So Colleen has been here for over a week. I take her to the
airport Tuesday...and I’m really not looking forward to it. But that’s another
matter, and another post.
Tonight I’d like to focus on the drive up to Las Vegas to
pick her up. I watched her flight information rather closely, and shot up to
the airport to be there just before she arrived…which turned out to be a half
hour early. This fact did not make me sad.
So at 10:15 on August 24, I was sitting at baggage carousel
fifteen at McCarren airport in Las Vegas when she disembarked. It was very,
very nice to see her face…and it has been very, very nice to have her here.
The drive itself was ridiculous. Just over an hour and a
half from Bullhead, the drive starts with a quick up and down through some
mountains (which were a little surreal at night) and then a long, fairly
straight drive up to the airport through open empty desert. The spread of stars
was absolutely incredible, and I almost stopped more than once just to look at
them. But I pushed on.
The first thing that struck me about the drive was the
little town about halfway to Las Vegas. It appears suddenly, out of nowhere,
slows the speed limit, charges too much for gas, offers casinos, and then
disappears again as rapidly as it appeared.
Then the glow that is Las Vegas appears on the horizon…hidden
behind mountains, there is still no doubt what you’re seeing. The desert is so
dark, and so totally bleak at night, that the glow on the horizon (which couldn’t
even be distinguished in New Jersey, I’m certain) draws you in.
It does not, however, prepare you for the first vista of the
city itself. You pass a casino, then back into desert, then come around a hill
and BAM…the city of Las Vegas and the lights are laid out before and below you.
It’s like looking at the sky upside down. I actually exclaimed something to the
effect of “Woahhhawwooowwww,” and then looked around the empty car to make sure
nobody had heard me. It was wild. A sight that I’ll never forget.
And certainly a good reason to be going up there, as well.
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