It has been a very busy 19 days. I left Vancouver for California, first for work (in Newport Beach), then for holidays, then back to Vancouver for much hecticness and packing, then across the Pacific again on Christmas day (note to all; Christmas day air-travel does NOT mean quiet airports, especially in Los Angeles)
Ross met me in Newport beach at the end of the conference. He’d arrived in LA that morning and picked up a rental car. We had dinner with our friends and colleages, Matt and Audrey, and then skipped town for Santa Ana. We picked up groceries in an entirely Latin American part of town (the only liquor they stocked was tequila; at least 30 varieties of it). These and the piles of jicamas were lovely reminders of this time last year when were in Cozumel, Mexico. We stayed overnight in Santa Ana and then headed out of town in the morning. Wanting to get out of the LA urban sprawl, we didn’t stop until Palm Springs. The entrance to the valley was a forest of wind farm towers. The town itself was as rich in golf courses as it was in expensive trucks. We found a sports store to buy a camping stove (Alaska airlines don’t permit them… not even brand new ones so we picked up a MSR PocketRocket and a couple of butane canisters), loaded the trunk with groceries and headed north to Joshua Tree.
Pretty soon it felt like real desert and we enjoyed the cactus and the dry air. We took pleasure in the warmth from the sun as, when it slipped below the horizon, the temperatures plummeted to around freezing. We camped among some truly awesome boulders, scavenging wood from other fireplaces to keep us warm while we cooked our dinner. In the morning we climbed a hill and then continued north-west through the park stopping where the vegetation (yucca, cactus, joshua trees) or boulders became especially dense and inspiring. We hiked to the fortynine palms oasis and spent the second night at Indian Cove at the north tip for a quick getaway to Death Valley in the morning.
The next day at around lunch time we entered the Death Valley national park from the Southern tip and traveled north through Death Valley itself. We stopped at the salt flats and at Badwater (the lowest point in the Western hemisphere, as one group of particularly loud American’s kept repeating, at 87m below sea level). The sun was low as we drove along artist’s drive. The warm light enhanced the amazing colours at artists palette and we ran though the narrow canyons in awe of the greens and reds and purples in the rock. At camp we diligently collected coals from a dozen cold fire rings, but in a moment of absence a coyote ran off with the bag leaving us with a small fire. Soon after dinner we were cold enough for bed.
The next morning we searched for the pupfish at salt-creek, but they are inactive in winter so we warmed ourselves up playing in the sand-dunes. We visited mosaic canyon, amazingly narrow at first then opening into high, steep walls. Further north we ventured into Titus canyon, formed by a fracture between tectonic plates it runs 26 miles though the entire western mountain range. Apparently there is a ghost town and some petroglyphs six miles in but we only had time to go part way before dark.
The last full day of our holiday was one of extremes. We awoke in the desert and then hiked around the rim of the 600 ft deep Ubehebe volcanic crater. We left Death Valley and drove south-east towards the Nevada state line. We passed a bright pink brothel, a respectful couple of miles outside the limits of a small desert town. We stopped at a ghost town, which in its goldrush heyday had a population of 8000, but now is merely a few rubble remains. We drove endless miles on straighter than straight roads and then hit the limits of Las Vegas, an incredible strip of surburbia-in-the making. I swear there were at least 30 blocks of half built homes. It’s obvious that it is the fastest growing city in the USA.
We drove right though Vegas to the Hoover Dam and then back to our hotel. The Orleans casino and hotel is huge. The rooms were lush and comfortable, especially for $35CA (!!!) and the casino floor was busy and glitzy. We had rib-steaks and classic martinis at one of the restaurants and then headed out to the strip. Our first mistake was thinking we could walk the slighty-less-than-a-mile. Lost in a maze of freeway entrances and huge parking lots we eventually entered the strip by the back-entrance. Our second mistake was entering Ceasar’s palace without a map. That place is HUGE, and every gambling hall looks the same. I swear there must be a factory churning out old ladies in black shiny pants, sparkly spandex tops and nicotine stained platinum up-dos. We visited NewYork New York, Paris, The Bellagio (the fountain display was truly impressive), Ceasar’s Palace, Excaliber and the Tropicana before deciding that they are all exactly the same inside. We gambled a total of $2 US …with a 3c return… and then took a $8 cab the mile back to the Orleans. At 5am, when we left for the airport, the casino was slightly less busy than when we went to bed at midnight, but not much else had changed. I think every day is the same in Vegas… except maybe Christmas when the machines give double payouts…
Vancouver was in full-on Vancouver rain mode for the whole week. Stuff was hectic but we had great dinners with Megan, Lukas, Anton, Juan, Rachel, Jordan, Matt, Meghan, Nicole and Richard. The packing is done and that is the end of my living in Vancouver. I think I’ll always miss the mountain view from my apartment. Always. Always. Always.