Slipstream

A couple nights ago, I walked from downtown Las Vegas to the north end of the Strip. I’d been driving for a couple days, and a long stroll seemed the perfect way to shake off my road burn, especially on such a clear and balmy desert night.

I left my hotel and headed down Fremont Street toward Las Vegas Boulevard. Fremont throbbed with loud, drunk revelers carrying supersized beers and giant cocktails brimming over from clear plastic containers shaped like footballs.

Fremont Street in Las Vegas

The celebrants were waiting for the next lightshow, a pulsating, pounding, eardrum-piercing music experience shown on the hour throughout the evening—showcased on the world’s largest video screen, an arched canopy that stretches along three casino-studded city blocks. Nowhere but Vegas can you find this sort of mega-extravaganza of flashing, glittering sights and sounds. Think MTV on steroids. Think Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam and the Mojave Desert of lightshows.

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I was planning to camp again tonight. But because of the rains, high winds, and promises of plummeting temperatures across northern Florida, I unpopped the top of my camper and drove to the nearest town, opting for a cheap hotel room, courtesy of Priceline. I figured I could wash clothes, work, and get a warm night’s sleep, while enjoying the benefits of electricity and indoor plumbing.

After I checked in, I found the laundry room and washed a couple loads. Now I’m back in my room, surfing the channels for a show suitable for folding the pile of clothes on my bed. (more…)