Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

Today's planned trip was relatively short (only about 150 miles even including the various detours), but because of the stops along the way and the very heavy traffic at times, it ended up taking over six hours to drive from Kingman to our hotel near Nellis Air Force Base in the North Las Vegas area.

( Swing Through Laughlin )

As we approached Searchlight NV on US-95, a large shadow passed over us. We discovered an impromptu air show at Searchlight Airport.

( An Unexpected Osprey )

This was quite unexpected. Indeed, Lisa was very surprised that such an aircraft would be doing stop-and-goes at a public airport like this. We weren't the only people stopping to take photos, either.

( On to Las Vegas )

Because our goal tonight was the Holiday Inn Express Nellis, up on the north side of the city, we made our stops along the way, starting with lunch/dinner and then visiting a building we don't expect will be around much longer.

( Black Bear Diner and the Giant Slot Machine )

By the time we left Fry's, traffic had gone from bad to worse. Rather than go onto the freeway, Lisa decided to just drive down Las Vegas Blvd — the world-famous "Las Vegas Strip." Now I'm glad we did it just to experience how much Vegas has mushroomed, but it took a long time (more than an hour) to make the trip, and thus it was well after dark before we got to the hotel. I still had some Day Jobbe stuff to do as well.

We've regained the hour we lost when we headed into Arizona a week ago, but I give it right back because now I have to be up at 4:40 instead of 5:40 to do my half-day of Day Jobbe work, as I must match my co-workers hours in the Central Time Zone.

Tomorrow we head for Tonopah, and if the weather holds as it appears to be heading, we plan to take the road even less traveled than US-95 north of Las Vegas.

As I mentioned in passing last night, our first hotel was very unsuitable. The Candlewood Suites room was comparable to an Extended StayAmerica low-end room, but the way it was laid out would have made it very difficult for me to get any work done, and Lisa said she might have to take some blankets and towels and sleep in the closet. So we asked the hotel to let us balk (which, thank goodness, they did), and we reviewed our options.

Checking the IHG app on my phone, I found a Staybridge Suites over on the other side of I-15, with a Holiday Inn Express next door. Rather than booking, we just drove over there, and the manager very nicely took us upstairs to show us a room.

( The Kind of Room I'd Love to Have at a Worldcon )

On top of all of the space and amenities, this room cost less than the Candlewood. We said, "We'll take it," and checked in for three nights. We then tossed our hand luggage into the room and had dinner — on Monday-Wednesday nights, they have a "social hour" with food, in this case hot dogs, hamburgers, and chili. They have a cooked breakfast every morning, although unfortunately you can't take it back to your room, which is what we'd really rather do. Still, that's a minor quibble.

( Kuma Bear Takes Charge )

After we got moved in, I got my computers working (no wired internet, but the wireless connection worked okay and didn't suffer from the flakiness that plagued me in Tempe) and then we drove over to get some groceries from Whole Foods Market.

Of course you're unlikely to ever find a hotel like this within easy walking distance of a Worldcon-class convention facility, and if you did, it wouldn't come for the relative bargain price ($109/night before tax but including breakfast). But it's a really nice place. It's not as over-the-top luxurious as the Bellagio-Pallazo, but it also comes with a lot more services that we actually use, like the kitchen and the in-room laundry. We had lunch this afternoon from the groceries we had (and those we'd brought with us from Fernley — we were prepared for having to eat many meals in the hotel room there, although in fact we did not do so), and Lisa did a couple of loads of laundry. (Soap is $3/box, good for two loads, from the shop in the lobby.)

We generally don't come to Vegas for long periods of time, but if we did, this would be high on our list of likely places to stay. As Lisa put it, if you're coming to Vegas for one or two nights and want a high-end experience, stay at a place like the Bellagio. If you want a place that you can use as a very comfortable home base for a few days or a few weeks, the Staybridge Suites is for you.

Today was the longest driving leg of the trip planned: about 300 miles, although the actual mileage was closer to 350 in the end.

( Where we Ended up )

We got away from Tonopah in good time, leaving around 8 AM. Being able to get yogurts from Scolari's grocery store next door and store them in the room 'fridge to have for breakfast made for a relatively quick start.

( Checking Out the Goldfield Subway Station )

After Goldfield, we made for Beatty, where we stopped at Eddieworld, an oasis in the Nevada desert where one must resist the urge to spend too much money on candy, nuts, fruit, and jerky. We managed to escape with only minor damage. I also got a postcard for Kelli, and immediately dispatched it to her. She's stuck in that nursing home, and I try to send her cards from along the way on our trips.

