Coming To Las Vegas : A True Christmas Story of Adventure

Middle Of Somewhere In Nevada Dec 2012
====================================

When "Las Vegas, Nevada" hosted GOP presidential debate on 15th Dec the live pictures of the city on TV reminded me of a personal winter tale steeped in foolhardiness. It had been playing on my mind ever since and that could mean only one thing. The thoughts would not go away until I put them on paper, well on blog I mean.

I had been to Las Vegas many times and I had a great time every time but this story is not about how dazzling Vegas is and for that matter this story has very little to do with Vegas. All the times that I went to Vegas it was a smooth sailing except this time I arrived in Vegas like a sailor who crashes onto the shore after getting lost at the sea for many weeks.

The day before Christmas Eve in 2012 we dropped off the keys to our apartment in "Seattle Washington" and we were moving to "Phoenix Arizona" in search of a fresh start. The weather in Seattle was perfect that afternoon at least by Seattle standards but the weather down the Pacific Coast was a different story. A winter storm was approaching and expected to hit Oregon and Northern California later that night. So the drive down the interstate I-5 through California was ruled out. So we decided on an alternate route. We hit the interstate I-90 and headed east, as we got near "Ellensburg, Washington" I noticed some snow flurries but didn't think much of it and I turned south on interstate I-82 not knowing what lay ahead. It started snowing heavily and before we knew it, we were caught in a major snow storm and highway signs warned the drivers that the snow chains were required in order to proceed. For the life of me I had no clue how to use chains not to mention I never owned a set of chains. The highway was not plowed. It was not like you are in Chicago you know - the crews were not going to come out as soon as it started snowing and clean the roads. We were in the middle of Cascade Mountains; around here they warn you about dangerous road conditions and wish you luck and that's it. It was not 3pm yet but could have been 10pm for all I knew, it felt like it at least. We were not going to spend the night by the roadside in the blizzard, so we decided to drive up to "Yakima, Washington" and check into a hotel. Never mind the 50 mile drive from Ellensburg to Yakima took us an eternity.

When we woke up early next day in Yakima the town looked like it had seen a bad nightmare and was buried under several feet of snow. The hotel was owned by a friendly old couple who heard our story and took pity on us and the guy advised me to go buy chains for the tires and he would show me how to fix the chains. We lost some precious time shopping for chains and we didn't even need them right away since it had stopped snowing now. Armed with chains we thanked the couple and hit the road. Ironically we never had to use the chains rest of the way. Surprisingly the drive down the interstate I-84 in Eastern Oregon was good since the road conditions were fairly decent. I think Mt Hood stood guard for us and blocked the storm in its track and felt like it was looking out for us. By the time we entered Idaho it was already beginning to get dark and roads began to get slicker by the mile. Any sane driver would have been content to take a shelter in the cozy confines of "Boise, Idaho" but in a stupid display of bravado I decided to keep going.

The night fell hard and fast and the mountain pass by the "Boise Saw Tooth National Forest" was a tough stretch. The drive came to a crawl with the road covered in 2 inches of snow and it was still falling; To make matters worse, the tires on my Jeep were not in the best shape to handle the icy conditions. We were inching along and when I set my sights on the town of "Twin Falls, Idaho" the weather was much better and that meant improved road conditions. My mood had lifted and I thought our troubles were over. My wife was weary at this point and she was begging me to get a hotel room. The kids in the back were oblivious to all the drama that was unfolding on the road, they spent their time chatting, playing, fighting, pouting, crying, screaming, munching, fussing, napping, befriending, laughing etc...I pulled into a gas station and filled up gas and as soon as I got back in my Jeep, a wicked idea came to my mind. I announced to my wife "Honey we are not stopping for the night. I am going to drive through the night to take advantage of the kids' sleep hours and I can put some serious dent in drive time." She gave me a glaring vicious look and reluctantly agreed. I could not tell her this was for her own good. The longer the trip goes the worse she feels. I pushed those thoughts aside and I quickly pulled out my Atlas and studied the maps for a minute.

I quickly made some mental notes :
a. Head south on I-84 > Salt Lake City, UT
b. Get on south bound I-15 > Las Vegas NV
c. Easy ride to Phoenix AZ
The problem with this route though it is a bit round about.
-- Or there is shorter way --
I can get on Federal Highway Route 93 and drive south right through the middle of Nevada and if we are lucky and perhaps with some luck we will be hitting slots in Vegas by the crack of dawn on Christmas Day.

