The Final Leg - through the Mojave Desert to the Pacific

 

The last leg of our trip was arguably the most stressful.  Traffic through the Mojave Desert was nearly bumper to bumper from Vegas to Long Beach, at 110 degrees.  It was all worth it to take a dip in the Pacific and watch the sun set over Hermosa Beach.  We moved Quinn in to his new apartment.  He is ready to start his new adventure as a Californian!

The Mojave Desert is a good place to put solar panels.  Put all that sun and heat to work!

Traffic was truly awful.  Quinn kept complaining about my panicked gasps and stomping on the invisible passenger brake.  I said "but I didn't SAY ANYTHING!"  He replied "Well, you're saying nothing very LOUD."  Fair enough.  

Quinn's new apartment is secure and cute.  It's right next door to a hospital, which you would think would be a good thing but in actuality makes it a magnet for the homeless and drug addicted.  This is a sublease for six months.  No roommate just yet, which is awesome for him, as he's getting a VERY good deal on a two bedroom apartment with laundry facilities and secure parking!

We moved in Quinn's stuff, which took all of 30 minutes, and then headed immediately to the beach!

Hello Pacific Ocean!  It's been a minute!

Long Beach is far more industrial than I had imagined.  This is a MAJOR port city, and had dozens of cargo freighters lined up to prove it!

We trolled up and down the coastline, landing at Hermosa Beach for dinner and a glimpse of a National Surf Competition right at sunset.  The traffic alone would scare me off from California, but oh, the beaches.  I guess I get it, Quinn.  I get it.  

Let's talk about the cars of Los Angeles, shall we? In any given parking lot, there are vehicles worth more than my entire house.  At one stop light alone I counted a Lamborghini, a Masserati, two Ferraris, and an Astin Martin.  The "normal" cars were all Mercedes and Audis.  The shear wealth here blows my ever-lovin' mind.
 

The Grand Canyon and Vegas, Baby!

The day began with a little spelunking.  Quinn had read up on the Kanab caves that were not a far hike off the highway, so we stopped for a climb.  They were super cool, these caves!  And the climb up red sandstone was also pretty awesome!

Afterwards, I enjoyed my first ever Acai bowl.  DELISH.

Look at the name someone (not me, I swear!) carved into the sandtone!

Then it was off to the Grand Canyon!

We were planning on hitting the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which was the closest end to our route.  Last year, this area saw horrible wildfires, and the terrain is still charred and ugly.  So, there was that... the lodge was burned to the ground, visitor center closed, and miles upon miles of burnt land.  The first place we stopped for a view of the Big Crack was far from inspiring, to say the least.  Not sure it was worth the drive, to be honest.  But we came this far, and we weren't about to leave without being awestruck.  We drove and drove and drove on a road parallel to, but out of sight of, the Grand Canyon.  Meh.

Every once in a while, though, the trees would part and we would sneak a peek.

That's what we're talking about!

It's impossible to capture the scale of this thing.  I tried, but it does not begin to do it justice.

And, because he is who he is, and lives to scare his mother to death, no matter how "adult" he claims to be... Quinn climbed over the safety guardrail and sat at the end to dangle his feet and contemplate.  Pretty sure he calculated how many flips he could do mid-air in the Grand Canyon before the inevitable splat.  

 

"PLEASE get away from the edge, Quinn!!"

Yes, that little speck in the turquoise t-shirt dangling over the edge of a sheer 300 foot drop is my son.  This kid LIVES to freak his mother out.  I couldn't watch when he stood up - I just knew he'd stumble and that would be it.  HE said it looked worse than it was.  Uhhhhh... which one of us had the clearer perspective here, son?

Quinn was taking pictures of his car in front of all the viewpoints, and at one point parked with the nose of the VW to the edge of the canyon so he could get a shot of her from behind.  "Don't touch this gear shift, Mom."  "I won't, but please put on the emergency brake."  "The emergency brake is broken.  The only thing keeping this car from rolling into the Grand Canyon is this gear shifter.  Do NOT bump it!".  And then he casually got out for a pic, leaving his mother in the car, petrified, certain of impending death by plummet into the Grand Canyon.  

Spoiler alert:  I didn't die.  But it felt VERY close, especially when he had to put the car into reverse to back up and it rolled forward a bit first.  My poor middle-aged nerves.

After the Grand Canyon, we decided for something COMPLETELY different, and headed for Vegas, Baby!!!  

It was hot.  Thankful for little cars with air conditioning.  

It was here, in the Sahara Hotel on the Vegas Strip, that my son Quinn turned in his FINAL ASSIGNMENT OF HIS COLLEGE CAREER.  He had one last thing to do for his Capstone Project, and it was completed with the help of the wifi in our hotel room.  Hallelujah.  We'd find out later if he passed the class and received a diploma, but for now... all work was done and turned in.  That deserved a drink and some very un-mom-like gambling at the craps table.  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

We took the train to the far end of the strip and then wandered our way back towards the hotel, gambling along the way.  At one point, Quinn discovered that there were free driver-less cars, so we needed to take one.  Except we had to walk a mile to the meeting place, and the thing dropped us off a 1/2 mile from our hotel.  Not very convenient, but a cool experience none-the-less.