The desert mini holiday

[tenaya]

We went to Las Vegas, picked up a friend and then went to Laughlin overnight, stayed a further day in Vegas and drove home.

We got a late start because Reggie decided if he disappeared into the sea of wheat and oats that is the yard, we couldn't go. He was right. Knowing that calling for him was useless in this situation, we went over to the neighbors and *loudly* praised the beauty and character of her cats. Making the cat jealous is fair play as far as I'm concerned when we're two hours late leaving. And it worked.

The desert was very green in parts and all those dry lakes are shimmering with water. In fact, as we approached Prim at night, it looked like a seaside resort with the reflections from all the lights stretching far out into the notsodry lake. Obviously, the wild flowers this year should be absolutely amazing.

I have a couple of questions/rants about Las Vegas.

One, why was roughly 5% of the cars driving about with their fog lights on? Hello? It's not foggy! I'm thinking they are either members of a secret society or they think four head lights on will make them look bigger and scarier. It doesn't. It makes you look like a dork that doesn't know how to operate your vehicle.

Which brings me to their atrocious driving habits. I'll spare you the many, many details but sum it up by saying there's a large percent who are criminally aggressive and fucking insane (this is my opinion after 5 trips out there in 15 months.) My new theory is that the aggressive territoriality springs from the unbelievable influx of new people and new growth. You can not fathom how fast that city is growing. I prefer this theory to the one that suggests that they just get a kick out of causing other people to have accidents.

Oh yeah. Mock LA all you want, but I got news for you; that layer of brown stuff that covers your city? It's smog. From my vantage point, the top of the Stratosphere looked like a buoy bobbing on a brown sea.

Other than that, the town is really a lot of fun.


The unfortunate part of the trip was I got sick for a few days. Fever, chills, headache, muscle ache. I still have the headache. Since I did have a few mosquito bites last week, I'm wondering if this could be West Nile Virus. The continuing headache is not something I usually have with the flu and besides, the flu last longer. Anyway, I still drove down to Laughlin since the other two members of the party had that deer-in-the-headlights look at the possibility they might be asked to drive. It was actually not so bad once we left the Vegas traffic.

Laughlin is smaller than I thought. The Ramada Express was a lot of fun with a small steam train chugging around the property. I like trains.... The Rock and Gem show was smallish, but still too much for me. There was so much neat stuff and I didn't feel like buying any of it. Very, very sad.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Comments

[moonchildetoo.livejournal.com]

It does sound like you could have/had West Nile. Are you going to get a blood test or whatever to check? Fingers crossed.

I was not feeling too great at Snow's, and the peanuts never made it from my car to Chris's. So if there is no bash in March (I can't make it to Meg's), they'll still be in my trunk for Snow's again in April. They might be slightly stale, but I suppose Mama Coon won't mind.

Naughty Reggie!

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I can 'afford' this curiosity. I wonder how much it costs?

Don't worry about the peanuts, they store very, very well.

I just checked my schedule against the slashbasher's schedule. I either work or am going to a con except for the dates in Oct and Nov! That sucks big time. I thought that my new schedule where I only work one Saturday in six would give me more availability, but what are the odds!

Reg is 'lawful.' He gets scandalized if things aren't 'right.' In his mind, he was preventing the wrong of us going away. *g* We trimmed his claws tonight since they were catching on stuff and all he did was purr. He's never had his claws trimmed before. He is really such a sweetie.

[moonchildetoo.livejournal.com]

Re: a blood test, I would think that if you went to your doctor and told him you thought you might have been exposed to either West Nile or Valley Fever, there would be minimal if any cost to you, depending on your insurance.

The bashes aren't working out very well for me this year either, as I posted to the list. I can't get to Meg's next month as I'm working, could do March but there is no bash. Will be at Snow's in April. No bashes set for May or June when I could actually do one. July I will be able to be at Denetia's. I can't do Meg's in August, the heat literally makes me ill. I think I'll be working in September and October. Sigh...

We'll have to try and get together one weekend, one way or another.

