Adventures on Our Harleys: Day 7: Tucson to Las Vegas

Day 6 was a down day in Tucson. It was great. Both Curt and I got our laundry done (thanks, Kristin!), relaxed, read the newspapers, had a few drinks, and some great meals. Kristin toured us through the Intuit facility, where she works. What a great work culture! It's very interesting to see the "dot.coms'" work environments. I got to meet some of Kristin's friends....very nice people: Shannon, Chad, Tom, and many of her co-workers at Intuit. Great folks.

So, now on to Day 7. What was supposed to be a routine ride from Tucson to Las Vegas, ended up being a pretty long day. We left very early to avoid the high heat that was forecast. Actually, it was a very nice morning ride...very pleasant warm, dry air...jackets, sun to our back and right side as it was rising. Even getting through Phoenix was a breeze. Then, out of nowhere, all traffic was stopped, and we sat in the heat for some 30-45 minutes, waiting for the guy with the sign to turn it from "stop" to "slow."

Curt waiting in the stopped traffic. HOT

My bike waiting in the construction jam.

After that long wait, we motored on...beautiful country. Cactus, and Joshua Trees all over the place, with rugged mountains in the background. Beautiful country...and, on a bike, you can smell things better than you can in a car. I'm not good at describing smells or tastes....but, I just know that it was pretty cool.

We got into all kinds of delays and detours once we got to Las Vegas. Just as we were getting close to the Monte Carlo, we got shut down by roadblocks...no explanations, no detour instructions, just "NO, NOT THIS WAY!" kind of help. So, traffic got ridiculous as we tried to circle. We found out later that President Obama was speaking at UNLV, and thus the traffic redirection.

Finally found our way to the hotel, anxiously looking forward to a nice shower and change to clean clothes. But, Noooo. Computers were down at all the MGM hotels, so registration was all manual...about 15 minutes per person. Hundreds of people backed up in many lines. Curt and I stood in line for some 2 hours. We finally opened up my bag, and pulled out my Gentleman Jack's. He went to get some cups with ice, and we finished off that bottle. While in line, we met up with several of the guys whom we're meeting here. We say Guido and Susie, David and Joy, Tom, Jim, Dave, and maybe a few others whom I don't recall right now. It was nice seeing all of them, as it took the edge off the othewise crappy situation.