Las Vegas
April 16, 2013 08:44 AM
A lot of different people have been involved in making Las Vegas what it is today: the Indians, Spaniards, Corps of Engineers, Mormons, the railroad, Hoover Dam Project, the atomic bomb, the mob, tourists—millions of them—and now us. But not for long. We leave tomorrow.
Some people love Vegas; some hate it. I’m somewhere near the middle. It’s an interesting place to visit for about 48 hours, after which I’m done. But it’s a good thing we don’t all agree on things of taste, or Vegas would either be overrun by people or deserted. As it is, it’s just crowded and busy and crazy and fun, at least for most folks.
We arrived on Thursday after an uneventful drive from Williams, AZ, and settled into a nice parking spot at the FamCamp (Family Campground) at Nellis AFB. Nellis is a nice base with lots of flying going on, some of which is done the F-16’s that I once flew. It’s nice to hear Vipers going over at low altitude. Hard to believe that it’s been almost 20 years since I last swung a leg over a canopy rail.
As I said last time, we’re terrible tourists. We spent one day on The Strip, wandering around enjoying the sights and marveling at the melting pot of people. A visit to the shops along the canal in the Venetian Hotel, an IPA (good but not great) at the Sin City Brewing Company, and an incredible lunch at the buffet at the Bellagio pretty much sums up our day. We then headed home without seeing any shows and, since neither of us are gamblers, with our retirement savings intact. Pretty boring tourists, huh?
We also spent a day touring Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, one of the marvels of the modern world. It’s amazing that most of the construction was done during the dark days of the Great Depression.
We couldn’t build it now. The folks in Congress can’t agree on the most trivial things, so to think that they could agree to fund a project like Hoover Dam is silly. I’m afraid those days are behind us.
Last Friday, I unexpectedly got to do something that was what I call “a hoot.” A friend with whom Ann used to work was in town, so we met him and his wife for lunch at a truck stop diner next to the Las Vegas Speedway, which is also home to Shelby American, Inc., maker of some of America’s most famous cars such as the Shelby Cobra. Well, it turns out that Ann’s friend owns a Shelby GT500 Mustang that he bought at the factory, so after lunch we followed him to the factory to see their museum. As it happens, he ran into one of the people he had dealt with when buying his car, who invited us to their “skunk works” to see #98, one of the prototypes of the new Shelby Focus ST (the same car tested by Autoweek). But the icing on the cake came when the fellow asked if we’d like to take a test drive. We were soon blasting up and down the deserted back streets of the Speedway like the devil was after us. It’s an amazing little car!
Other than that, we worked at getting the motorhome livable. We simply ran out of time in Denver so we piled boxes and bags and clothes everywhere and have been living in the mess until now. Being here for a week gave us (mostly Ann) time to sort things out and get the place in order. I’m not sure where it all went, but it’s out of sight!
Tomorrow morning, we leave for a couple of days at Edwards AFB, home to the Air Force and NASA Test Centers since World War II, which makes it holy ground to an old flyer like me. After Edwards, we travel west to the coast at Morro Bay, CA. I’ll be in touch then.
P.S. Note that I’ve turned comments on (click “Comments” below on the right). Being untested, I can’t guarantee a quality user experience, but give it a shot. I’d really like your feedback.
Alan
Some people love Vegas; some hate it. I’m somewhere near the middle. It’s an interesting place to visit for about 48 hours, after which I’m done. But it’s a good thing we don’t all agree on things of taste, or Vegas would either be overrun by people or deserted. As it is, it’s just crowded and busy and crazy and fun, at least for most folks.
We arrived on Thursday after an uneventful drive from Williams, AZ, and settled into a nice parking spot at the FamCamp (Family Campground) at Nellis AFB. Nellis is a nice base with lots of flying going on, some of which is done the F-16’s that I once flew. It’s nice to hear Vipers going over at low altitude. Hard to believe that it’s been almost 20 years since I last swung a leg over a canopy rail.
As I said last time, we’re terrible tourists. We spent one day on The Strip, wandering around enjoying the sights and marveling at the melting pot of people. A visit to the shops along the canal in the Venetian Hotel, an IPA (good but not great) at the Sin City Brewing Company, and an incredible lunch at the buffet at the Bellagio pretty much sums up our day. We then headed home without seeing any shows and, since neither of us are gamblers, with our retirement savings intact. Pretty boring tourists, huh?
We also spent a day touring Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, one of the marvels of the modern world. It’s amazing that most of the construction was done during the dark days of the Great Depression.
We couldn’t build it now. The folks in Congress can’t agree on the most trivial things, so to think that they could agree to fund a project like Hoover Dam is silly. I’m afraid those days are behind us.
Last Friday, I unexpectedly got to do something that was what I call “a hoot.” A friend with whom Ann used to work was in town, so we met him and his wife for lunch at a truck stop diner next to the Las Vegas Speedway, which is also home to Shelby American, Inc., maker of some of America’s most famous cars such as the Shelby Cobra. Well, it turns out that Ann’s friend owns a Shelby GT500 Mustang that he bought at the factory, so after lunch we followed him to the factory to see their museum. As it happens, he ran into one of the people he had dealt with when buying his car, who invited us to their “skunk works” to see #98, one of the prototypes of the new Shelby Focus ST (the same car tested by Autoweek). But the icing on the cake came when the fellow asked if we’d like to take a test drive. We were soon blasting up and down the deserted back streets of the Speedway like the devil was after us. It’s an amazing little car!
Other than that, we worked at getting the motorhome livable. We simply ran out of time in Denver so we piled boxes and bags and clothes everywhere and have been living in the mess until now. Being here for a week gave us (mostly Ann) time to sort things out and get the place in order. I’m not sure where it all went, but it’s out of sight!
Tomorrow morning, we leave for a couple of days at Edwards AFB, home to the Air Force and NASA Test Centers since World War II, which makes it holy ground to an old flyer like me. After Edwards, we travel west to the coast at Morro Bay, CA. I’ll be in touch then.
P.S. Note that I’ve turned comments on (click “Comments” below on the right). Being untested, I can’t guarantee a quality user experience, but give it a shot. I’d really like your feedback.
Alan
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