The Andersons on their way to Australia

April, 2018

 

We have agreed to meet "Shambhala" in Australia and assist her new owner in putting her back together after her five week ride on the deck of a freighter. Faced with the prospect of thirty or more hours airport and flying time, we decided to break the trip into three parts with a rest stop of a few days after each encounter with air travel.

As we plan to be gone for several months, the last thing on our to-do list was to sell the car. The easiest way to accomplish this was to sell her back to the dealer in Daytona Beach where we bought her almost two years ago. We are sad to see her go but agreed that this was the best option. We were now TRULY homeless.

 

 

From Daytona, we picked up a rental car and drove to Orlando for the first leg of our trip. Orlando to Las Vegas, three time zones and about a five and one-half hour flight. We couldn't remember the last time we had taken a domestic flight. As everyone knows, air travel has long since ceased to be any fun at all. We thought we might get an affordable flight only to discover that everything was an extra charge. Extra for baggage, extra for food, extra for movies, maybe even extra for a seat. If airlines could arange it, passengers could just stand in the aisle unless they paid extra for a seat.

We got to Las Vegas in time for dinner, wine, and sleep. We did manage to snag a deal on a posh hotel suite in exchange for listening to a pitch about time share vacations. The hotel and the suite were very nice and we enjoyed our stay. Here's the hotel and the view from our thirty-sixth floor window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with most places we hadn't been to in many years, things had changed. The Las Vegas glitz seemed more amazing than ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The traffic and crowds were ever more frustrating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a trip down to historic Fremont Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where the overhead dome lights have changed from incandescent to LED and they have added a ZIP line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is always something strange to see in Las Vegas. Here's an entire small village built from shipping containers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a "sculpture" some engineer built for his wife as a wedding present. It didn't say if they were still married.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern improvements include the local cannabis shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driverless Buses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advanced currency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culinary delights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the weirdest of all (parental discretion advised)

 

 

Next stop Honolulu.

Click Here to continue.