Headed to Utah

On to another adventure -- we'll see if I can do any better this trip at keeping up with the blog. I just tend to try to cram pack my days so full, that by the time I'm back to the hotel, I can barely do more than eat and die. In any event, I'm off to Las Vegas, Nevada this morning. No, I'm not salivating at the mouth to stick my dollars into a slot machine or sit across from some bored to tears blackjack dealer. But, Sin city is just where Dave happens to be at the moment. Every year, come April, he attends a big convention in Las Vegas. I usually go in towards the end, day trip for a day or two, then he and I take off for somewhere else. This year, the ultimate goal is Utah and its many National Parks in the southern part of the state, along with, you guessed it, a whole bunch of ghost towns.

I've got two days on my own first, but have just about exhausted every day-tripable destination from Las Vegas - I've done this too many times before. But, there are a couple of more I haven't seen, so today I am looking for Goodsprings, a ghost town, and a place called Red Rock Canyon, which really looks more like a great big pile of rocks. But, Dave says I'm enamored with rocks so, it oughta be a good day. Tomorrow, I plan to venture on over to California and redo a little stretch of Route 66 before heading back to Vegas. Next day, we're out of there and on to Utah. Will keep you posted!!

Hours later ...

Well, I made it with relatively little hassle, on-time flight, terrible landing, and a 45 minute wait at the gate, but all safe and sound. Then, off I go. p.s. -- If you're headed out of Vegas, want to avoid the congestion, and think you'll stop for something to eat or drink on the way, think again. Grabbed some chips and a soft drink at a gas station and on to Goodsprings.

While this place is a shell of its former self and is technically a ghost town, it's certainly not empty. It's most famous spot -- the Pioneer Saloon is still open and on a Wednesday afternoon in April, doing a brisk business. Though there are a number of old buildings that continue to reflect Goodsprings' more prosperous mining days, a number of new buildings and restored structures also fill the town of about 200 residents, many of which are most likely Las Vegas commuters. In any event, it was such a great stop and I was having such a good time visiting with the locals, I never made the rest of my planned journey.

So back to Vegas, hotel, some eats, and bed soon. How terrible is that?? I'm in Sin City, with every recreational opportunity that a person can buy, and all I want to buy is room service.
Perhaps tomorrow will be a more interesting story.