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With 1K miles on the odometer, my S and I were ready to spend some serious time bonding. While thinking about where to spend this quality time, my wife suggested that she wouldn't mind staying at the Sin City again. Although we usually go to Vegas once or twice a year, it had been few years since we actually drove there, so I said why not. Other reasons for choosing Vegas was it's close proximity to many wonderful national parks, good rates on hotels, and access to variety of great restaurants. We were able to reserve newer tower room in Caesar's Palace at a rate of $59 per night for 3 nights. Much cheaper than the hotels in most places. Actually, given the investment we make each time we visit, it's not exactly a bargain Anyway, after ruling out Zion(visited last summer) and Bryce(too cold), we decided on a day trip to Death Valley and Lake Mead using Vegas as the home base. We visited Death Valley during the summer few years back and thought a visit during this time of the year, when the temperature is usually in the very comfortable 80's, would make for a nice contrast.
Day 1(Sunday, 2/23/03): LA to LV
Started off at 1:30PM, taking 405N to 105E to 605N to 10E with top down. Got to see a nice late model 911 turbo(photo below) on 10E. Due to usual LA traffic, it took almost 2 hours to get out to 15 junction. After getting on the 15N, we were able to cruise at 80-85 mph all the way to Vegas. As a side note, I find that S is bit too buzzing and loud on concrete part of the freeway, but otherwise pretty comfy. We arrived in Vegas around 6PM, unpacked our bags, then went directly out to Emeril Lagasse's Cajun restaurant called Fish House at MGM Grand for dinner. It's a pretty nice restaurant and the food was as good as expected, but review the menu carefully as some dishes were very rich in butter or fat. Remember, Emeril is the guy who coined the term: "Pork Fat Rules!" Recommended dishes: Crawfish with artichoke and mushroom, Seafood gumbo. ~$80 for two + drinks + tips.
Day 2(Monday): LV to Death Valley
Started off around 9:30AM, taking 95N heading toward Beatty. VTEC'ing once in a while to pass slow cars on a two lane hwy was fun and felt quite safe driving an S. It's hard not to hit 100mph when passing, and I have to keep reminding myself not to use WOT for most passing situations. Once I did do a WOT to pass a group of slow cars, and ended up going over 110mph by the time I passed the last car. Although the car felt very planted and stable at triple digit speed, I really don't want to go so fast on a public road. We arrived at town of Beatty, which is about 120 miles north from Vegas, little before 11AM. Remembering how expensive the gas was inside the park, I top off the gas tank.
After driving another 30 miles on 95N to Scotty's junction, near the north end of the park, then another 30 miles on 267W, we finally arrive at Scotty's Castle(photo below). After a short debate, we decided to do the regular tour of the castle, which lasts about an hour. The "castle" has an interesting history and the tour is definitely worth the $8/person fee. Next time we visit, we plan to do the technology tour. The castle supposedly provide hot water plumbing using solar heating, DC generators and batteries supplying electricity, and elaborate tunnels and vents designed to keep the castle self sufficient. All this using technology from the 1930's!
Driving south, we stop at the park ranger station and buy the National Parks Pass for $50. This pass card is good for one year and is valid at all the national parks. (Kudos to Scott Nelson for recommending this pass in his travel log.) The road in the park is in decent condition, and because the road follows the contour of the valley floor that has many small elevation changes, driving over it feels like riding a gentle roller coaster. After about 40 miles of roller coaster ride, we come to 190 junction and turn west to check out the Devil's Cornfield near the sand dunes. Very interesting formations(photo below) of arrowweed bushes that grow in clumps resembling corn shocks.
Driving 20 miles east then south from Devil's Cornfield, we arrive at Furnace Creek around 3PM. Since we haven't had anything to eat since early morning, we stop at Furnace Cafe for a late lunch. There are very few restaurants in the park and we figured that the food wouldn't be very good, and as expected, they served mediocre food at pretty high prices. Not recommended, unless you are really hungry. Furnace Creek is just north of Bad Water, the lowest point of western hemisphere at -282ft. After the lunch, I decided to skip Bad Water since we were there last time, and instead drive up to the Dante's View overlooking Bad Water at 5500ft. However, my wife decided that she has had enough for the day, and tells me that she wouldn't mind going straight back to Caesar's. I wasn't too thrilled with her decision, but what can I do??? Dante's View will have to wait...
Back at the Caesar's, my wife says that she is too tired to try the Brazilian restaurant at Mirage like we planned. Instead, we have dinner at Cafe Lago within the Caesar's complex. Cafe Lago is actually a nice casual restaurant overlooking the beautiful Neptune Pool, and the food is better than similar restaurants in Vegas. Recommended. ~$40 for two + drinks + tips.
Day 3(Tuesday): LV (Lake Mead drive cancelled)
It rained pretty hard all day. Spent most of the time investing money at Caesar's & Bellagio. For dinner, we decided to check out a Japanese restaurant called Nobu at Hard Rock Hotel. This is a LV branch of famous Nobu of NY and Matsuhisa of LA. It's probably as good a Japanese cuisine as you can have in the States. Very expensive, but worth visiting at least once for food as well as the decor/atmosphere. Recommended dishes: Jalapeno Yellowtail, Salmon Skin Salad, Any kind of Sushi/Sashimi, "Bento Box" containing very excellent chocolate souffle and green tea ice cream. ~$150 for two + drinks + tips.
Day 4(Wednesday): LV to LA
Started off around 2PM. It was a fairly uneventful drive back, until we came over the mountain pass to LA basin and encountered heavy, heavy rain. Remembering all the warning from this board about S02 and the rain, I slowed and tried to avoided any sudden movement. Sadly, near the 10 junction, I saw a black S2000 stopped against the center divider with highway patrol car just behind it with it's lights flashing. There appeared to be no other car involved in this accident. Any one from here?
Arrived safely back at home around 6PM. Total mileage for the trip = 1,012 miles with 24 mpg average.
Love the trip log! We need to do more of these trips and write about them! Scott Nelson also inspired me to write a trip log of my wife and me's trip in the Sierra Foothills to the Eastern Sierras/MonoLake. The National Park Pass is a great deal AND supports the National Park system for generations to come. I cannot wait to get back into the states to drive my car. May have to drive route 66 next! =)
Anyway, after ruling out Zion(visited last summer) and Bryce(too cold), we decided on a day trip to Death Valley and Lake Mead using Vegas as the home base. We visited Death Valley during the summer few years back and thought a visit during this time of the year, when the temperature is usually in the very comfortable 80's, would make for a nice contrast.
