Gehlke Family 2005 Southwestern Vacation travelogue -- Day 13

We're in the rough and tumble "ghost town" of Chloride, Ariz. It's not entirely abandoned, however. I mean, how many ghost towns have a well-stocked gift shop? No, this isn't it. This is one of the funky buildings you'll find on the main drag. We liked the gas pumps and the little ore cart tracks out front. Chloride used to be an active mining town. Photo by Roni.

A wire fence near the entrance to town is covered in rusted metal objects. Photo by Roni.

Here's a closer look at the "fence art." There are some cacti just out of the frame that also had been decorated with rusted metal. Photo by Glenn.

Even the birds are getting territorial out here in the desert. Actually, this sign applies to the human species. This is part of a roadside gift shop along U.S. 93 between Bullhead City and Hoover Dam. Photo by Glenn.

We're inside that gift shop now, milling about while a busload of 50 or so returning gamblers clears out after using the facilities. This is not the line for the restrooms, but rather some life-size figures on permanent display. It's really sort of creepy coming around the corner and seeing these folks just sitting here on their bench. The sign posted to the left of the frame reads: "Please Do Not sit on figures. Thank you." Sure, no problem. Photo by Glenn.

The Hoover Dam never fails to impress. It is incredible to think that all this was accomplished in 1931. Highway 93 — the major artery between Las Vegas and Phoenix — is in the process of being widened and rerouted. When the road is completed sometime around 2007 you will no longer be able to drive across the dam. Trucks already face heavy restrictions on the dam because of a certain event that happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Photo by Glenn.

Here is Kokopelli, the hunchbacked Indian flute player, depicted on a metal artwork in Boulder City, Nev. We fell in love with Koko on this vacation. His image is just about everywhere you look in New Mexico and Arizona. He has great religious significance in tribal cultures. The rest of us just think he looks cool. Photo by Roni.

We stumbled upon the back door of the Nevada State Railroad Museum while in Boulder City. There's just something about a rusty old steam locomotive sitting in the middle of the desert that brings out the railfan photographer in me. This is Union Pacific No. 264, which has obviously seen better days. Photo by Glenn.

Viva Las Vegas! It has been 14 years since our last visit to Sin City, and my how it's grown. The Stratosphere Tower is visible in the distance as we approach from the south on I-515 (Highway 93). Photo by Roni.

Las Vegas has some interesting environmental license plates that commemorate the city's centennial celebration in 2005. Photo by Glenn.

The Stratosphere Tower, which opened in 1996, is the tallest building west of the Mississippi at 1149 feet. Admission, at $5, is a bargain. We should have gone up. Photo by Roni.

In addition to being the tallest structure, the Stratosphere is also the only one I know of that has an amusement park on its roof. Thrill seekers can go for a spin off the ledge of the observation deck. I have a hard and fast rule that the only thing I spin in Las Vegas is the slot reels. Photo by Roni.

No trip to Las Vegas would be complete without a cruise down the Strip to gawk at the pleasure palaces. Harrah's is one of the originals. Photo by Roni.

The World of Coca-Cola museum might qualify as a pleasure palace of a different type. It features the world's largest Coke bottle. Photo by Roni.

There is little to recommend Baker, Calif., to tourists, except for the world's tallest thermometer. At 134 feet tall it is tough to miss from I-15. The height corresponds to the highest temperature recorded in Death Valley: 134 degrees in 1913. Photo by Roni.

Caltrans hasn't started hiring optometrists to name highway exits, but this one off I-15 just might qualify as the strangest place name in North America. There is a long story as to how this road came into existence, and a lot of speculation as to how it got its unusual name. Rest assured, apart from its photogenic name, this is literally a road to nowhere. Photo by Roni.

Night has arrived, and so have we — at the last hotel of our trip, in Barstow, Calif. Photo by Glenn.

