This was yet another day for traveling with a bit of sight-seeing tacked on at our destination. We left the Los Angeles area and traveled through the hills of the San Bernardino Forest and through the relatively flat Mojave Desert to Las Vegas. Not far out of the San Dimas Valley, we were greeted with desert scenery; mountains of just dirt and rocks of all sizes with not a tree in site. At the base of the mountains, scrubby bushes dotted the landscape. We crossed two passes of about 4,000 feet each before dropping down into the Vegas area. On the way, the desert changed by adding cactus. It was interesting.
The high desert of south-central California shows little sign of
much by the way of green color. The hills, however, do have
different colors because of the different mineral makeup.
As we got closer to Nevada, cactus plants of two varieties
began to appear on the horizon.
We took a Big Bus night tour of Las Vegas. Unlike the taped narration of San Francisco, we had a live guide. He was OK but hard to hear. Instead of ear phones for each occupant, there were small speakers about every other seat or so. We weren't near one. We probably hear half of what he said. We heard more wind noise and chatter of those behind us.
The tour took us past the famous welcome sign near the
edge of Las Vegas.
The tall casino hotels are in the newer section of Las Vegas.
Lights are everywhere and you know who pays the bill; losers.
We learned there are two, main property owners around
the strip. MGM and Ceasar's Palace Entertainment.
Our tour included a trip up the main drag to the older section
of hotels and casinos. We were allowed an hour to walk
around the area between the Golden Nugget and the Fremont.
The enclosed streets are filled with people and street performers
with their ”contribution” cans prominently displayed.
They called this “the Fremont Experience” which features
a light show every hour on the ceiling of the covered streets.
Fremont Street got its start back in 1905 when William Clark held a land auction for the construction of the railroad that went from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. Fremont Street started with two hotels and has evolved over the years. It now has about 26 million visitors annually and covers five city blocks with direct access to eight downtown hotel casinos. The central attraction is a barrel vault canopy 90 ft high at the peak and four blocks long. Free concerts are held on the three stages in the area. There is a SlotZilla zip line attraction in addition to stores and restaurants.
Vegas was a busy place. The Raiders had played earlier in the day and Nascar was in town as was a golf tournament. The streets and sidewalks were full of people looking for somewhere to go or something to do. The city was alive and just as crowded as any big day at Walt Disney World. Plus, it was loud!
Having had enough noise and lights, we returned to the motor home to close out the day. After all, we needed to get ready for milder experiences over the next few days, the kind that don't involve hoards of people.
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