For the dozens – hundreds? – of times that I’ve made the drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, I’ve never gotten tired of it. The traffic jams at the I-15 and I-215 merge… the desolation that is Barstow… Calico Ghost Town (a rip-off; no real ghosts)…Zyzzyx Road…the giant thermometer at Baker… the sprawling metropoli of Primm and Jean… and then, at long last, the Glory that is Vegas! Maybe I never grow tired of the trip out (the trip back being a whole other story altogether) because I know what awaits me at the end. Poker, day-for-night reversals of my normal sleep patterns, inspired silliness, and just a little too much of everything. Depravity, debauchery, degeneracy, wall-to-wall blogging, hanging with the good people of the poker community… what’s not to like?
Here are a couple of shots from the trip in, including just about the most scenic scenery out there, and the Giant Foot of Yermo, a somehow-heretofore-overlooked roadside attraction.
Officially I’m not on the clock (the blog clock, the finest clock of all, a clock to rival the Giant Thermometer of Baker) until late tomorrow, but I’m like a kid at Christmas when I get near Vegas, and I just had to share my excitement with you. Especially the Giant Foot of Yermo. I knew you’d want to see that. More later, -jv
