The GF (now fiance), who is from metro Philadelphia, wants to see the desert. So we take the rented Chrysler convertible out of Las Vegas for about 45 minutes, until we’re surrounded by nothing but scrub, mountains, and sand. We pull over. “This is it,” I tell her. Yes, the Mojave is a bit further out, but this is close enough.
She’s not impressed. “It doesn’t look like it did in that Harrison Ford movie,” she says. She’s referring, I discover eventually, to “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” She wants the majestic, towering sand dunes of north Africa. The best we can do is a gravelly, bare landscape and the occasional wind-twisted shrub. Still, she gets her picture taken anyway.
On the drive back to the Strip we noitce traffic is really bad. One lane has been blocked off by orange cones, and there are enough police officers on motorcycles to invade a small country. Is the president arriving? No. The NASCAR teams are.
It’s the hauler parade, coming right up the Strip, and an impressive number of people are on hand to watch it. Folks line either side of the highway, some in lawn chairs, most in whatever bit of shade they can find. In the convertible, it’s difficult not to wave.
It’s all fun until we have to leave the hotel a few minutes later to get to an event put on by Crown Royal. They’re going to annoubce the winner of the upcoming Your Name Here 400 race in Richmond, and do it in a unique way—take everybody up in helicopters to see the winner’s name written in a desert mosaic. The GF (now fiance) is very excited about this. Until, that is, we try to leave the hotel, and find the streets gridlocked because of the NASCAR hauler parade.
Now we know what it’s like to be one of those folks in New York stopped by a barricade during the Times Square victory lap. The Strip is an impossibility. So is a side road, because of diverted traffic and ever-present construction. We make lefts, rights, try to flank everything, but after an hour in the car we are no closer to the Treasure Island casino than we had been before. Much to the GF’s chagrin, we bag it. Sitting in gridlocked traffic, we see three helicopters fly overhead. All we can do it wave them goodbye.
| More blogs from this member | |
| Go to this member's profile | Email to friend |
If you already have a NASCAR.COM account or ID, you can log in to the Community now!
If you do not have a NASCAR.COM account or ID, please register with NASCAR.COM now so you can join the Community and create your profile! It's free!
For Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, for one night at least, it was like old times. Better times.
Despite Jimmie Johnson's fast start to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jeff Burton hasn't been will...
Once Carl Edwards lost a lap after getting caught on pit road during a caution, he radioed his te...
From NASCAR's standpoint, the feud between Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick is over.
All External sites will open in a new browser window. NASCAR.COM does not endorse external sites.
© 2008 NASCAR | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
NASCAR.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network
Powered by Cisco Systems, Inc.
2.0.5.4/467 Tue Sep 9 20:08:46 UTC 2008
5 Comments
kbusch972
Mar 02 2008 13:51
the open road
nothing beats it
18packAbs
Mar 01 2008 00:33
you might as well
get hitched, you are in Vegas Baby!!!!
Pugnut
Feb 29 2008 14:10
If you want to see
sand dunes in a desert (in the US) go to White Sands, New Mexico. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. They are always moving and changing. It’s worth the trip!
AC500Speeder
Feb 29 2008 13:00
You should take your finacee to Zabriskie Pt!
It’s in Death Valley and it’s the spot where U2 got their picture taken for the cover of The Joshua Tree. I bet that beats whatever desert they had in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
jennyginz
Feb 29 2008 12:25
Sorry
you missed your ride….
I heard David Poole recount the spectacle of the Hauler Parade this morning on Sirius. It’s great to know there are so many fans out there that they even want to watch the haulers drive by….