Las Vegas – May 16 – 18, 2008

Last updated: August 2, 2008

I went to Las Vegas to meet Henry and drive around Death Valley and Inyo Forest.

He was finishing a two-day job at the Four Seasons, which is really part of the Mandalay Bay hotel/casino. For this job, his assistant was Jenny, and she went with us on the road trip.

Note: Henry’s pictures are noted with “(H)”, otherwise they’re mine.

Sat May 17: Sierras from Inyo Forest (H)

Friday, May 16

I flew SouthWest from San Jose. Henry had a rental car and picked me up at the airport.

We went to the Four Seasons to retrieve Jenny, and the luggage and equipment.

We drove to the Palace Station Casino and checked in. I picked it because it’s just off I15. I didn’t realize that it’s really third-rate.

Fri May 16: San Jose airport

Luxor Hotel/Casino from the Las Vegas McCarren Airport (H)

Rumor has it that the no-name airplanes parked on that side of the Las Vegas airport ferry workers to the military/energy (DoD/DoE) facility north of Las Vegas that includes Area 51.

Then we drove back to the Four Seasons to get a bus to the Mirage, to see the Cirque du Soleil “Love” show using use the free tickets (handed out on the bus) that came with Henry’s job.

Fri May 16: Henry & Jenny at the Four Seasons

Henry treats rules (such as passengers wearing seat belts) as challenges. So, Cirque du Soleil announced “No photos”, and Henry got a couple before they stopped him. Here’s one:

Fri May 16: Cirque du Soleil “Love” (H)

Good show. Then, the bus back to the Four Seasons, and a drive back to the Palace Station.

Saturday, May 17

We had breakfast and got a reasonably early start. Here’s a crossroads “fresh” elk and buffalo jerky stand:

Sat 9:15 am: Crossroads jerky stand

Isn’t “fresh jerky” an oxymoron?

Sat 9:40 am: Henry & Jenny; photo op

Henry had a portable GPS. Apparently we took 160 toward Pahrump, NV, turned left on Tecopa Road, crossed into CA, where it’s called the Old Spanish Trail.

We went through Tecopa, then took 127 through Shoshone, to Death Valley Junction.

This cultural oasis was built by the lead actor:

Sat 10:40 am: Me in Amargosa

The hotel and convenience store were closed.

Then, left on 190 into Death Valley. There’s a campgrounds in the middle of Death Valley, but not much else.

Sat 11:10 am: Entering Death Valley

Here we are at sea level and heading down:

Sat 11:30 am: Central Death Valley

An aside: Scotty’s Castle isn’t a castle, except in the sense that “a man’s home is his castle”; it’s a villa or hacienda unusual mostly for its location, at the north end of Death Valley.

We made a pit stop at the ranger station and inquired about driving from Scotty’s Castle to the Bristlecone Pine part of Inyo Forest. We were patiently advised that unless we had a Land Rover, an extra 20 gallons of water, and an extra 40 gallons of gas, that the long route would be better than the dotted line on the map.

So we skipped Scotty’s Castle and continued on 190 west, through Stovepipe Wells.

West of Death Valley are some smaller valleys, just about as barren, but without names. Henry’s GPS showed altitude; the valleys were near sea level, the ridges between were about 3000 feet.

Sat 1:10 pm: Ridge between no-name valleys: Henry & Jenny: “Oh look! A rock!”

Outside of Death Valley we took 136 to 395 North, and had lunch along there somewhere. 395 goes between Death Valley on the east and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks on the west. Before Bishop, we turned east on 168, and headed into Inyo National Forest, stopping at a lookout point:

Sat 4 pm: Inyo National Forest: Henry & Jenny: “Oh look! More rocks!”

In a few hours we went from below sea level to over 8,000 feet here, then 10,000 at Bristlecone Forest.

One of those Sierra peaks may be Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the 48 states, at 14000 feet.

Sat 4 pm: Backlit clouds

Sat 4 pm: World’s highest chipmunk

There’s some odd stuff at that altitude. Here’s a sort of cactus:

Sat 4:10 pm: Inyo ground cover

Sat 4:10 pm: Inyo ground cover

We drove on to the Bristlecone Pine Forest. There’s still some snow at that altitude in May:

Sat 4:30 pm: Henry shooting Jenny

Sat: Jenny on snow (H)

Sat 4:30 pm: Henry; bristlecone pines

The bristlecone pines we saw were hundreds of years old. To see the ones that are a few thousand years old, there’s a trail to the Methuselah Grove. The trail goes two miles in and about 800 feet down. Considering the return, a two mile hike up from 9200 feet to 10,000 feet, we opted out.

We continued on 168 east and turned right at Oasis onto 266 east, crossing into Nevada, where we picked up 95 south, driving past the Nevada Test Site back toward Las Vegas.

Sat 6:50 pm: Area 51?

We made a pit stop about 7 pm in Beatty, NV.

Sat 6:50 pm: Beatty: Stagecoach Casino

From here, Jenny drove into Las Vegas.

Sat 8 pm: Sunset in Nevada

Sat 10 pm: The Venetian

We dropped the car at the hotel and much to my surprise, I was locked out of my room. So, back to the front desk, where I was told I had a one-night reservation, and that I should wait for security to identify and collect the stuff in my room.

Before the security guy showed up, Henry found me in the lobby, since I didn’t answer a call to my room. They were ready for dinner. I checked my hat, sunglasses, etc. at the bell desk.

We took a taxi to the Venetian. We walked through the lobby then up to the shops area, with the indoor gondola ride, and found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner.

We took a taxi back to the Palace Station, where a different desk person apologized for the mixup, and gave me a new room key.

Sunday, May 18

We drove to the airport, dropped the rental car, and flew to our respective homes.

Mischel picked me up at the San Jose airport.