Day 15: Death Valley, Beatty, Las Vegas
Today we did a lot of driving. We checked out of the Dow Villa Historic Hotel in Lone Pine, bought some drinks, had breakfast at a big concern that starts with the letter M, and headed east past Owen’s Dry lake towards Death Valley’. Named after all the settlers that died horrible deaths in this harsh desert, it is the lowest and driest place on the Western hemisphere. Ground temperature can reach boiling point and it only rains two centimeters a year. If there is a middle of nowhere, this is it. It takes quite a while to drive through the Sierra Valley to Lone Pine. Getting to the desert valley entrance takes another two hours of driving, passing about three towns with a population below fifty. Nothing but dry plants and the occasional Yoshua tree grow here. We made a quick stop at a vista point when all the sudden we were overwhelmed by the sound of a jet engine; a fighter plane flew over our car, full speed, only ten meters high. It the made a sharp bank right and dove into the valley before us. The area past DV, in Nevada, is covered with military air force bases. It was, and is, the number one nuclear test ground is the USA. In fact, the famous top secret research facility, area 51, is only a few hours driving from here. This is something Pedro will like. We were also lucky enough to spot the 200x BMW 3xx v8 coupe. Parked just next to us, no license plates, and covered with black film. Both BMW and mercedes test their cars in this extreme landscape. We also spotted a squadron of new test mini coopers.
Death valley was nothing special, it was desolate and not extremely hot. Because of the heatstroke we had during our San Francisco road trips, 48 Celsius is not impressive at all. We managed to take some nice pictures, drove 160km/h, although the speed limit is mostly around fifty. We passed the famous valley pretty fast, and there we were in Beatty. This place is the worst DUMP I have ever layed eyes on. It is just random trailers and old crap scattered around to make a sort of hellish town. It is not even a trailer park, it is a trailer dump. We drove around, in shock, for fifteen minutes untill we found the “El Portal” motel we reserved. No way in hell we were staying in this god forsaken rat hole. We were kind enough to cancel our reservation in person. The ‘nice’ lady refused and wanted the full $100 charge for two nights. Then she wanted $50, and we were not allowed to leave before we paid, otherwise she would call the cops. Biatch. Wanting to get out quickly, dropped some money and drove away. We should have called the police ourselves, but we were glad to get out of here.
The miles and miles of straight highways to Las Vegas flew by. The closer we got to Vegas, the more crowded a it got. We got off the highway, directly onto ‘the strip’ where all casino’s are. While visiting Berkeley in California, an old lady said we should stay at the ‘Circus Circus’. We found a parking spot in their garage after twenty minutes, and took the stairs down to the huge and chaotic lobby. Rooms were pretty expensive compared to what we are used to now. By walking the strip and entering the various casino’s, we tried to decide if we wanted to stay in Vegas, or continue driving. First casino was circus circus: the place is filled with rows of glittering, flashing, screaming gable machines! Fat people hypnotically feeding their dollars into them, hoping to win the grand prize. It is such a shocking, different world, that I needed a few minutes to adapt and slow down. Horrible.
After a short search we found the Stardust Casino had two person room for $100. We made a reservation at the phone near the check in, checked in and installed ourself in the 40 square meter room with balcony, television, shower, bathtub and two double beds. Money well spent! A $12 all-you-can-eat dinner was enough to keep the hunger away for days to come. We headed out to explore what the fuzz is all about. The weather is hot and sandy, the streets are bright and windy. All casino’s look different from the outside, maybe americans are intrigued by the status and grandeur it represents, but all buildings are replica’s of architecture. Inside the entourage and people very in luxury, but the basic formula is the same. Gambling sells, sex sells. Every casino had thousands of machine rows, a few tables and a nightclub. Which we didn’t enter. Great to experience it once, to see it and take pictures, but even nicer to drive away from.
Death valley was nothing special, it was desolate and not extremely hot. Because of the heatstroke we had during our San Francisco road trips, 48 Celsius is not impressive at all. We managed to take some nice pictures, drove 160km/h, although the speed limit is mostly around fifty. We passed the famous valley pretty fast, and there we were in Beatty. This place is the worst DUMP I have ever layed eyes on. It is just random trailers and old crap scattered around to make a sort of hellish town. It is not even a trailer park, it is a trailer dump. We drove around, in shock, for fifteen minutes untill we found the “El Portal” motel we reserved. No way in hell we were staying in this god forsaken rat hole. We were kind enough to cancel our reservation in person. The ‘nice’ lady refused and wanted the full $100 charge for two nights. Then she wanted $50, and we were not allowed to leave before we paid, otherwise she would call the cops. Biatch. Wanting to get out quickly, dropped some money and drove away. We should have called the police ourselves, but we were glad to get out of here.
The miles and miles of straight highways to Las Vegas flew by. The closer we got to Vegas, the more crowded a it got. We got off the highway, directly onto ‘the strip’ where all casino’s are. While visiting Berkeley in California, an old lady said we should stay at the ‘Circus Circus’. We found a parking spot in their garage after twenty minutes, and took the stairs down to the huge and chaotic lobby. Rooms were pretty expensive compared to what we are used to now. By walking the strip and entering the various casino’s, we tried to decide if we wanted to stay in Vegas, or continue driving. First casino was circus circus: the place is filled with rows of glittering, flashing, screaming gable machines! Fat people hypnotically feeding their dollars into them, hoping to win the grand prize. It is such a shocking, different world, that I needed a few minutes to adapt and slow down. Horrible.
After a short search we found the Stardust Casino had two person room for $100. We made a reservation at the phone near the check in, checked in and installed ourself in the 40 square meter room with balcony, television, shower, bathtub and two double beds. Money well spent! A $12 all-you-can-eat dinner was enough to keep the hunger away for days to come. We headed out to explore what the fuzz is all about. The weather is hot and sandy, the streets are bright and windy. All casino’s look different from the outside, maybe americans are intrigued by the status and grandeur it represents, but all buildings are replica’s of architecture. Inside the entourage and people very in luxury, but the basic formula is the same. Gambling sells, sex sells. Every casino had thousands of machine rows, a few tables and a nightclub. Which we didn’t enter. Great to experience it once, to see it and take pictures, but even nicer to drive away from.
posted by Branko | 1:05 PM
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