Day 80 - Austin TX - 10,042 Miles

Back in Austin. Just in time for 105 degrees. Fortunately we crossed over the 10,000 mile mark. Terry's plan was to keep driving around until we hit it. That proved unnecessary. Now I need to relearn all the TV stations and restock everything in the house. We met our primary objective of finding a place to spend next summer. The winner is Ocean Shores, WA. We have a place reserved from 6/1 through Labor Day. There should be some clever way to end this, but I never claimed to be clever.

The End

Day 77 - El Paso TX - 9418 Miles

Back in God's country. Spending two nights here to visit an old friend from college. My next objective is to reach the Central Time Zone. I haven't been able to adapt to TV schedules on Mountain or Pacific time since we left. The worst was coming back through Arizona. They are in the Mountain Time Zone but for some reason have not adopted daylight savings time. As a result their time and TV matches (I think) Pacific Time. I'm not sure but I believe The Price is Right aired at four in the morning. The plan is Tuesday night in Fort Stockton and Wednesday back in Austin.

Day 76 - Tucson AZ - 9100 Miles

Happy anniversary to us. Thirty-nine years. I started the day's celebrations off at a laundromat in Phoenix. (I think 39 is fabric softener). I finished starting my second washer and looked back at my first machine in time to see water flowing from the bottom. I opened the lid and could see that, although the washer was full, it had decided an unending flow of water would be in order. There were two other men there doing their laundry - losers like me who do laundry at 7am on a Saturday morning. We all looked for an emergency contact number but there was none.

One guy, who was clearly much better in a crisis than I, wrestled the machine to tilt it forward exposing the plumbing and wiring in the back. Ho told me to turn off the water valve. I looked behind the machine at a filthy maze of piping and valves. I couldn't tell which one was the offending line so I picked one more or less at random. It wouldn't budge. Then he said to pull the plug. This time I looked at the filthy maze of electrical cords and again couldn't tell which was the right one. I was also standing in an ever-deepening pool of water and had little desire to start grabbing electrical lines.

At this point I think my laundry buddy realized how useless I was so he had me hold the washer which was now tilted and resting on one edge. Good! I can do this! Then he reached back and pulled a plug which stopped the flow of water. Fortunately he survived. I moved my first load to a new machine to complete the wash process and was able to dry without further incident, although the three of us had to slosh through the place to finish our tasks.

The next part of the celebration was the two hour drive from Phoenix to Tucson. That's a short day even by my standards and got us into town a good three hours before check-in time. We continued to celebrate by killing time with such revelry as going to Target and splitting a popcorn and medium soda combo. Be still my beating heart.

After checking in we went to one of our favorite five-star restaurants for dinner.

Finally was a gourmet dessert at McDonalds. Now I'm in for the night and it's not 6 o'clock yet. Life is good. Can't wait for the next 39.

Day 75 - Phoenix AZ - 8947 Miles

We're truly on our way home now. After leaving Las Vegas we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Hoover Dam along the way.

Also saw lots of empty.

 

Tomorrow we head to Tucson.

Day 74 - Las Vegas NV - 8633 Miles

I tried. God knows I tried. I even took a nap between lunch and happy hour, but I was still in bed before dark. I remember on our first trip here 35 years ago I stayed up all night playing blackjack at the $2 tables. Now I play blackjack in the quarter machines for about 15 minutes and I've had enough. I've thought of playing at the tables here but I haven't seen anything less than a $10 minimum. I don't think I could handle that level of stress anymore. Last night I went to bed, watched TV for a while, went to sleep, woke up and went to the bathroom, and looked at the time on the clock. It was still too early for the nightclub here to have opened.

Happy Hour

I've decided Las Vegas functions in two shifts - day and night. Clearly I am on the day shift. We are the ones in shorts and T-shirts, walking around with our coupon books, ordering Happy Meals at McDonalds for the kids with us, wandering the casino searching for a wayward spouse, and carrying our M&M World tote bag, and often repeating the phrase, "If we eat here does it count toward our player club card?" We number in the tens of thousands.

Then there is the night shift. I don't know how many of them there are since I see very few of them. I sometimes catch a brief sighting of a few at shift change. I think they are like the scouts arriving before the main force. They are just starting their day as I end mine. The women (and men) with way too much jewelry. The incredibly high heels. The women from Mexico in their tiger-print miniskirts or leopard print stretch pants. Not a hint of denim in the bunch. And the cleavage, oh, the cleavage.

