appeared. I think she's magic. It was really cool...

Oh by the way, did I mention I took a TRAIN to the summit of PIKE'S PEAK today? cause I did.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. But truthfully I'll be tired! I just spent a couple hours talking to Blaze, one of our couchsurfing hosts. That wouldn't have been a big deal but talking lasted from 12 to 2:20 am. oops...

off to bed.

--the nomad

PS> Leave me a message so I know are still around gentle readers. Thank you. :)

no internet = no blog posts

Hello friends,

I'm currently sitting on a couch in a strangers' house listening to my sister sleep. Doesn't that sound creepy?

Fear not, I met these people through couchsurfing. All is legit. Try it out yourself. (Don't you wish real life would give you free stuff like it seems to for celebs just for mentioning stuff? That would be great.) Seriously though couchsurfing is great!

Today Leann and I met up with our dads in Colorado Springs. They have been her for two days and they are head of heels in love with the place. In fact, rumor has it Dad has been picking up local real estate magazines. haha...oh boys...

Getting to Colorado Springs (dads) wasn't easy.

First up, we had to leave Vegas. That was hard. Perhaps a little too hard. No one ever wants to leave but seriously only a day there is such a tease. I never got to swim with the sharks. I didn't get to see pirates fight at Treasure Island. Leann never got to go to giant M&M store. ah, such is life.

Secondly, we had to drive to the Grand Canyon. Have you ever done that? Not a horrible drive unless, of course, it's the opening weekend/WALKthrough for the new Hoover Dam overpass. Then, if that's the case, you get to wait 45 minutes to go 4 miles. Thank you 17,000 people who decided to walk over the new overpass on Sunday. (Btw, word of advice, never try to recreate the scene in "Fools Rush In" by throwing a quarter out of the window while passing the state line. You may end up hitting an unexpecting person. I didn't but I came awfully close. oops) After we got past the Dam, it wasn't too bad. It was just another 4-5 hours. We arrived and it was dark. It got dark at 5. We had left Vegas around noon. oops.

Thirdly, we had to sleep. in a tent. in a forest. full of mountain lions. near a giant canyon. Okay, maybe we didn't have to do that to get to Colorado Springs but it sure was a happy perk. :) I loved it. Leann is a camping pro. Good thing because, as this math equation points out: darkness + new tent + rain + no real flashlights + no food except instant potatoes and PB&J = challenging! Now I should point out 2 things. 1. This was not supposed to be a new tent by now. Mom and I were supposed to have used it in Yellowstone. And the girls and I were supposed to have used it in the Redwoods. neither happened. 2. We had cellphones (our Droids are bright!) for light and, after the tent was raised, I remembered we also had lanterns.

After our tent (and fly!) was raised and we had had our fill of potatoes, there was nothing to do but sleep. Well this is about the time I got just enough phone signal for all the texts/FB updates started coming in warning me about mountain lions. Thanks guys. Honestly, it got me a bit shaken, but there as no way I was tearing down that tent after all the struggle we had just put up! Mountain lions or not, I was sleeping outside! (Also, I looked up info and found out how to fight off a mountain lion. Bring it on...)

The sleep itself was pretty good except for the onslaught of rain that continued to hit our tent. However, we were dry. We were cozy. And, most important, mountain lions aren't going to come out in the rain.

When morning came there was a lot of work to do. More than I had even expected or even had the energy for. Instead of doing the things I absolutely needed to do ie: make breakfast (oatmeal & jelly toast), tear down our tent, fold our tent (the worst thing ever!)..., I decided to completely repack our car. I took everything out, laid it on a dry tarp, and set to work. To be honest, I felt a million times better after that. Sometimes a girl has just got to organize.

The fourth thing we had to do before reaching Colorado Springs was take in the Grand Canyon. Oh, take it in we did. I would love to talk in great detail here about the "giant hole in the ground" as I affectionately call it. Sadly, the Canyon is something that needs to be seen. I have some really beautiful shots. We stopped at 3 different viewpoints before heading to our next destination. Perhaps one day I'll upload some shots, until them find them on FB if we are friends.

The final attraction before meeting up the dads was 4 Corners. That sadly, is another story for another day. (because my laptop is dying...)

Goodnight friends. :)

--the nomad

What happens in Vegas... waits a day before being shared with the world.

Alternatively titled: "How to do Vegas (and Hoover Dam!) in a day"

Due to the fact that Leann and I rushed through The Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, I figured the easiest thing to do was to give you an outline of our schedule. Put on your tennis shoes, we were busy! (speaking of tennis shoes, thanks to valeting my car, I got stuck in my brown tennis shoes the entire time I was in Vegas! ugh.)

