Leaving Las Vegas

We got back last night from a motorcycle trip to Las Vegas. (No, I don’t drive – I’m just the passenger.) Our friend and neighbor had a couple of weeks off, and wanted to do a motorcycle trip. He was going to California, so we made plans to meet him in Las Vegas on his way home, spend a few days with my brother-in-law, and then ride home together.

Great idea, but not the best time of year for it. Temperatures were around 110 in Las Vegas, which didn’t make for a very pleasant ride. We have special vests that contain polymer crystals which you soak in water. The crystals hold the water, so that as you ride, the air flowing through the vest acts like an air conditioner. They really do cool you down a bit, but once it gets over 100, even that isn’t really enough. But fortunately, most of the ride there and back wasn’t nearly that hot.

We decided to take a slightly longer but more pleasant route than I-15. We headed west to Wendover, then went south through Ely and down into Vegas. Two-lane highway: long, straight, and almost no traffic. Much more pleasant than I-15, especially on the bike.It was about 480 miles going down, and 520 coming back, since we took a slightly different route. More miles than we’d usually want to do in a day on the bike, but we didn’t want to make it a 2-day trip.

But boy, were we hot by the time we got there! We stripped, threw on bathing suits, and jumped in the pool. Didn’t come out for hours. In fact, we spent nearly the entire weekend in the pool – it was wonderful. The water temperature ranged from 88 to 92. It was funny to get out of the water and feel chilly from the breeze, when you knew it was 110 out.

Doesn’t this look great? Nice and refreshing.

We didn’t even bother with our usual shopping trips – the outlet mall, Trader Joe’s, etc. We did go to Costco, but only for some fruit and snacks. But I must admit, there was one other thing that we spent our time with besides the pool. And we did do a little shopping for something to bring back with us.