So today was time to move on from Vegas! I think it is fair to say that everyone was ready to head on to the next place on the tour! It seems that there is a limit to how much of Vegas you can take! Well, certainly from the ones on this tour! Me, I would love to have sneaked out and spent a night on the casino floor seeing how much a bear could make in the tables! I wonder if they would have taken my Masterbear or American Bear cards?
Anyway, it was another early start. Bags were collected at 7am and the bus was leaving at 8am. Today was going to be a predominantly bus day again. They had a long way to go to get to Mammoth. Mammoth is back in California but we had a few hundred miles to do. They left Vegas and the tour guide asked about some of the different things people had done. He asked about the shows people had gone to see. A few had been to The Legends, a number had gone to see Jersey Boys and more than half had been to The Rat Pack Show. The Knights had been to see Penn and Teller and had really enjoyed it. Angela and Rob has been to see The Divas! Apparently it is a show featuring lady singers but they are all played by men! Why? I can't see the point!!! And no, that show girl WAS NOT a man! I don't care what L says! Then he asked about where people had eaten! Some had been to some posh places (The Bellagio) while some had made it to Denny's!! The. Came the big question! Had anyone made any money gambling! Quite a few had spent NOTHING at all in the casinos! Mind you, my two had spent all of TWO dollars! Last of the big spenders! But the majority had lost very little or nothing and one had even made $70 from a $1 bet!
Now they were off to the desert once more. The scenery was great once more. We had two landed stops - Beatty and Tonopah. Beatty was a cross between a rest stop and a snack stop. It took about 90 minutes for them to get there from Vegas. They had stopped at 'The Death Valley Nut and Candy Co' but it was an odd stop! The shop sold a wide variety of sweets and nuts, as you'd expect, but this was interspersed with an odd selection of tat! There was also a couple of food counters that sold an eclectic mix of food. However, the whole stop was organised the ladies getting to the toilet! There was obviously two or three toilets but the fact that there were ladies from two bus tours trying to get in at once meant that some of them spent the majority of the stop QUEUEING for the loo? A had to get a postcard from here as it was really one of the highlights of the journey!
So, back on the bus they went and they had 2 hours to the next stop - Tonopah. Now, the added excitement of driving between Vegas and Tonopah was the scenery and the odd brothel dotted along the highway! Nevada is one of the states that has legalised brothels but they appear all to be in the middle of no where. Now, you wonder who visits there? Because they are so far out in the desert away from all settlements it means if you leave your car outside you are kind of giving the game away! But, let's leave it there and move on! There was to be no stop at 'The Shady Lady Ranch'!
So, after more desert scenery and some more music from the guide we arrived at the last casino in Nevada! Tonopah is a bit of a run down place and seemed to be able to offer some cheap real estate possibilities! But they were stopping at The Ramada casino and inn for lunch. However, they had to make sure that people sat in groups and not couples as they don't like all their tables being taken up by small groups! So, they had a pleasant lunch and they were able to compare notes about Vegas with the others at their tables. Then it was a quick look at the 'casino museum' before heading off once again! Mind you, museum was stretching it a little - it was more of a display of some of their older casino equipment! However, the casino was not quite on the same scale as we had been used to and looked a little more like Cadonas than Vegas!
They had another three hours on the bus to get to Mammoth! They crossed the state border near Mt Montgomery (7200 feet) which offered views of Nevada's highest mountain, Boundary Peak, which stood over 13000 feet tall!
The driver took the scenic route past Crowley Lake and the views were among some of the best we had seen. We arrived in Mammoth Lakes, which has no mammoth lakes as far as I can see, at around 5pm. They are staying at the Sierra Nevada Lodge which is very quaint. The lobby area very nicely decorated and the rooms are very nice! Perhaps not the nicest rooms we have had but very comfortable. After getting their room they went for a walk round the town and they got some great views of the mountains round about them. Mammoth reminds you of Aviemore and there appeared to be a nice range of cages, restaurants and a few shops! One shop, another pet shop, had a display outside the door of the shop. It can't just be a city thing - obviously in the mountains there are people who are looking for prams for their pet dogs! Who? Who? Who really wants to be seen pushing a dog about in a pram sitting there like doggy royalty? Mind you, it might be better than being squashed into a camera bag and being produced when a suitable photo op appears! I rally need to speak to the tour guide to see if there is anything I can do about it!
So, they bought some things for their tea in the local supermarket and enjoyed a picnic in their room before heading out for a drink in 'Rafters' the bar next to the motel! As it was Friday night it was very busy and there was even live entertainment! However, as they up have an other early start tomorrow they soon called it a day and headed off to get some sleep!
So, all in all a quiet day today! A real change from the excesses of Vegas - but great scenery and some interesting sights! Tomorrow is an early start as they are off to Yosemite! I wonder if they will see any 'wild' bears? Oh, while I remember this place is full of bears! Every place we went to in Mammoth had models or sculptures of bears! I must see if I can get some photos tomorrow before we go!
More tomorrow from Sedona!
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