October 15

1: Leave LA, drive to Vegas

5: Arrive in Vegas almost 6 hours before I was supposed to pick up Leann. oops

5:30: check in to hotel, update some stuff, watch some tv and take a much needed nap

10:30: drive to airport to pick her pick

10:40: arrive at pick up, sit in long line

10:50: sit through line again because Leann hadn't been there when it had finally been my tour

11: pick up Leann and head to find food

11:15: drive the strip

12: finally give up, grab quick sandwich, and head back down the strip and to our hotel

12:45: arrive at hotel. love it (Courtyard)

1: catch up

2: go to sleep

October 16:

6: wake up, shower, dress

7:15: head to our pick up point

7:30-7:55: wait for our tour bus

8: get on the "Comedy on Deck" bus

8:05: find out our tour is cancelled (no breakfast, no Lake Mead boat tour, $20 refund) but they our going to auto change us to the other tour (went into the Dam)

9: arrive at Hoover Dam: go on 2 dam tours (one over, one under), check out dam museum, buy dam pictures, laugh at dam tour guide (he wasn't funny on purpose except once: "Do you know our picture policy? The Federal Govermenet says 'Take all the Dam pictures you want!'" haha!)

11:20: get back on bus, head to Boulder City

11:30: take pictures of Lake Mead

11:45: arrive in Boulder City

12: take Boulder Dam Hotel museum tour

12:20 EAT (Finally!)

12:45: back on bus headed to chocolate museum (uh...it was added on too. lame)

1:15: arrive at M&M Store, Ester M's, and "Botanical Gardens" (it was a cactus garden. uh...)

2:15: arrive at Harrah's in Vegas

2:25: call and make dinner reservations (good thing because we didn't know we had to)

2:30: go to the Mack King Comedy Magic show

2:45: get first drink

2:47: wear first drink (real cool Leann!)

2:49: get second drink

3: Mack King's show (we LOVED it. best thing we could have gone to. LOVE LOVE LOVED it!)

4:30: meet Mack King and take pictures with him

5: try to figure way back to car

5:10 get distracted by MGM Grand

5:20: find lion cubs and take pictures for at least 20 minutes

5:45: debate going to a tv pilot screening

5:55: find car and drive to Hilton

6:15: check into Hilton at the VIP lounge

6:25: quick change for dinner (realize I only have my brown tennis shoes. Freak out a little. ha)

7: arrive at Beninhana for dinner

7:01: get seated with random people

7:02: try to explain that we had a dinner package

7:03: get out cell phone to show dinner package

7:04: leave Leann, go back up to room on 11^th floor to get printouts about the dinner package

7:09: arrive back to restaurant, hand confused waiter the printouts

7:11: talk to manager

7:12: talk to head manager at front counter (leave Leann again)

7:13: get sent to VIP lounge to straighten it all out

7:16: VIP lounge understand that they dropped the ball and begin to print out corrected paperwork

7:20: paper jam in printer

7:23: 2 more paper jams

7:30: finally have papers in hand and head back to Bennihana

7:34: show papers to mangers and server

7:36: finally sit down next to Leann as the waiter grabs my menu out of my hand and says “steak or chicken?” Everyone else at the table already has drinks

7:38: received a Buddha filled with some strong mystery substance

7:39: got the delicious onion and mushroom soup

7:40: our chef arrives and sets right to work. (this was seriously the fastest & quietest table I’ve ever been at at a Bennihana!)

7:43: salad arrived

7:44: chef tries to be fun and entertaining. He makes an onion smokestack, whistles like a train, and even flips a shrimp tail into his hat. Our tablemates are not impressed. They continue talking and barely look at the chef. Leann and I clap and smile.

7:46: chef dishes out the shrimp and vegetables he had just sautéed

7:47: as we begin to nosh, the chef begins making fried rice. Leann and I are handed small bowls of white rice by the server. Apparently fried rice doesn’t come with our package. (Can I just say here, we didn’t not get a free meal. I paid a lot of money for this Hilton/Bennihana package. Ugh)

7:52: finishes the fried rice and portions it out to our tablemates

7:53: he begins cooking the main meats as we finish the shrimp, veggies, and rice

8:05: chef hands out the meat, asks if everything is alright, bows quickly, and leaves

8:08: half of our tablemates get up and start to leave. (bills have not been dropped)

8:09: watch server and exiting tablemates discuss stuff and glad that for once it isn’t me

8:11: get asked if we want tea, we decline

8:12: get asked if we want dessert, in the same breath told that we’d have to pay for it because it’s not included but the Buddha mugs were and to take them home. (Seriously, did he think we were poor? He was amazingly and continually rude.) We declined dessert and then left a big tip. (take that!)

