Road Trip Day 1: Las Vegas or Bust

Waking up at 4am is not my idea of a fun time, however my desire to beat traffic and to get in to Vegas little earlier far outweighed my desire to sleep.  Strange as sleep usually wins.

The morning, brought with it an icy cold exterior but in the comfort of my Chevy Sonic, complete with iPod connectability and Garmin GPS I felt very much at home in this very different car. It didn’t even matter that I was navigating my way on the other side of the road (well to me anyway).

America is vast. I always had an inkling as a young kid, watching the world quickly move by as i stared out the window of my flights over the plains and desserts. However, driving through really properly gives you a sense of just how big and beautiful the landscape is. Everywhere I looked I wanted to stop and take pictures but I wanted to keep schedule and the time of arrive clock on my GPS would taunt me every time it recalculated after I made a stop.

A 6am Denny’s Breakfast and Peggy Sue’s 50s road side Diner (off highway 40) are the only meals I took during my travels. If you know me that sounds like it’s not enough but I forget these are American portions and my mere little 34 year old asian body can no longer knock back as much as I used to.

I did make a few scenic stops, including a very Joshua Treeish looking tree. It wasn’t quite as big but it still gave the same grandeur and spiritual feeling I get when I see the Joshua Tree. Which subsequently is still my favourite album of all time!

Having, rolled in to Vegas just after lunch, the flashing of lights even during the day were  beckoning. I took that as an opportunity to walk around the strip and, inadvertently, walked the full length of the strip back and forth (which I don’t recommend if you haven’t slept since 4am and just drove 8 hours). Vegas hasn’t changed much, though there are a few more newer and more modern hotels and like Hong Kong structures being put up (as we speak), but essentially the essence of this city hasn’t changed since the last time I was here, (2004).

Las Vegas is not my favourite American city, not sure if it’s top 10, but it does hold some enchanted power over me.  Not sure if it’s the excitement of being part of a casino’s  craziness, or the fact that you can do a fake city within a city thing.  Visit fake New York, fake Paris, and even a fake Italy to just start things off. Then you can pretend you’re on a Island with pirates while you enter a fake castle. It’s all Greek to me, which subsequently you can also visit at Caesar’s Palace. Nevertheless it is a good place to stop for the night.

All in all a solid first day. It was a beautiful and super smooth drive.  No near misses and I didn’t get lost.  My verdict so far is I love this.  It’s so much fun. The time goes by really fast (it helps to have iPod connected) and the driving is so smooth, that before you know it, you’ve reached your destination. Can’t wait to see what the drive to The Grand Canyon has in store for me!

Talk soon,

Jonathan

@jonleehk

@theriothk (instagram)

roadtrip2013