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Betting on Vegas

Thursday, September 29 (Day 13) — Here we are on the final night of our vacation. That just seems so odd considering all the places we have been and all that we have done for the past two weeks. It gets so that you don't think it will ever come to an end, but you know it has to. If your stamina doesn't run out first then your money surely will. We've done a decent job with finances, but our deep pockets only stretch so far. It really is time to be getting on home. We started the day without a firm plan of where to go. We were tossed up between staying on I-40 and surprising my grandparents Sorenson with a trip to Hemet, or venturing into Nevada to see Las Vegas. Nothing against the grandparents, but Vegas won out. Mainly because at this stage in the vacation the thought of heading into traffic-clogged Los Angeles and slogging through the Friday commute at the start of a 400-mile drive home didn't sound too appealing. We do want to get back to Hemet one of these days soon, but it won't be this trip.

We had our continental breakfast and were ready to boogie on down the line about 9:30. My first stop was the Flying J truck stop a couple of blocks away so I could tank up on the $2.80 per gallon gas they has there. The tank only took around 10 gallons, which means I'm getting about 41 miles to the gallon and still had another two or three gallons in reserve. I'll refuel one more time before we get home. We picked up a couple of souvenirs and some drinks for the road, then set out west on I-40. I was patting myself on the back for having bought the $2.80 gas when most of the stations in the vicinity were $3 or more. But the patting ceased when we turned off at U.S. 93 a few miles later to discover several stations selling for $2.69. I hate that! But no time to dwell, because we were now committed to a 90-mile drive north to Las Vegas and whatever we decided to do once we got there.

Roni has been shopping around for some specific souvenirs she wants, including these little saguaro cactuses made from glass squares that we've been seeing at just about every gift shop we've set foot in. The prices have varied widely, however, and she was holding out for the best price. Not easy to do when you have no idea where you'll be visiting. I think she waited too long, because the ones we saw today were more expensive or had plaques attached to their bases that she didn't care for. And now we're out of Arizona, and who's going to sell you a crystal cactus in California? We stopped at a couple of roadside gift shops along Highway 93, which is a fairly desolate road aside from the turnoff to Laughlin, Nevada, and Bullhead City, Ariz. There was also a road leading to the tiny town of Chloride, which we decided to visit when we learned that it was only four miles off the highway.

Chloride is a funky little mining town that got its start in 1880 and is now home to about 250 people. It has a rough and tumble Old West feel about it, in many ways more so than Tombstone because it lacks all the pretense of being home to famous personalities. There are no regularly staged gunfights (at least on the morning we visited) or saloon girls in period costume. This is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get ghost town of a few old storefronts and residences situated along a county road that goes right through the center of town. That is not to say that there aren't tacky gifts to be found, and we managed to find them at the Mineshaft Market & Arizona Visitor Bureau. The folks there were friendly and eager to provide us with information about our trip north toward Hoover Dam. We didn't spend a lot of time looking around, and I understand from checking the town's website that there are several ghost town remnants worth checking out, but we did take some photos of such oddities as the rusted metal objects attached to the fence and yucca cacti at the entrance to town. There is also a deserted gas station that makes a pretty picture of bygone days. I also enjoyed the sign posted in the gift shop that said "If they advertise on Rush Limbaugh we don't carry that product." I almost wish we could be around for the "All Town Yard Sale" coming up in two days. Alas, we'll be back in Oakley.

From Chloride we continued north on Highway 93, enjoying the fact that the weather was cooler than it had been at other points in our desert journey. We got spoiled by the upper 70s and low 80s we'd had yesterday from Flagstaff to Kingman, but upper 80s and low 90s wasn't bad. We finally arrived at Hoover Dam and discovered where they were hiding all the traffic. We had no problem parking at the overlook on the Arizona side of the dam, but looking down it was clear to see that people were mobbing the museum and gift shop on the other side. We didn't bother trying to stop at the museum; it was enough to show the dam to Ben and to drive across it. There is a lot of road work going on in the area as they attempt to widen and reroute Highway 93, and all of this only added to the traffic hazards.

