Day 6: To Las Vegas

We anticipated the 8 hour drive between Tucson and Las Vegas to be long, hot, and grueling, but it turned out to be no problem, perhaps because of the scenic, winding Joshua Forest Parkway (there is no major interstate between Phoenix and Las Vegas), or maybe because we managed to stop and get out at pleasant intervals. Either way, we again had opportunities to explore desert life.

For lunch, we attempted eating at a rather dubious diner, but quickly opted for the Subway next door once a few of us perused their menu of greasy, gut-bomb style cuisine. When we emerged, the day had turned hot, and like so many desert creatures seeking shelter from the sun, I found the group spontaneously gathered in the thin shade of a parking-lot palm.

Later, we indulged in the opportunity to do a bit of off-road exploration and drove a ways into BLM territory, up a sandy trail. Here we did some walking, climbing, practiced the art of cactus and rock portraiture, and talked for a bit about the past few days' travels.

Our final destination today was Las Vegas, and though it represents an opposition to all that we've been experiencing in small towns and natural landscapes, it is also certainly a land intervention - an urban, sensory-overload kind of intervention. For research purposes, we put on our crinkly out-on-the-town clothes and went seeking cheap food. We never found the cheap, but did find food, in mass quantities, at the Luxor buffet, appropriately named MORE!

-Shana McCaw