The Road to Vegas

The road from San Diego to Vegas skirts through the southern portions of Los Angeles before roaring over the mountains and into the desert. Mile after mile of freeway unfold across the desert as cars rocket back and forth between the two capitals of sin, lust, and greed. On this particular day a batch of moisture had found its way into the arid interior. Thunderheads loomed large to the east. I encountered my first taste of rain since leaving Oregon as I crested the last hill and beheld the city of Las Vegas.

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The first hints of clouds.

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The Zzyzx off-ramp.  I came this way a month prior on a previous trip through the desert.

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At least according to the welcome center, Nevada is closed.

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Casinos built right on the state line.  Every single road entering Nevada has a casino as the official welcome committee.

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RAIN!  I had to use my windshield wipers!

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Rolling into Vegas with some stylish Hummers and Escalades.

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Looking toward the strip from the freeway.

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The Stratosphere.

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Sunset looking west from North Las Vegas.

Around San Diego

During our time at the IDETC09 conference we had some time to wander around town. While there are a lot of good bars in San Diego, there are also a lot of tourist traps. We were able to find most of the good ones and stay away from the bad. Here are a few photos to prove that we were there.

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Mike enjoying some late night food.

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Jon up to his usual tricks.

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Justin, always the photographer.

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Anthony joined us for a bit, too.

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Outside our hotel on the way to the conference.

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Trains crossing the street.

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The train stopped and backed up.  Then it went forward.  Then stopped.  Then backed up.  After about 15 minutes it finally got out of the way and let people cross the tracks.

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Some people actually tried climbing between the cars and engines!