But we still had a great journey, praise God! He must have been riding with us, because we spent most of the time under a small patch of blue sky!
We began listening to our New Testament CD’s today, covering half of Matthew in about 25 minutes. Our goal is to finish the CD set by the time we return home. We were struck by the miles and miles of sagebrush prairie, which was actually quite green today, as it had all been rained on.
We also passed this “shoe tree” in Hallelujah Junction and a brothel in Mina. The boys were not keenly interested in knowing what goes on in a brothel. Sherry asked them if they would be ok using each others’ tooth brush, and we left it at that.
Sherry had some heart issues and anxiety this morning, but it settled down for most of the day, until a cop passed us, slowed and did a U-turn, following us for about 5 miles before speeding past us and nailing the SUV in front of us. I think Sherry reached her desired exercise heart rate during that time! She says her faith in God helps her get through these times. Thank you, Lord!
We stopped for lunch food in Fernley, and ate on the road around the 95/95-alt Junction. Turns out there are few rest areas, and really no good place to stop, so we finally gave up and just made our lunch and kept driving. Ian and Jeremy didn’t care—they had Mountain Dew!
We drove through Tonopah, which has to be one of the higher cities in the country. I wouldn't give it points for beauty, though.
We passed by this amazing Sand Dune on the edge of Death Valley. It was as if the landscape finally just gave up trying to grow anything!
It didn’t really get hot until we got to Las Vegas, when it was only in the upper 80s. We dropped our stuff and headed for the strip.
We ate Chinese and pizza, snacked on Krispy Kreme at the Excalibur, avoiding the g-string girl dancing on the bar in the casino.
The lions were asleep at the MGM, so we decided to ride the monorail one-way and walk back.
On the way back, we saw the Mirage volcano and the Bellagio fountains. To give a sense of the pace, we saw the 5-minute volcano at 11:00 pm and the Bellagio fountains at 11:15. We walked the entire strip, but did not make it to Fremont Street to see the lights. We got back to our hotel around 12:00, midnight.
We encountered many colorful characters, and the boys saw the depraved underbelly of Las Vegas. I asked for all reactions, and here is what I got:
Sherry: Wouldn’t ever come back (smoke, crowds, heat).
Ian: The attractions were all right.
Jeremy: “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” (He said he read that in Reader’s Digest).”
Forrest: “Seems like high school—crowded isles, people saying anything, some dressing inappropriately.”
Everybody was relieved when we finally returned to our hotel for the night. Tomorrow we head for Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon!