Terry went to the nightclub entrance after I went to bed and hours before it opened. She asked to see the "menu". It seems whether or not you get a table and the quality of the table depends on the bottle service you buy for a table. You could get a cheap bottle of tequila and a bad table for over $300. A good bottle and presumably a better table went for over $1300. If the night club opened at 10 in the morning and tables were about $3 I might go. The way things work it is highly unlikely I'll ever see the inside since the first night here I walked 3/8 mile through a passageway to the Excalibur food court to use my coupon for a free soft drink with my three-piece chicken dinner at Popeye's. I doubt Vegas cares since it's not likely I fit their target demographic.

We head out of town tomorrow so there won't be any more whining about Las Vegas. Did I mention the water here tastes really bad?

Day 72 - Las Vegas NV - 8633 Miles

That's right. Our miles haven't changed a bit. After fighting traffic on the strip and struggling to find a parking spot out of the sun in the Luxor garage, odds are very good the miles won't change until we leave town on Friday. Yesterday and today the theme was, "If I can't walk to it, I'm not going." For the rest of the week it will be, "If I have to leave air conditioning, I'm not going."

Our Sunday arrival coincided with the Luxor hosting "the city's original and longest running Lesbian/Gay/Bi-Sexual/Transgender (LGBT) pool party." I'd tell more but sometimes it's really true - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Our plan for the Strip was to do one side on Monday and the other side today. Monday we left our hotel and walked to Treasure Island. We figured we would go straight to the farthest point of our walk and stop in casinos on the way back. I failed to check the distance until we returned. It was over 2 miles to Treasure Island. Add to that the fact that the casinos are set WAY back off the street and are designed along the lines of a cornfield maze and we easily walked six miles yesterday. We started in the morning in the mid-80's, but by afternoon it had reached 100 and was climbing. I felt like I was on the Bataan death march, except they probably didn't have air conditioning to duck into periodically.

Today we did it all over again by crossing the street and walking down to the Venetian before turning around to head home. Today wasn't nearly as bad. First, since we started our treks in the morning, this turned out to be the shady side of the street. One hundred degrees and shade is way better than 100 degrees and sun. Second, this side had the older properties from back in the day when the strategy was to have the casino as close to the sidewalk as possible to lure in passers by. I swear, the day before at Caesar's palace it was well over 1/4 mile to get to the casino from the street. I think the new strategy is to build as many hotel rooms as possible and make the process of getting off the property so unbearable guests finally say, "Screw it. I'll just stay here." It worked with me.

My goal for the two days was to place one 25-cent bet in a machine in each casino along the way. After two days and 18 casinos, I'm up a quarter. In your face, Vegas!

Anyway, here are some of the standard Las Vegas photos.

Luxor Mezzanine Level from our Room Door

New York New York

Mirage

Bellagio

Caesar's Palace

Checking the Statuary at Caesar's Palace

Another Mirage (or Two) from the Venetian

Paris

MGM Grand

Treasure Island

You may notice these are all daytime shots. I'm a morning person and haven't come close to seeing Vegas after dark. I really should make the effort. Maybe a nap would help.

Day 70 - Las Vegas NV - 8633 Miles

Today we made the drive to Las Vegas from Twin Falls through 500 of the most God-forsaken miles in the country. Three different times during the drive we encountered signs warning that the next gas station was over 100 miles ahead. The picture pretty much shows what the terrain looked like. I could have faced any direction I wanted and the picture would have looked the same. I could have driven 200 miles and repeated the process and the picture would have looked the same.

It looked like the desert terrain from every bad movie you've ever seen where some inbred clan grabs unsuspecting motorists from the highway to torture, maim, and kill. It started out as high desert so it wasn't terribly hot, but by the time we got into town in was 107 degrees.

We're staying at the Luxor on the south end of the strip. I got off the interstate downtown so we could drive the length of the strip and see what it looked like. After making the drive averaging maybe 5 mph where turning left or right across three lanes of traffic seemed to be a pretty common practice and seeing the thousands of people walking around, I would have been willing to just keep driving out the south end of town and get an early start on heading home. Not wanting to forfeit my deposit, I decided to stay.

