Fear and Loathing of Las Vegas

Somewhere between the 108 degree heat and the constant stream of ways to have money removed from your wallet, I came to be tired of Las Vegas. This little dessert oasis is the exact opposite of almost everywhere that we have been so far. Everything has a price and all that people are concerned with is money. Up to this point everyone that we have met had been very laid back, helpful and genuinely concerned with our well being. Conversely, most people seemed only interested in ways to procure more and more money. I'm not sure what I expected, it is a city that exists solely for the purpose of offering entertainment to people in exchange for their money.

On the bright side though, we are going to appreciate the wonders of nature that we will see in the next few days. As we left, we drove out to Hoover Dam to take in a truly amazing feat of engineering and construction. The dam's immensity cannot be fathomed unless you see it person. The concrete is so thick at the base it is still curing even though it was poured in the 1930's. The dam sits as a quiet giant that ironically creates quite a ruckus 20 miles away by generating the power that enables Las Vegas to be such a crazy place.

Regardless, we soldier on and are excited to see all of the parks to which we will travel in coming days. I'll take this lesson away as we leave the city atmosphere: we all really just need to slow down and appreciate just being alive and well and having a beautiful country in which to live.