September 03, 2005

Los Angeles to Utah

We got on the road at 8 am, much to our surprise. Damian did indeed say, "Goodbye Los Angeles," and we listened to "To Live and Die in LA" and then segued to Damian's choice of Suzanne Vega.

Leaving Los Angeles. I started to feel something, or rather, a lot of somethings. It's home -- was home. This is a road trip but it's one way, with so much unknown about our life at the other end. Happy but strange. Very very strange.

Easier to focus on the road trip aspect, since that is our immediate reality, visceral, startling, and delightful.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Clear sailing. So very many truck tires strewn across the road. The temperature outside the car climbed to 104 farenheit and then down again to the high 90's. We passed odd piles of white rocks, huge piles, sometimes built into the hillside and sometimes just sitting by the side of the road. Glacier debris? We passed a forest of Joshua trees, these twisted short alien bushes scattered across the barren landscape.

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We passed through the high desert, tan and brown creases of hills. We crossed the border into Nevada, the demarcation punctuated by a tiny town, just a few gas stations and a couple of huge casinos in the middle of this desolate, empty landscape. Spooky.

Lunch in Las Vegas. The opulent Bellagio hotel-casino. The glass flower ceiling sculpture in the hotel lobby, jewelery festooning this classy, trashy dame of a hotel. A light-filled interior atrium filled with flowers and fountains, a copy of the Liberty Bell and a huge sculpted bald eagle, an odd kind of tribute to Americana in the center of a European-themed resort. Odder still: the enormous animatronic eagle nestlings bobbing nearby. We considered the well-known buffet, but it was expensive, the wait was long, and the food too rich for our mood. We grabbed a quick lunch in a no-atmosphere corner counter and went out to watch the fountains dance (a treat for Damian).

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Then off to the Paris hotel casino for a tiny slice of research for my novel and back on the road again.

Nevada. Desolate. A slice of northwestern Arizona for an hour. Dramatic. And on into Utah. More dramatic still.

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And tonight we sleep in Springdale, a tiny but surprisingly pleasant town surrounded by red rock hills. More tomorrow as we explore Zion National Park.

Posted by Tamar at September 3, 2005 10:54 PM | TrackBack
Comments

We already miss you! But the photos help. At least I feel like I'm traveling with you, a little. How's Damian doing with the long hours in the car?

Posted by: Tiny Coconut at September 4, 2005 10:50 AM
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