We made a few laps around the parking deck before we found a spot. Then we headed to registration. It looked like an American Airlines ticket counter at Thanksgiving. We finally got to the room. Hotels in Vegas don't age well. We stayed here soon after it opened and it was pretty impressive. Now it's just another hotel with worn carpets and stains on the ceilings. Another problem I have is that Vegas is no longer the home of 99-cent shrimp cocktails, $2.99 breakfast buffets, and $4.99 prime rib dinners. Now the food and drink, whether it's is the buffets, food courts, or fine dining is horribly overpriced.

I reactivated my players card from the last time I was here. They were real vague on how many points you needed to accumulate to get any benefits, but they did say every 1000 points would get you $10 of free play. Terry and I played the poker machines for a while and managed to accumulate 2 points. I don't think I'll get a room comp any time soon. We did manage to win $9 which nearly offset the excessive cost of our food court dinner. These five days will probably cure my urge to visit Las Vegas fr a good long time.

Day 69 - Twin Falls ID - 8097 Miles

For our full day in Pendleton OR we toured their “historic underground”. A little Pendleton history here. Many stone or brick buildings in the downtown area were built in the 1890-1910 period and all had basements. Often businesses used these spaces for legitimate purposes but there was also a four-block area known as the “entertainment district”. Much of the activity in this area was somewhat less than legitimate and operated out of the basements. At the area’s peak 32 saloons and 18 brothels operated in the district. Oddly, (to me at least) the brothels operated openly above ground. During the time the railroads were built, Chinese laborers were brought in for the construction. The Chinese also lived in the basements. They were not allowed on the streets after dark and ended up punching through basement walls creating a maze of underground rooms and passages under much of downtown.

From the late 1800’s through about 1950 the underground space was used at various times for Chinese housing, businesses, and opium dens; saloons and gambling halls, speakeasys, and ending with pool and dance halls for troops during WWII. The above-ground brothels were officially shut down in 1953 and the last one actually closed in 1967.

Late 1800's Saloon

Speakeasy Space from 1920's

Pool Hall from WWII Era

Chinese Housing Space

Opium Den

This is a hotel/brothel that operated from the 1920’s until 1953. Interestingly, the doorway to the upstairs rooms was sealed with concrete and not reopened until the 1990’s. That meant that, although the furnishings are not original, the building is structurally as in was while it was in operation.

Hotel/Brothel

Hotel/Brothel Entry

One of the "Working Rooms"

Yesterday was a drive from Oregon to Twin Falls ID crossing the appropriately named Snake River half a dozen times along the way. Today (after my weekly laundry) we checked what the city had to offer. It turns out the city has three claims to fame, as near as I can tell. First is Shoshone Falls. Some call it "the Niagara of the West". That might be a bit of a stretch but it was pretty impressive.

Shoshone Falls

The second is the Snake River Canyon running along the northern edge of town.

Snake River Canyon

Perrine Bridge Over the Snake River Canyon

Saturday seemed to be a big day for base jumpers from the bridge. We saw about 10-12 jumps. There were about five jumpers who would climb up the side of the canyon and jump again. That seems like a whole lot of work for a very brief reward. They were still at it when we left.

 

I thought it looked like fun but I couldn't find a place to rent parachutes. I also have a strict rule about not participating in activities that might involve my feet being higher than my head (see above photo). Also, on the off chance I survived the jump, I would have to live the rest of my life at the bottom of the canyon since there is no way I could climb out.

I don't know where this guy started but he sailed under the bridge and landed at the same spot the base jumpers were using.

 

The third highlight, for those old enough to remember, is that this is the spot where Evel Knievel tried his jump across the canyon. Had he succeeded or died trying, I'm sure this would be a big tourist attraction. Since he unceremoniously  floated down after a premature parachute deployment, this is simply a footnote in local folklore. The site is difficult to reach since the surrounding cliff-front property has become very expensive home sites. His ramp still remains, though, and I was able to get a long-distance photo.

Day 66 - Pendleton OR - 7738 Miles

We've officially started toward home. We're in no hurry so it will take us another two weeks or so. It will probably take Mick and Linda that long to become convinced we are not going to show up at their door in Olympia again. Then their happy dance will begin. These are a couple shots from our last days in Olympia.