( Alien Travel Center )

I mentioned yesterday that we had errands to run in Las Vegas "to boot." That actually was to be taken literally. Lisa left her moccasin-boots that go with one of her outfits behind, and she's been meaning to get another pair anyway, so we went looking for them. The first place we tried in Las Vegas at which Google pointed us no longer carries boots, but pointed us in the right direction (which turned out to be a shop on Fremont Street). But we were on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, and it was well past time for lunch. So where do we go when we want to have lunch in Las Vegas? Well, the Black Bear Diner, of course! We collected our 23rd BBD in their "passport" promotion, and we were really happy to get out of the heat. The AC in the minivan doesn't work well in city driving, you see, and it was around 40°C in Las Vegas today. After lunch, we refueled the minivan and worked our way downtown, which took quite a while due to heavy traffic.

( This Errand Was Not Bootless )

After about four hours in Vegas, we were happy to get moving again, particularly when traffic cleared sufficiently that we could get moving fast enough to turn the air conditioning back on as we headed south on I-515/US-95/US-93.

After crossing Railroad Pass, we turned south on US-95. We made a brief stop to have a closer look at at solar thermal power plant (Nevada Solar One, if my Google-fu isn't failing me). But as we pulled back out on the road, we were troubled by a clattering sound that had been annoying us on the whole trip. We stopped again and finally figured out what had been causing this. Some of the rubber trim along the roof line had come loose and was flapping in the slipstream. Lisa started to get the trim back into place, and I had an idea.

"Would a rubber mallet help?" I asked.

Lisa said, "Yes!"

Well, I happened to have one. Some years ago, I bought a rubber mallet to assemble IKEA furniture. I've taken to packing it in the "Business Meeting box" in case the Gavel of Westercon gets lot. We dug the mallet out the box, and Lisa used it to help hammer the trim back into place.

( Laughlin at Last )

After getting a minimal setup established, we had dinner at the buffet. Note for next trip: don't eat at the buffet. We're spoiled by places like the Peppermill. We agreed that we would have had a better meal at the Fatburger franchise located inside the casino.

Tomorrow we drive to Lake Havasu City. After having been over London Bridge in London, we decided we should visit the original one in Arizona. Tomorrow night we should be at Tempe.

This was the only day on this entire trip on which we did not have a specific deadline or reason to get up early, so we did not. When I woke up on my own, I thought I'd slept until noon, but in fact it was only 9 AM and I'd just managed to knock my travel alarm off the counter and jar it sufficiently to make it reset itself to 12:00.

This hotel room at the Venetian is an enormous split-level suite with a vast bathroom. And as far as I can tell, this is their ordinary level or maybe possibly the first-step upgrade, not something for their real high rollers.

( Here, Take a Look for Yourself )

Click through any of those photos to look at the rest of them. It's a really astonishing place, but probably not really our style. If I weren't using a free-night coupon for one of the two nights and getting the Sunday night (relatively) cheap rate for the second, I would feel that I wasn't getting the right price-value proposition. For instance, there's no coffee machine in the room; I have to go downstairs and get coffee or pay a fortune for room service. I'm glad the hotel gave me a mini-fridge, because of course I dare not even look crooked at the mini-bar or I'll be charged for it. Everything I take for granted a couple of steps down the chain (Holiday Inn Express) is extra-charge here.

Mind you, when we came back to the hotel this afternoon, we decided that getting pastrami sandwiches from the deli in the food court on the second floor and taking them back to our palatial room was a good use of the place. It allowed us to start relaxing that much sooner.

( How We Spent the Weekend in Vegas Without Gambling )

I think that if we're going to "do" Vegas, we'd be better off making it the entire focus of the trip, as a separate vacation, and that we need to set aside more than just two days for it. Just looking at everything there is to see and do here makes me tired. And I am now completely convinced that Las Vegas would be a terrible place for a Worldcon. We would be utterly lost here, like a drop of ink in a barrel of water. In Reno we were okay. We'll probably do quite well in Spokane, as we'll "own" the city the way we did Winnipeg in 1994. But Vegas? Never. Even ComicCon (which apparently was once flirting with the idea of moving here) might have difficulty overwhelming this place.

Tomorrow morning we have the final leg of the trip ahead of us, and it's a long one: over 420 miles from Las Vegas to Fernley via Tonopah. I'm not looking forward to this drive, but I am looking forward to getting home.