We were extremely exhausted and in an attempt to make major headway we neglected to make stops for our meals and now it was Christmas Eve and everything was closed in Twin Falls. Kids dozed off and they had no dinner. I felt terrible for putting them through this. I was hungry, angry, spiteful, frustrated, tired, drowsy among many other emotions I was dealing with. In a stubborn state of mind I drove past Twin Falls, got on Route 93 and drove towards Nevada border. You can't miss the sign at the border that says road is not maintained during winter months - the sign totally spooked the heck out of me and I was seriously contemplating to turn around and go back to Twin Falls and get a room. But in dogged determination I decided to plunge into the unknown remote wilderness. I was thankful it was not snowing at the time and I was grateful the traffic during the day kept the surface clean. It was a narrow two lane country road, very tight lanes with little room on either side, some stretches melted during the day iced over in the evening posing a big hazard. All I could sense in the pitch dark was miles of open country on either side of the highway blanketed in snow. I could see nothing but I could see everything at the same time. The traffic was light may be just a handful of cars. I was convinced I was not the only fool on the road but soon I would find out that I was the only real fool in the whole state of Nevada. It was probably about 10 pm when I reached "Wells, Nevada" at the junction of I-80 and Rt 93, the kids and my wife were fast asleep in the back seat when I pulled into a gas station to fill up. I was toying with a big temptation at that point. Here is my escape out of my misery. Why don't I get on I-80 and drive east to Salt Lake City, check into a hotel and sleep all my troubles away for a few hours. I caved in so I got on I-80 and drove for about 15 miles towards before my stupidity had the better of me and I told myself "I was going to complete my adventure." I tried to reason with myself "I got a tankful of gas that would last me 350 miles, keep faith in your Jeep and hope for the best." I turned around and got on Rt 93 and so my misadventure within misadventure thus began. I might have been at a Casino in Vegas and I went all in.

It did not take me long to realize I was driving deeper into the heart of Nevada, the road was not maintained during winter let alone cleaning, you are on your own. There were still some cars on the road and I hoped and prayed they would go all the way with me to Vegas to keep me company. It was slow going at best. I suspected if the fellow drivers were just as scared as I was by the remoteness, wretched road conditions, stillness of the night as the darkness was tightening its grip around us. It was just an eerie feeling that was making my heart pound faster and faster. I was finally convinced it was a mistake to take this road. I accepted the defeat. Now what? What choice do I have? Once I got to "Ely, Nevada" it was too late to turn around. No other way but to keep going. By the way "Ely" was the starting point for "The Loneliest Road in America" if you heading west. By midnight I was in the vicinity of the Loneliest Road in America. All my fellow drivers that I was counting on fell by the wayside probably given up or they went home perhaps in their warm beds by now, snoozing with belly full of hot food. It was bitter cold outside and the heating inside Jeep was barely adequate to keep us warm. Every time we passed a mountainside the unbearable cold dropped to unimaginable cold. I handed Sri and my kids a couple of thick comforters to make themselves comfortable and stay somewhat warm. Further down and to my utter horror the temperatures suddenly dropped. If I had thought the -4 degrees F was cold a hundred miles ago the dashboard showed -26 F now and dropping even further. The windchill may have been in the excess of 40 below.

At 2'o clock in the morning I was the only driver in the entire Nevada who was still on the road battling the elements. The only thing that stood between us and being frozen was my dependable Jeep which was saying to me "Keep trust in me. You will be fine." Blissfully for me, Sri and kids were not awake to watch me fall apart mentally but somehow I pooled all my energy and gathered some mental strength to press on. The highway signs were non existent and I had no idea if I was on the right highway. I did not want to end up in the wrong part of the the state with no gas to correct my mistakes. The fear had been my companion for so long that at four in the morning I actually got comfortable with the fear itself. I loosened up a little. I started paying attention to the landscape around me in the pre-dawn glimmer of light. It felt peaceful and utterly quiet. I found a gas station in a sleepy little town and I eagerly filled up(My fingers froze, my breath condensed mid-air as I filled) out of a need to feel secure more than anything but those extra gallons came handy later on. At 5:00 in the wee hours the faint rays of sun filled the horizon in the East and painted it red. My fear was all but gone but felt more groggy as the each minute passed. I guess the adrenaline wore off causing me feel drowsy. Every 15 minutes I would pull over to the side of the road and steal a few winks of nap and get on with the driving. I was now driving through "Great Basin National Park" area and I wished I were not as tired so I could have admired the rugged beauty of the back country. At 7 in the morning I was still 100 miles away from Las Vegas but I was too tired to sleep now and some manic energy had set in. Sri woke up tired looked raving mad and I dared not to make eye contact with her.

My spirits rose when I saw the Vegas skyline and It was 9 in the morning when we finally descended on the "The Strip" and drove up and down on the empty Las Vegas Blvd like it was our victory lap. The Most Valuable Players were my wife and kids. I was incredibly proud of them. I was operating like a zombie at this point and I could not wait to find a local McDonald's so kids can grab some breakfast and a drink. I got on the internet at McDonald's and made some hotel reservations and when we got to the reception the lady at the desk said we could not check in until 2pm. I thought to myself this drama that started out in Seattle two days just would not end and it just keeps going. Luckily another staff member looked at our kids and felt sorry for them and found an empty room and handed keys to us. Sooner than we stepped into our room, we showered, changed and crashed in to our beds and did not wake up until the next morning - 24 hours straight up.

==Thank You ## Merry Christmas ## Safe Happy Holidays ==