First Reader and I are on a much needed vacation. We left last Tuesday on a road trip for parts west. Our first destination: Las Vegas, Nevada, the gambling capital of America.

The trip did not come without a first day hiccup, though. About fifty miles from our first night’s rest, something flew under the car and nicked the right rear tire on the inside wall. Fifteen minutes later, we got a low tire warning light. Sure enough, the tire was slowly losing air. We limped into the town we were aiming for and checked into our lodging. By the time we parked and unloaded the car, the tire looked low. The next morning, I changed that tire.

We were in the middle of Utah. Like many western American states, not much is out there. In some stretches along the highway, you drive more than 100 miles between services. The road is desolate. Blazing hot in the summer, and icy cold in the winter. It’s not a place you want to get stranded. Luckily, we found that tire—120 miles west along our route. So, we slowed down and enjoyed the ride. We reached our destination, downtown Las Vegas, a few hours later than we wanted, but we made it.

Besides feeding the casinos, we stopped to see friends we hadn’t seen in twenty years. We spent a couple evenings with them before our journey (and theirs) took us in separate directions.

Our next stop was a visit to First Reader’s brother. We arrived last evening after a smooth drive out of the city. After we were out of Las Vegas, traffic thinned out to almost nothing. A stop at the Area 51 Alien Center punctuated the ride north.

We head south in the morning. I can hardly wait to drive in the wall-to-wall traffic. 🙄 The interstate highways in southern Nevada and Southern California take a level of driving skill I haven’t dealt with in a while. I learned to drive in that kind of traffic cluster, but it can be a whole lota nerve wracking for First Reader.

This next week, we head south to San Diego for a beach visit and a bit of US Navy tourism. I haven’t been back since I left thirty-some years ago. It’s about time I went back to see all the changes. I probably won’t recognize a thing.