American Diary Part 16 Las Vegas

June 12th - Death Valley to Las Vegas Another early shower and this time avoided any queues! yippee!. We left Bishop and the memory of the Deliverance trio behind (they tried again with me that morning, but sent a different wierdo to do the questioning, and later they stood by the showers and talked to the boys who also thought they were wierd!) Driving all day through dry sage brush desert and small towns on straight roads (Big Pine, Independence, Lone Pine) we started to descend into the DEATH VALLEY national park. The scenery getting noticably drier and more bare rock. Stopping at a high viewpoint it was startling how vast the park is, and the reality of being stuck here was evident all around you. An hour later we arrived in the middle of the valley at the visitor centre Furnace Creek. It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to work here, but once inside the air conditioned buildings with cold drinks you forget what's outside..... and what is outside? The HOTTEST, DRIEST, LOWEST place in the Western Hemisphere. on our visit it was only (only!) 90 degrees and can reach over 110 degrees. It is so dry you feel the moisture leaving your skin and feel thirsty all the time. The heat radiates from the bare ground and makes you entire body overheat really quickly, so any shop selling water or ice cream can name their price - and they do! Back in the van we drove on for a few miles to reach BADWATER BASIN and the lowest point - 282 (feet or metres I forget) below sea level (it was very low anyway!). We stopped here and the AP's moaned about the heat and didn't see the point of the visit, so those of us with brains got out and walked about on the salt flats which remain after all the moisture evaporates. It does rain in the valley A LOT - they have severe storms regularly and it causes the roads to buckle, rivers to form and erosion all around the place. the moisture cannot run off outside the valley so it collects and evaporates leaving the minerals behind. Interesting stuff don't you think? On this trip I have seen lots of amazing natural geological wonders and more were to come. Anyway, I made my visit longer than I should have just to keep the AP's waiting - when I got back to the van I could hear them singing along to the German version of the dance track 'Barbie girl' and I almost (almost) thought about staying in the valley instead of taking the trip with them, but realised that a slow and painful death on the salt flats would not be a nice way to go, and at least I had my Ipod on full volume to help me survive the environment inside the van! Thank heavens for Depeche Mode remixes, Van Halen and movie soundtracks to keep me sane....... Another short stop at a viewpoint overlooking the valley and then we carried on for another 5 hours driving through the desert towards Vegas, crossing the Nevada state line along the way. LAS VEGAS I found the Nevada desert interesting, mainly because I was looking at the ramshackle homes, rusting trucks, sage brushes, stuff. Other people slept. Vegas is huge and spreads wide across a vast dry plain. The distant skyline promises some excitement in the monotony of it's surroundings and after a slow crawl along the Interstate we were dropped at our Motel 'Best Value Inn' just off East Tropicana Street at the end of THE STRIP - Vegas's main drag where all the casinos can be found. The heat was stifling, and thank God for aircon! Meeting the group at 6.30pm we walked the short distance to EXCALIBUR casino for an All you CAN EAT buffet - so I ate all I could, and wished I hadn't. the AP's and boys had booked a Limo tour (stretch Hummer) and I chose not to join them surprisingly. Instead I walked the strip and photogrpahed all the wierd and wonderful sites in Neon and Stone, from the replica of New York, Pyramids and Sphinx, Venice (complete with gondolas and Bridge of sighs), Ceasars Palace, and the BELLAGIO - most famous now for the location of the Oceans 11,12 & 13 movies. Along the way I dipped my feet into a few fountains to cool off, until we (Nicole and me) got told off by security - but not before loads of other people had copied us and got busted too! At the Bellagio, there are amazing fountains which perform to musci every 20 mins. by 10.45pm tired and a little weary of the 'in your face' Vegas strip, we stopped to wait for the show. I managed to film some, before a woman prodded me in the back and asked me to move so she could have her photographer take her picture. I politely explained that I was filming it on my camera and thought that would be enough to end the matter. But Oh No... her photographer then had another go, and I still refused explaining that I had waited over 20 minutes and travelled from England and wanted to see the fountains. She then turned nasty, said it was her wedding day -called me a Bitch and said "F**k You'. I was charmed enough to stay there even longer than planned just to piss her off. I mean... what reason did she have to be so rude? There were other spots she could have stood, not just where I was. It did spoil the evening, but on reflection I realise she was a cow and I hope her husband files for divorce when he realises what he married! She looked like a ho anyway. (That's American for slut by the way). Back at the Best Value Inn, I took a cold shower then bed watching RODEO Live from somewhere dry and dusty with 2 guys on TV trying to make the show exciting... and failing.