8:14: leave the table, confused by all that had transpired and that it all happened so quickly

8:15: take pictures of the cool Japanese pagoda/waterfall in Bennihana

8:17: head back up to our room…(I think it’s time to mention, we were equally underwhelmed by our room. It was supposed to be a really sweet room that my friend had even been sweet enough to upgrade for us. It ended up being smaller than the Courtyard we had stayed in the night before. The beds were not nearly as comfortable. And the showers were probably the worst I’ve experienced this trip, that includes the pay showers at the campgrounds! The “view” was nice but the hotel itself was actually quite far the strip so the view was not what we were expecting or even as it had been advertized. In the end, I was not happy that I had paid so much for this package. However, the point of Vegas is to not stay in your room. This experience certainly taught us that.)

8:22: drop off the buddhas, make any wardrobe changes that needed to be made, whine about brown shoes, leave room, and head toward the monorails.

9:30: get off monorail and walk down strip toward Bellagio

9:50: arrive at the Bellagio just in time to see the end of the fountain water show

10: watch the next water show on the edge

10:10: move to the center and watch another show. (what can I say, I’m an Ocean’s Eleven nerd.)

10:20: walk down the strip to catch the “deuce” bus

10:30: get on bus and head to the top of this lovely double-decker

11: miss the laser lights show because still on bus…boo (spoiler alert: we made the midnight showing.)

11:15: finally make it to Frement Street Experience

(The next few hours are nearly impossible to break down times or even the order so I’ll just list until I can catch back up…and, Mom, remember these things are already over and done so you can’t yell at us!)

• - walk around staring at the “World’s Largest TV Screen”
• - take a lot of pictures
• - gamble and win ($12.50 on $.50 not bad) at 4 Queens
• - gamble at Golden Nugget
• - take more pictures
• - laugh at the people dancing in the middle of the street
• - get a Mai Tai at Mermaids for $1!
• - Leann is the big drawing winner at Mermaids. She pulls the lever and wins a whopping $2
• - Play nickel slots for an hour at Mermaids
• - Watch the midnight laser show
• - Find French Toast for $3.99
• - Find out that French Toast isn’t sold til 2 am
• - Eat the world’s worst eggs instead
• - Eat a donut to make it better
• - Acquire beads
• - Gamble at Bayou
• - Walk in and out of casinos left and right
• - Look for souvenirs at a shop (sorry…I didn’t buy anything. I hate all those tacky thimbles, shot glasses, mugs, keychains, etc…)

(For those of you keeping count: Yes that was a lot of casinos. However, you should know that I didn’t spend more than $20 [19.40 to be exact] in all of the casinos in Nevada, including the ones not in Vegas. I even walked out with some winnings. That’s why I loved the nickel slots so much. Start with a quarter. Win $3 and play it till it’s gone or you’re a big winner. You are only out a quarter.)

1:20: decide to leave Fremont Street Experince and head back to the bus

1:35: bus comes and we hop on -- best bus driver ever

1:45: get off at bus stop still half mile from hotel (Hilton…grrr…) – btw, Leann still claims we got off at the wrong stop and so our walk was even longer. Whatever.

1:46: decide to walk to hotel instead of paying the $8 it would be for a cab. Ha. We are cheap!

2:05: arrive at Hilton unscathed except for our nose hairs. (seriously Vegas smells. We call the aroma “elephant pee”)

2:10: head up to our room

2:15: arrive and head to bed

October 17:

Wake up

Take Shower & Pack

Check out through the tv in our room

Drop keys downstairs

Receive our free $20 chip

Try one round of Black Jack

Lose to the house

Leave Hilton

Wait for the valet to bring our car

Tip the valet

Drive out of Vegas.

Shoo…that was a super long, but fun 36 hours! Next time needs to be days. I want to swim with sharks at The Golden Nugget.

--the nomad

Have you ever?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you talk to your best friend on your cellphone?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you call your mom after you talk to your best friend on your cellphone?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you call your mom after you talk to your best friend on your cellphone and in the middle of the call get blown away by the beauty of the mountains?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you call your mom after you talk to your best friend on your cellphone and in the middle of the call get so blown away by the beauty of the mountains that you take out your camera and begin snapping pictures?

Yeah, me neither... ;)

--the nomad