A Hot Drive To Las Vegas

“Oh, it’s too hot (Too hot)” *

Today I am driving to Las Vegas. The plan was to go through Death Valley National Park and see various sights before arriving in Sin City. When I planned the route, I was fully aware that Death Valley is the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America. It also holds the record for the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth.

In October the average temperature in the Valley is usually around 100º F / 38º C. This of course is still very warm, if not hot, but is something I have experienced in the UK and which I could handle. The current heatwave in southern California however has seen daily temperatures way above these averages.

The forecast for today, and previous and following days, is that Death Valley will have temperatures of 113º F / 45º C. Of course one needs to remember that weather temperatures are quoted in the shade. So out in the sun you can probably add another 20º F to that.

What concerned me was that to get to two of the scenic locations in the Valley involved walking from a parking lot for about 40 minutes round-trip and then another of 20 minutes. And that’s without then staying at the location for a while to ‘see the sights’. The thought of being out in the blazing sun in those temperatures for over an hour was something that had given me significant cause for contemplation over the past few days.

“Take a chance on me” **

People die in Death Valley because of the very high temperatures. There have been two deaths so far this year; the most recent was in August from heat exposure. I am not getting any younger, and whilst believing myself to be reasonably fit and active for my age, I have had no experience of ever being outside in such temperatures. I have no idea how I might react to such extreme heat, never mind actually going for a long walk, however slowly I might take it.

Mr Google told me that the upper limit for human tolerance to outdoor temperatures was between 104° F / 40° C and 122° F / 50° C. At these temperatures, the body may have trouble getting rid of excess heat and maintaining its core temperature. What if my limit was the lower of those? I do have a tendency to over-heat quickly even on warm days – OK, I sweat easily – and it often takes my body a while to adjust.

What was almost certain was that I would be drenched in sweat within minutes of getting out of an air conditioned car and walking in that heat. I also thought about the car. It would be sitting idle, getting ever hotter, when I was walking. Could it cope? Would it get too hot that it wouldn’t re-start? There would almost certainly be no cell service in the Valley. If anything went wrong, I’d be stranded.

Bottom line: no, I wasn’t going to take a chance on me. I made the decision not to go via Death Valley, I just thought it too risky. The Park’s website has dramatic heat-related warnings all over it. Err on the side of caution, I thought. So it’s minus one for my Parks and Forests trip, and back onto the bucket list for Death Valley.

“Viva Las Vegas” ***

Breakfast is average as usual. I have not been impressed by any breakfast on this trip. When provided it is really basic. The hotels are just getting away with it, putting in minimum effort. In some hotels the non-yoghurt-and-fruit options look positively inedible. Thankfully I managed to rustle up something edible everywhere. Most of the hot food options have looked terrible and without those it’s usually sugary cereals and cakes. The opposite to all of that of course was the sit-down breakfast in Fresno.

I’m out of the hotel just before 12 noon. I buy an expensive – even for the US – sandwich for lunch at Stater Bros down the road. I then stop at a Shell gas station to buy a big bottle of water as backup for the hot days ahead.

Back on US-395 S again, there’s nothing to see. I do wonder again why anyone has written about this being a scenic road to drive on. I turn left onto CA-58 W where – again – it’s flat, straight and boring. When I get onto I-15 N, direction Las Vegas, there are at last some hills that I drive through.

And some more. I-15 does pass through some interesting scenery in places; it’s not all flat and straight. It’s not spectacular but it’s definitely not all boring. The uphill climbs are very gradual, which kills the semi-trailer trucks. They sometimes bully you downhill when you want to stick to 65 mph but they are all found wanting on the climbs. Thankfully the climbs have crawler lanes to allow them to get out of the way.

A Hot Lunch

No, not that kind. I stop at the Clyde V. Kane Rest Area for lunch. I sit under a canopy at a concrete bench and table in the 108° F / 42° C heat. After eating my sandwich and back on my way again, there’s not much change all the way to Vegas. A few hills, avoid the trucks and also avoid the odd mad speeding lunatic who appears from nowhere in the outside lane. But it’s become a bit boring again to be honest.

