The Great American Road Trip III; Day 14; First Day Eastbound

The Neon Sign Museum in Las Vegas is an interesting venue to visit.  Lots
of nostalgia and history. These images were made with my iPhone 8+ as traditional
still cameras or video cameras were prohibited. (click to enlarge)

We left California after enjoying celebrating the end of the Route 66 portion of our road trip.  With no particular plan in mind for our eastern return, we decide to drive to Las Vegas as one of the guys had never been there.

The drive through the eastern California desert was relatively boring but there were a couple of things that caught our attention.  One was the solar power generating facilities which concentrates the reflected light from hundreds of mirrors onto a central mirror to, I assume, make steam and subsequently run turbines to make electricity.  The central mirrors, on tall pedestals, were as bright as the sun and one had to only glance at them momentarily for fear of damaging one’s vision.  All three of us thought that the super bright reflections shouldn’t be able to be seen from the highway.

I wasn’t designated to drive so I spent some time looking for a couple of rooms for us.  I found a site (Vegas.com) which allowed me to book two rooms in the Luxor Hotel (the pyramid shaped building) for $29 + the customary resort fee.  The $29 rooms were the same as others paid exponentially more for the same rooms.  Good deal.  My advice is do a little Internet research and save yourself quite a bit of money if you are going to Las Vegas.  Also, the days of Las Vegas casinos having inexpensive food is evidently over.  The food in the casinos was pretty expensive unlike years ago.

While in Las Vegas for the afternoon and overnight, we visited the Neon Sign Museum, which consists of many of the historic signs from years gone by.  There is a lot of history there and, if you are of a certain age, you see signs we saw in movies and television programs decades ago.  I enjoyed the visit and made many images, mostly detail shots.  I think I can use some of the detail images for a couple of my ongoing photo projects, such as my “Just For The Color” project.  Speaking of images, you are not allowed a traditional stills or video camera in the museum but you can use your phone’s camera to photograph, which is what I did.  The images here were made with my iPhone 8+.

Later that evening, we went to see the “Blue Man Group,” a really good show that defies explanation.  Again, using highly discounted tickets.  I’ll give you a warning about the show.  It is extremely loud.  I covered my ears for some of it for fear my hearing could have been damaged.  But a great show.

The next morning we left our hotel, had one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had at the Blueberry Hill Family Restaurant, then continued our journey east.  Highly recommended.  Probably the nicest restaurant and best food of the entire trip so far.

The old sign from the famous Silver Slipper Casino. (click to enlarge)

One more from the three dozen or so images I made in the museum.
(click to enlarge)

Oh!  Did I mention it is extremely and uncomfortably hot in Las Vegas?  I believe the temperature was hovering just over 100° F in the afternoon and it isn’t even the ‘hot’ season yet.  I just don’t know how the people can live there.  The air was hot, dry and felt like opening an oven door.  Not for me.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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