DAY #5: (MONDAY) LAS VEGAS -- CALIFORNIA !!!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:   Waking up in a luxury hotel room in Las Vegas is pretty sweet!  Kathryn went to the spa (complimentary) and the pool, I stayed back to finish packing.  We then got on the road around 10 am to finish the last leg of this incredible road trip!!   Ah, not so fast!  Within 15 minutes on the freeway, the traffic started to back up with cars going back to California, so  we decided to take an alternate route that went towards Lake Mead and down the eastern side of the state. 

Our lunch stop was at Searchlight Café and Casino.  Not a very large place but food was good.  Before we left we decided to try our luck at the slot machines.  We decided to "go big" and put  $20.00 in the slot machine.  We won, we lost, we won, we lost...then got bored after 15 minutes and left.  When we got in the car we counted our "winnings."  We lost $10.00...$5.00 each.  The "big time spenders" continued on our way. 

SCENERY:  Now we're driving down the east coast of California by Lake Havasu City.  One interesting city we passed through was Cal Nev Ari, a city that must be situated in California/Nevada/Arizona.  Don't know, didn't stop.  Also drove by a trailer park called Calzona, apparently close to the California/Arizona border.  Nice drive with Willie Nelson singing to us through the hours. 

At one point a sign stated, "Heart of the Mojave Desert."  The land changed immediately:  very rugged, hilly, nothing green, very dead.  Even the cactus were black,  like they had been "burned".  Yet it was still very beautiful.  Kathryn noticed the outside thermometer in the car said:
                                                          3:45 pm---102 degrees
                                                          3:55 pm---104 degrees
                                                          4:10 pm---106 degrees
                                                          4:25 pm---110 degrees
Luckily we were moving out of the area  and within a half hour the temperature had gone down to 97, 93, 91.

While listening to Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits for the third time, we turned a corner and  wham!!!  Some of the most unbelievable scenery we had ever seen, and we had not seen it coming.  Ahead of us were the most fantastic sand dunes...to the side of us, behind us, all the way to the horizon...like we had just entered another country!  Around another corner, more sand dunes.  So fascinating!  We noticed a rest area at the top of one of these sand dunes and went up there to take photos.   Unbelievable!!!  It turns out that it was the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area sponsored by the city of Imperial, California.  It went on for about a mile more, then stopped.  But what a surprise that was!!!! 

FINAL DESTINATION:   The last leg of the trip was at about 7 pm, heading west with two hours left to go towards San Diego.  To the left of us were mountains that due to the sun going down almost looked black.  On a second look, we noticed that they actually looked purple..."purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain." 

 To the right of us was a beautiful sunset, a breathtaking ending to an incredible journey...an ending that is just the start of our "New Beginnings."   

LESSON FOR THE DAY:  Get out of the house and go somewhere!  You'll always take home in memories more than you spent in money.  And memories you can take with you...to heaven!!


                                          "America, America, God shed His grace on thee,
                                                  and crown thy good with Brotherhood,
                                                           from sea to shining sea."