Then I reach the Nevada state line at Primm. I do not get this place. It is 45  miles to Las Vegas, it’s about 115 miles back to the nearest sizeable city in California, Barstow, and right on the border in Primm is a mini-Vegas, Primm Valley Resorts. But it looks like Vegas of 30 years ago. There’s even a hotel, Buffalo Bill’s Hotel and Casino, with a rollercoaster! Absolute bonkers.

OK, I get that it’s just in Nevada and the gambling laws are different to California, but it’s in the middle of the desert with nothing for miles around. What’s the attraction of going there?

Arrival in Sin City

15 miles out from Vegas and I start to see homes and built-up areas by the side of the Interstate. I initially think it must be another city but no, it turns out to be the suburbs of Las Vegas. It’s certainly a huge city these days. When I’m definitely nearing the center of the city and driving past Allegiant Stadium at 5.50 pm I’m still five miles away from my hotel. The traffic is terrible, all jammed up on both sides of the Interstate.

Maps then re-routes me off I-15 early and I’m soon pulling up in front of the Hilton Grand Vacations Club Paradise hotel. It is still 100° F. I check-in, put the bags in the room and go back down to park the car in the garage attached to the hotel. Free, for once, in a downtown location.

Las Vegas Monorail ticket

They built the Las Vegas Monorail since I was last here in 2001 and I wanted to ride it in daytime to see what you get to see of the city. It doesn’t run far, just under four miles, but the sun is setting as I walk back from the garage so I head straight to the northernmost station just up the street, the Sahara Hotel and Casino.

What a disappointment the Monorail is. I expected the route to be along the Strip but it mostly runs behind the eastern Strip-side hotels and casinos, a block away from the Strip. So whilst there’s a stop announced at, say, Caesar’s Palace, there isn’t a glimpse of the hotel. I find out later that it requires a walk through a casino to get to the Strip, to then emerge on the Strip in front of the property. This is the same for all the hotel stops.

I’m really surprised by the lack of a direct presence on the Strip. The only ‘attraction’ you see from the train is that the route goes partly around the Sphere. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the final stop at the MGM Grand, whereupon I disembark and return on the next northbound train. I’m glad I rode it but it’s purely a transport system, not an attraction in its own right. It would be useful if you were visiting another hotel on the route to avoid using a taxi or driving, say if you were seeing a show at the MGM.

Chickie’s & Pete’s Crabhouse & Sports Bar

It’s dark by the time I’m back at the hotel. I buy breakfast in the in-house shop. After unpacking I see if any of the live music venues I found pre-trip have anything to offer tonight. The answer is no. So my backup was Chickie’s & Pete’s Crabhouse & Sports Bar in the Sahara hotel nearby. It had good reviews and is about a 10 minute walk.

I enter the Sahara by its back entrance, then find my way through a casino to the Bar. I’d read the menu and was intrigued by their speciality “world famous crabfries”. At the bar, when I ask the barman he tells me that they don’t taste of crab at all, they are crinkle cut French fries with a secret seasoning. So why ‘crabfries’ then…?

You can however have them topped with their special cheese sauce and crab meat. Or lobster. At what I thought was a reasonable $30, I opt for a treat of lobster.

Sahara hotel napkin

The meal is scrumptious. I suppose it’s kind of like lobster mornay and fries. The beer is very good as well. The end of TNF was on TV when I arrived. The barman keeps me serviced with beer all evening but he’s not very chatty.

I leave the bar around 11 pm and walk back through the casino to the hotel’s rear entrance where I entered earlier. Out into the still very warm night air and back to the hotel. As it’s later than normal, I go straight to bed.

Today was kind of OK after the disappointment of missing Death Valley. It does seem strange though to be not seeing or ‘using’ the razzamatazz of Las Vegas and treating it as a ‘one night stand’ B&B. I did look at going to a show like Cirque du Soleil or something else but there was nothing on I fancied. The various Cirque shows only run on certain nights of the week and the one I liked wasn’t playing tonight. Las Vegas was just the best overnight option to get from Ridgecrest, hopefully via Death Valley, to the next Park, the day after next.

* Too Hot by Kool & the Gang

** Take a Chance on Me by ABBA

*** Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley (and others)