Utah Expedition - Days 8 & 9 - Sep 11, 12 - The Lost Days

Oh the shame ... warning, this post has no overlanding value whatsoever.

So I arrived in Vegas the night of September 10th with big plans. But first I had to find an all-night car wash to get rid of all the mud and dust from the past 10 days, and to re-arrange some items in the back so that it would be easy to check into the hotel.

Then I headed up Las Vegas Blvd. (The Strip) towards my hotel. What I didn't anticipate is that there would be 2 separate areas of road construction (they obviously work during the night) which made a 10 minute drive into a 1 hour painful crawl. Well, at least I got some nice shout-outs from people admiring the Trailblazer.

When I finally arrived at the Flamingo, I ended up tipping the valet so that he would park the truck right in front of the entrance. Plus with the Safari rack, he said it would probably not be able to make it into the garage.

Stupid me, I ended up not getting a picture of it sitting in front of the entrance.

So what were my big plans? Well, because of past visits, and the economic downturn (Vegas needs visitors!), I was able to get 3 nights for free at the Flamingo. So I was going to use this as my base to go explore places around the area. Things on my list were Red Rock Canyon, Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon at Tuweep as a start.

I should have taken the construction as a warning as several things started to make these 2 days in Vegas the Lost Days, in terms of overlanding that is. I go to check in and their room booking inventory system is down. So thats another hour and a half in line waiting to check in. So to speed things up they are scrambling and offer me a better room for the 1st night and $50 credit ... but I would have to switch rooms the next morning. I didn't want to wait anymore so I accepted.

Well now that I was here, I wasn't going to just go to sleep so I decided to walk across the street to my old stomping grounds, Caesar's Palace.

I make a bee-line over to the Seahorse Lounge where my favorite bartender is the supervisor and we catch up on old times over several Martinis. Needless to say it was a long night.

Next morning (Day 8) I have to transfer rooms so there goes half the day. I decide to use the rest of the day to recover a bit and plan for the next day where I wanted to head out to Death Valley. At night I decided to head over the Caesar's again for a couple of drinks and bit of time at the tables.

Big mistake #1. Instead of Martinis I start up on Mojitos, my bartender makes killer ones. I then take my pre-planned gaming budget to the tables and the worst thing happens. I don't start to win right away, but I don't lose right away either. Six hours later I stumble back to the Flamingo, pretty much breaking even, but now its 5 in the morning!

I somehow wake up at a decent hour on Day 9 and scramble to get ready for Death Valley. Oh, did I mention that Vegas was experiencing an unseasonable heat wave? Temperatures were reaching 105 for the past week and there was no let up in sight. They should have been in the high 80s this time of year.

So it dawns on me that I should at least check the temps in Death Valley. I go online and the forecast was for 140! At this time what is left of my better judgement kicks in and I decide to not take a chance with a solo trip to Death Valley in 140 degree weather. I think a bit about heading over to Tuweep and the Grand Canyon, but looking at the maps I see that there are over 150 miles offroad through varying levels of graded gravel and dirt road. I decide that it is too late in the day for that and that a trip out to the nearby Red Rock Canyon would be a better choice. OK, let me go grab lunch first.

Big mistake #2. I head down to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville right in the Flamingo. The food was great, but the Margarita's were outstanding! All six of them. Well, there goes my afternoon trip out to Red Rock Canyon. I wake up later that evening and head over to Caesar's again for a small dinner. The rest as they say "will stay in Vegas".

So that is how I ended up with 2 days of my Big Western Trip with absolutely no overlanding whatsoever. Oh, and I didn't end up even taking any pictures. OK everybody, feel free to let me have it!