Day 8: June 29th

Day 8: June 29th 30,769 miles on the odometer

Today (finally) we have no problems with Ceci’s bike. Yeah! It is already hot when we get up in the morning, so it is a good thing we’re not planning on going far today. Destination Vegas! As it turns out, the Roadkill Café is not open for breakfast. Rats. We should have eaten dinner here last night and gone to the diner for breakfast. Instead we get breakfast at a restaurant across the street. The food isn’t great, just mediocre.
There is very little to see on this remaining part of the Mother Road: straight, flat, and uninteresting. It is, however, historic and the pavement is pretty good. We also don’t have to fight all the traffic and semi’s on the interstate. We pass up Grand Canyon Caverns to save time to visit Hoover Dam and make it to Las Vegas before dinner.
By the time we get to Hoover Dam the temperature is well above 100 degrees and Ceci’s hydration pack is bone dry. She is very red, probably close to heat exhaustion. We have been stopping to refill the water often, but she’s going through 3 liters every half hour. They are constructing a new bridge and have a security checkpoint now, so we have to walk the bikes for a little bit before we get to the dam. The delay does not help with the heat at all.
We park in a shaded parking space. Though we use only one spot we still have to pay for two. $7 each. A sign of things to come. I do not know about the new parking garage yet, though I believe the cost is the same. It’s construction, however, is not the same. The desert motif they are going for clashes garishly with the beautiful art deco styling of the dam. When I was here in 1996 I thought this was a great place to see. Now I am terribly disappointed. The dozen granola bars I keep in my hydration backpack have to be thrown out at the ticket counter. I’m not sure exactly how much damage a granola bar can do to a dam, but apparently they seem to think granola is a national security threat. Our National Park pass says it’s a multi-agency pass, but apparently the dam is not one of those agencies. The cost of the tour is at least double what I remember, and the tour is only about half as long. Apparently Vegas.Com is being allowed to operate the place as a for profit tourist trap. It feels like I’ve been violated somehow. I thought this would be a highlight of our trip.
At least we are able to refill our water supplies and cool off in the air conditioning for a while. It is oppressively hot. The lake behind the dam appears to be a good bit lower than the last time I was here. It looks like the desert is running out of water as fast as we are. We load back up and head for city of sin.
We get to Vegas around dinner time. It takes us about an hour to get checked in at Circus Circus. We have a room right next to Andrew, my best friend from high school, who has brought his family from San Diego to visit with us for the next few days. The hotel shows some wear and needs some repairs, but it is clean and comfortable. The elevators have very quick doors, blink and you’ll miss it – and have to wait a while to get where you want to go. There are usually more people waiting for elevators than there is space available on them. Andrew has his two children with him, so it was important to find a place somewhat family friendly. In that regard it fits the bill, but I wouldn’t recommend the place to people without children.
After a mediocre dinner at the buffet, we do a little light gambling on the slots. I’m up a little bit, but not quite enough to cover Ceci’s losses. Then we head down the strip for a long walk to see the nicer hotels. Even at night, Ceci is struggling with the heat. We stop regularly to rest, cool off, and check out the extravagant decorations and architecture of the numerous casino hotels. Still , we are worn out by the time we get back to our room.
Again I forget to write down the mileage on the bike so I have to guess at the mileage.
Maybe 200 very hot miles.