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>We got a late start because Reggie decided if he disappeared into the sea of wheat and oats that is the yard, we couldn't go. He was right. Knowing that calling for him was useless in this situation, we went over to the neighbors and *loudly* praised the beauty and character of her cats. Making the cat jealous is fair play as far as I'm concerned when we're two hours late leaving. And it worked.

LOL! Yes, that sounds like a surefire winning strategy.

A friend of mine (he had one flaw, he didn't like cats) once informed me that cats do not know their own names. I told him, not only do they know their own names, they know the names of every other cat in the household.

We had two cats at the time, Spot and Woody. I told him to watch Woody. I informed him Woody would not respond by even a twitch when I called her name, but to be sure not to take his eyes off her when I called Spot's name.

Sure enough, Woody didn't react when her name was called, but as soon as Spot's name was called, Woody looked all over the place to see what Spot was getting that she wasn't.

>>>The desert was very green in parts and all those dry lakes are shimmering with water. In fact, as we approached Prim at night, it looked like a seaside resort with the reflections from all the lights stretching far out into the notsodry lake. Obviously, the wild flowers this year should be absolutely amazing.

Awesome! I love the desert when it blooms.

>>>Which brings me to their atrocious driving habits. I'll spare you the many, many details but sum it up by saying there's a large percent who are criminally aggressive and fucking insane (this is my opinion after 5 trips out there in 15 months.)

Yup, I would agree.

>>>My new theory is that the aggressive territoriality springs from the unbelievable influx of new people and new growth. You can not fathom how fast that city is growing.

There were 100,000 people in Las Vegas when I lived in that general area (1970s), and about 5,000 in Henderson. I just googled the population, and there are 500,000 people in Vegas now, and a whopping 175,000 in Henderson.

>>>The unfortunate part of the trip was I got sick for a few days. Fever, chills, headache, muscle ache. I still have the headache. Since I did have a few mosquito bites last week, I'm wondering if this could be West Nile Virus. The continuing headache is not something I usually have with the flu and besides, the flu last longer.

Might be Valley Fever? Though that's more common for people who visit Phoenix. And I think it lasts longer than a few days. Here are the symptoms for a mild case:

1. Flu-like illness of dry cough, fatigue, headache, and backache
2. Joint aches and swelling may occur.
3. Rash

I was talking with a friend in NY, and she mentioned how her husband had been out to Phoenix and come home with a weird "bug". His doctor couldn't ID it, but it sounded exactly like Valley Fever to me.

>>>Anyway, I still drove down to Laughlin . . .Laughlin is smaller than I thought.

Most of the land around there is federal, so they can't get any bigger. (I lived 30 miles from Laughlin in the 70s).

It's been ages since I've been to Vegas... I think I need to plan a trip there...!

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

That's a great cat story. You betcha they know each other's name and have to make sure they aren't getting preferred treatment!

Re LV growth. My friend moved out there in 10/03 and there was emptiness on three sides of her neighborhood. Now there are houses for up too a half mile plus a high school that will be opened by spring. I heard a news report about education concerns and they figure they get 7,000 new school kids *each month.*

I don't think it's Valley Fever; no cough and I'm feeling pretty good now (slight headache only.) I didn't know one could catch it out there. It usually is missed by doctors in other parts of the country. Did you know there was a lot of cases after the Northridge earthquake? All that shaking stirred up that stuff.

Ah, that explains about Laughlin. We stayed overnight at Avi, which is a resort casino at the bottom of Nevada, on a reservation. I loved the decor, but too smokey. It was pretty busy considering.

If you go to Vegas, I can give you some insight on the buffets. *g* Breakfast at Paris is wonderful. The Bellagio has a more gormet angle on their selections. The seafood buffet at the Rio is great, but a more modest price is for their excellent International buffet. And don't even think of driving on the Strip on Friday night. I went 1/4 mile in 30 minutes once. Gridlock, thy name is Vegas.

Twernt the Fever you had...

[(Anonymous)]

I've had Valley Fever, and what you experienced -- although sucky -- wasn't it...unless you developed a rash that gave a hinnie like a baboon after you left here.

And I *have* thought of putting up a website called assholedrivers.com wherein I'd post the license plates of jerk-off drivers and their stunts du jour.

See you in about 48!

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