Washington State Capital

In a National Forest

In a National Forest

The national forest shots were from High Steel Bridge. It was originally a rail bridge for logging but was converted to part of a logging road. We tried following our GPS to get there but it selected a route through an indian reservation. When they don't want you on their land, they make it very clear so we had to find an alternate route. I'm going to let Garmin know they need to make "avoid indian reservations" an option just like avoiding toll roads or ferries.

Today we headed south to Portland and then turned east along the Columbia River.

Columbia River

It was the usual cool, wet, fir forests you would expect in Oregon or Washington but within 30 miles of taking this picture the trees were nearly gone and the temperature had risen over 20 degrees. It hit 93 during our drive today. I was hoping to delay hitting the 90's for another couple of days but it wasn't to be. Although it will only be a couple of more days until we'll be saying, "Remember when it was only 93."

We're staying in Pendleton for two nights before continuing on.

Hotel View

Day 63 - Olympia WA - 7295 Miles

On Thursday, our last day in Port Angeles, we didn't have any plans so we picked up a Subway sandwich and hiked up to Hurricane Ridge (by car) and had lunch at one of the most perfectly situated picnic tables imaginable. I think the $15 fee for Olympic National park put me over the top for breaking even on my annual park pass.

Friday we drove back to Olympia. We're spending the time here in a hotel under consideration for next summer. It's high priced and not particularly impressive so the likelihood isn't very high. Saturday morning Terry did laundry while I drove back to Port Angeles to pick up the my camera battery and charger that I left at the hotel. Sometimes there's a price to pay for stupidity.

Saturday afternoon we stumbled upon another festival, this time in downtown Olympia. Last weekend was the lavender festival in Sequim. This was slightly different. It was the 10th Annual Hempfest. Hemp seems to attract a slightly different crowd than lavender. Lots of people were offered weed to buy, but for some reason no one approached us. In fact people seemed to avoid us in general. It wasn't age, although the other people our age had a somewhat different look to them. Terry's theory was people were suspicious of her "Jesuit Mom" t-shirt from when Chris was in high school. I did learn 100% feminized marijuana is best, but I don't know why. I also know where to go should I ever need a large assortment of bongs.

We also saw what I can only assume was an upscale food booth. I must be pretty trendy stuff since I can buy a bag of sunflower seeds for a buck, but there were selling five seeds for $50! Also I can buy a whole box of girl scout cookies for $4, but they were selling just three cookies for $50. I can' believe feminized girl scout cookies are that much better.

Day 60 - Port Angeles WA - 6910 Miles

Another sighting that just made me shake my head. These two photos show the actual process for using a particular crosswalk in downtown Port Angeles. Who came up with this idea? Were there public hearings? Did they seek competitive bids for the signs and flags? All that effort and I haven't seen the process followed by anyone. People simply wait for a decent opening and head into the crosswalk. Drivers see people in the crosswalk and stop (as they are required to do by law). It seems to work well.

Crosswalk Flags and Instructions

Detailed Instructions for Crossing the Street

Yesterday we took the ferry to Victoria, BC. It's amazing that such a narrow body of water can be the difference between a dump (Port Angeles) and a beautiful, vibrant city (Victoria). It's kind of like Niagara Falls, Ontario vs Niagara Falls, New York. In any case we spent about 5 hours wandering the harbor area and downtown.

Victoria Harbor

Victoria Harbor Houseboats

The Empress (Hotel) - Circa 1906 (Again, the Hotel)

Empress Hotel

British Columbia Parliament Building

It was pointed out to us when we arrived that Victoria was in the middle of its International Buskers Festival. I had no idea what a busker was, but I'm (almost) always up for a good festival. It turns out a busker is a street performer. You know. The people who, for the most part, range from boring to annoying and then expect you give them money for successfully wasting your time. Since we were there on a Wednesday afternoon rather than the weekend, we were treated to the particularly boring and annoying. We managed to avoid most of them.

We stopped in an Irish pub for a beer and some poutine - my favorite Canadian heart-healthy food. You start with french fries, cover them with cheese and bacon, and then douse the whole thing with brown gravy. I could feel my arteries closing up as I ate.

Poutine

We left a bustling Victoria and after a 90 minute ferry ride returned to a near-deserted Port Angeles. There must be some way to fix that but I'll just add it to the growing list of world problems I'll let someone else deal with.