Thirty miles later, we were coming into Las Vegas from the southeast and the traffic started picking up. It had been more than 14 years since Roni and I last visited Sin City and we couldn't believe the change. I already knew from reading my World Almanac that Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. It has about doubled in size since we were last there. But I wasn't prepared for how huge it is now, with all the new resort casinos and palatial hotels. We stopped at a place called Boulder Station well south of the Strip that was advertising a $6.99 buffet lunch. Not that we needed another buffet on this trip, but they're tough to resist when you are in Nevada. Boulder Station was busy, but not jammed like some of the bigger casinos. We found the buffet and had our fill of salads and too many entree items to mention. I managed to save some room for a cream puff and chocolate upside down cake. Only problem was that the food wasn't all that good. But I guess if you want the high quality buffets then you have to be willing to shell out $20 a head these days. After lunch I took Ben to the arcade for a few minutes while Roni satisfied her gambling urge at the video poker machine. She didn't win anything and neither did we. The sad thing is that she spent just $2 while we put in about double that on air hockey and the crane game. Poor Ben lost to me in air hockey and then was immediately challenged by a girl about his age who proceeded to defeat him as well. Roni pulled down a whole 2 cents for her efforts. It just wasn't our day.

It was closing in on 3:30 p.m. when we left Boulder Station and continued our journey. We had decided against staying in Las Vegas because of the traffic and because it was still early enough that I thought we could notch a few more miles before dark. Anything we could knock off today would leave less for the drive home tomorrow. But I didn't want to leave town before we'd had the chance to drive the Strip and see what progress had wrought. All I can say is "Wow!" We exited Highway 93 at Las Vegas Boulevard and followed it down to the junction of I-15. Every street corner was like a who's-who of the biggest names in casino gambling — Bellagio, Luxor, New York New York, Paris Las Vegas, Caesar's Palace, MGM, The Mirage, Circus Circus, Excalibur... So much eye candy. Sidewalks clogged with tourists. The traffic was heavy but not horrible despite it being commute time. I think perhaps I just didn't notice because there was so much to distract me. Stoplights were our friends as they allowed us to line up our photos rather than shoot them all while the car was moving. The centerpiece of it all is the Stratosphere Tower, which dominates the Strip as you approach from the east. It opened in 1996, well after we were last here. From the ground you can see the amusement ride at its summit that takes riders for a spin 108 floors above the streets below. No thank you. I'm a bit sorry now we didn't stay there because I would have loved to take some night photos of the place. But with Ben... Perhaps one day when he's older or we're retired and I've got about a week to just look and linger.

We followed I-15 southwest, and soon the high rises of Las Vegas vanished in the rearview mirror. Nothing for miles now but speeding motorists and desert wasteland punctuated by power line towers and the occasional orphaned casino. We were whipping along pretty good, listening to country music on the radio and chatting away, and I never even saw the sign welcoming us back to California. Ben says he saw it. I asked him why he didn't tell me and he said it was because I never asked. Guess that's logical. There isn't much to look at here in terms of scenery. We grabbed a quickie photo at Zzyzx Road, because how could we NOT take a photo of such an oddly named road, and stopped again in Baker to gander at the world's tallest thermometer. It may indeed be the tallest, but its reading of 81 degrees on a day that was at least 97 according to my own car's thermometer leads me to question its accuracy.

We kept driving with the setting sun glaring in our eyes until we reached Barstow, the town that marked the point of departure for the start of our journey. I-40 connects to I-15 and takes you to Needles. Been there and done that. We will be seeking out Highway 58 toward Bakersfield tomorrow, but first we had to find a place to spend the night. We searched around a bit until we found Main Street where all the lodging is located. Roni tracked down the directory for Choice Hotels and used her cell phone to reserve a room for the Comfort Inn about a minute before we drove into their parking lot. I think that's the first time we've ever done such a thing. I was concerned that we might not get the room because it seemed like a lot of people were out traveling and it was just getting dark at 6:30. But no problem.

We walked next door for dinner at the International House of Pancakes (or IHOP for all the hip folks who don't remember or care what the initials stand for). I just can't bring myself to order dinner at a pancake house, so I got the cheese blintzes instead. In fact, we all ordered breakfast dishes. Still filling, but better tasting than steak as far as I'm concerned.

We're all off to bed now. We have a big day of driving ahead of us tomorrow and I think we want to try to get out of town early so we're not driving all night again.