Tour Day 5 – Las Vegas, NV to Bakersfield, CA

Well, I’m leaving Las Vegas today, Leaving Las Vega-a-a-a-s.  Any Sheryl Crow fans out there?

Tap, tap… Is this thing on???

Anyway, Leaving Las Vegas is exactly what we did. At least after we swung by the Bellagio so that the singers could gawk at the opulence that unrestricted greed can afford you. Bemo and I ruminated today that the business model for these places is just, “you (customer) give me your money”.  That’s it, that’s the whole thing.  Nothing in return.  Just cough it up and thank me for giving you the chance to lose your paycheck.  We were sure to drive that point home as much as we could.

I’m not a fan of Vegas, not because I wouldn’t ever gamble to have a little fun, but just because it seems so…. Fake. But it’s cool to see it and see the lights of the strip to say we’ve done it.

Our next stop after heading out was lunch in Barstow, CA where there was a….. IN ‘N OUT!!!!!  Seriously friends, I think some of your kids would have gone on tour just to eat there. After filling up on grease, we headed to Calico, CA just outside of town, which is a dyed-in-the-wool ghost town where they mined silver in the mid-19^th century. It was too hot to really soak it in, I think. We passed the world’s largest thermometer in Baker, CA before lunch and it was reading every bit of 107 degrees.

Today was mostly a travel day. It gave us plenty of time to rest up before we landed at the hotel in Bakersfield.  Right now, everyone is blowing off some steam in the pool.  Check out Matt’s pictures for 10-person cannonballs.  Tomorrow it’s a 2-hour drive north to see the Sequoias!

Later, friends

Joseph