Vegas.

The desert seemed as if it were never going to end. I had considered stopping to see Bryce Canyon in Utah, but it would've added an extra day to my trip. Driving was becoming a real chore. So many days and so many hours in the driver seat were taking a toll on my back. Even when I got tired and stopped at a rest area to nap, my car was so full with my belongings that I couldn't angle the seat back any more. I wanted to reach my destination already. The girl from the Holiday Inn suggested a decent hike through Bryce Canyon would take hours. Vegas was going to be my next stop. I could always come back to Utah some other time with friends anyway. Probably safer to do a canyon hike when I'm not alone.

Hotels.com had a lot of results for one night in Las Vegas. Rooms were going for as low as $20. I couldn't believe it at first, but I recall hearing how much the city was suffering because of all the panic surrounding the economy. Circus Circus had a room for $24, but Gerard mentioned, during Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, that it was old and run-down. Plus, the Congress Airport Inn of St. Louis was still a fresh memory for me. When I saw that the Luxor offered a room for only $60, I figured that would be a good choice for the night. A contemporary hotel and a very affordable rate.

I continued driving south through Utah. I was now on the Interstate 15. Paul and also some of the people I had met in Denver warned me about a stretch of highway in Utah where there is no gas station for about 200 miles. I was on alert the entire time. I kept an eye out for highway gas station signs to see if any of them noted the distance to the next station. None did, this kept me on edge even more. Throughout the entire trip I never let my tank go below one quarter full, so as it neared the one quarter mark, and I had to relieve myself, I pulled off to a Chevron across the highway from one of many tiny middle-of-nowhere towns. These towns are so isolated you wonder how they chose such a location. Maybe this is where you go when you join the witness protection program. Australia started out as a penal colony. Maybe in a few generations, these tiny outposts in Utah will be bustling communities comprised of the offspring of the witness protection program.

I stepped out of the car and began fueling. A Chevron employee came out of the garage and began cleaning all of my windows. This is totally alien to me. I asked him about that stretch of highway with no gas stops and he seemed to think that I was heading in the opposite direction, but when I told him I was headed for Vegas he replied that I had already passed that stretch of highway. "You done good", he said. That gas station might have had the cleanest restrooms ever.

Interstate 15 doesn't go directly from Utah to Nevada. It actually cuts through the northwest corner of Arizona. So for about 25 minutes I was in Arizona. Oddly enough, the desert looks just a little different there. I little brighter, a little more red.

Nevada seemed a little more pale, but the Sun was getting in front of me by this time. The highway is lined with billboards for casinos and shooting ranges. After the state line it's still quite a ways in until you reach Vegas and on that final turn, you roll over a hill and see way out in the faded distance, a glistening oasis of skyscrapers. The overpasses and streets stretch out from the city like roots.

The Luxor is a pyramid and two towers. There's a whole Egyptian theme going on in there. And just like a pyramid, it's a mystery to find your way around the place. Casinos always seem to be designed so that in order to get anywhere you must zig zag through the casino floor. I really don't know if that helps or hurts the casino's revenue, because I always find it frustrating. I checked in, got my key and was then instructed to cross the casino floor to find the elevator up to my room. It took me a while but I eventually found it.

The room continues the whole cheap Egyptian theme and that's no big deal, really. But what is really cool about the room is that it's on the pyramid wall. I wasn't sure the first time I rode, but the elevators travel diagonally with the shape of the pyramid. And so in my room, one window is the glass pyramid wall. As I went to check out the view, I bumped my head on the slanted glass.

I didn't walk around all of Vegas, I checked out the Luxor, and the Mandalay Bay and Excalibur which are connected. I took a quick glance at New York, New York, but I didn't think it was a very convincing set up. Don't go to Vegas to see New York. I also got to take a peek at Planet Hollywood but I cut it short as I was getting very hungry. Eating alone is no fun, but I did it in almost every city along the way. I usually eat fast without saying much anyway.

When I went to Atlantic City with Ryan, I had a really awesome time. That was the time I discovered that gambling sucks and that the nightlife there is really uninhibited. In order to have a full experience in Las Vegas, I knew I would have to check out a club. Much like eating, going out to a club all alone is not a proud experience, but considering my situation, I just had to suck it up and go. I'm glad I did because now I know that I'd love to go back to Vegas with some friends.