Road Trip, The End

Well, after a week on the road, it was time to head to Las Vegas for a software convention. There was just one problem, which was quickly discovered: during the night, a tree had fallen down over the road in and out of the makeshift campsite. It wasn’t a big tree, but it was big enough, and it covered the entire road.

I got up (which was fairly early; I never sleep late when camping), had breakfast, and broke camp quickly. I was the 3rd person to try and leave the camp that morning, and the first two were parked in front of me, contemplating what to do. I had a small axe in my car, but it was for chopping kindling, not for cutting a tree trunk.

The other two were actually less prepared than I was; I don’t remember exactly what they were wearing, but they could have been dressed for a day at the mall.

The three of us were eventually able to swing the tree a little bit – enough to let small cars (like mine) drive around the end of the tree (if partially offroad). We were able to get out but there was no way that some of the bigger vehicles (like some of the RVs I’d seen pull in overnight) were going to get through. One of the people who helped clear the tree (a young lady) was going to go to the North Rim that day, so she said she’d go and tell the park ranger that people at this campsite were going to need help getting out. It all certainly was an odd way to start the day.

Of course I didn’t get any pictures. Figures – something interesting happens right away and I forgot to grab my camera.

Anyway, the rest of the ride to LV was fairly straight forward.

Literally. Har, har.

I’m a little confused about this: somehow I took this picture later in the day (according to the timestamps on the images). Wasn’t I already in Arizona?

In any case, the rest of the trip to LV wasn’t very interesting, and the closer I got, the more people, and eventually more traffic, I had to deal with.

Once I got to the hotel (Caesar’s Palace), I remember having to stand in line to check in, and I hadn’t showered in 3 days (one of which, you have to remember, was spent in the heat of the Grand Canyon). So, I stunk. I felt really bad for the people in front of and behind me in line. I did my best to keep some space around me. The first thing I did of course when I checked in was take a long shower. Oh, and I got a manicure. Yeah, I’ll admit it. After a week on the road, it was awesome.

I was in LV for a couple of days 4 or 5 I guess (and no, I won’t post any pictures from LV here). When it was over, I decided to head straight home. I was done with camping etc. after luxuriating in a Las Vegas hotel for half a week. I told my GPS to get me home by the straightest, fastest method, and that’s the route I took.

It actually took 2 days of solid driving to get home. I didn’t take many pictures on the way home (most of the trip was either the arid plans of Nevada, or parts of states I’d already driven through).

I did take these two however. This first one, probably taken somewhere in northern Nevada, shows how beautiful the weather was. I really had gone at a great time, I rarely if ever saw anything but sunshine and blue skies.

This next picture I took later in the day, probably in southern Oregon, before the first night of camping on the way home:

Again, I didn’t sleep in very late this last night of camping, especially because I was heading home and was excited to get there. I had called my friend Jill in Bend, OR about the possibility of seeing her for lunch that day as I drove through, except that instead of getting to Bend mid-day I got there at about 7AM. I called her cell phone and left a message, “If you wake up in the next 30 minutes and want to grab breakfast, call me :)”

So there you have it. Overall it took me 2 weeks to go on this trip, and it was well worth it. I spent time in 11 states: WA, OR, ID, UT, CO, TX, OK, KS, NV, NM, AZ, some of which I’d never been in before. I’d guess my total trip was something on the order of 4000 miles. If I had one picture to sum up the trip, it would be this one. This is me driving, top down, happy, with blue skies above me:

If you’re looking to read back on the road trip, here’s an index of stories:

Part 1: Road Tripping: Getting ready for a 2-week road trip in July & August, 2006

Part 2: Road Trip, Day 1: Get out of Dodge

Part 3: Road Trip, Day 2: Heading down towards Moab

Part 4: Road Trip, Day 3: Moab

Part 5: Road Trip, Day 4: Seeing the sights in Colorado

Part 6: Road Trip, Day 5: Kansas and Oklahoma

Part 7: Road Trip, Day 6: Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona, on the way ot the Grand Canyon

Part 8: Road Trip, Day 7 (Part 1): The South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Part 9: Road Trip, Day 7 (Part 2)- The North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Part 10: Road Trip, The end (you’re reading it now)

Blue skies. Beautiful country.