WRONG WAY!

We are on the bus, it is dark outside, and there is some real creepazoids all around us. However, there was a nice looking lady standing close to us and we were talking about where we were going. She says, “You want to go to Flamingo and Pecos? You are going the wrong direction, it is the other way!” Michelle and I just are dumbfounded. Michelle says “Shit! She’s right! We need to be going the other way!”

We also had to get all this done before 7pm and the clock is ticking! So we get off the bus at the next stop and there is a 7eleven there. We stand out front trying to think of what to do, because there is um, interesting! People! Everywhere! And I did not want to be walking around too much! Finally I said, “Let’s call a cab. Because there is just no way we are going to be able to ride a bus and get to where we have to go before seven.”

Michelle agreed and called a cab company and they said a cab would be there in 30 minutes. Thirty minutes, dragged by, during which several stoned and drunk people walked by and one guy propositioned us thinking we were the oldest, worst dressed whores in existence I’m sure!

After 30 minutes, I asked Michelle to please call and see what was taking the guy so long. The dispatcher said no one was even on the way yet! Michelle and I were furious! So, we were heading out to – somewhere, when this cab pulled up to the Seven/Eleven. I run back and asked him, “Are you here for us?” He said no, but he could pick us up at Boulder Station where he was dropping his fares off.

I said, “Meet ya there!” and Michelle and I started speed walking over that way. Through all the whores, pimps, drug addicts, and ect…

We get there, and”our cab” was just getting ready to leave. He hadn’t seen us yet. So we shouted and he stopped. We jumped in and explained what the situation was and the amount of time we had and the area we had to cover. It was like being in a high speed “follow-that-cab” car chase!

CHRIS

As we drove along, we talked to our driver and found out his name was Chris, he was originally from Portland, OR. And he knew absolutely nothing about horses.

But by God, that man could drive! We had one hour to get the papers signed for the storage agreement, get the code to get in the gate and then meet the tow truck driver out at Gaudin Ford. We told Chris that the storage units were on Pecos and Flamingo and they were but there was also two Storage West’s. We went to the wrong one first and Michelle says, “oops! This is the wrong one!” Chris stays cool, whips the cab around, jumps across four lanes of traffic and heads back the other way! We get to the correct Storage West; Michelle runs in, signs papers, the storage guy shows her how to open the gate. They then hop into a golf cart and zoom to the back of the place, to show Michelle were to put the truck. They speed back to the gate as fast as a golf cart can speed. Michelle jumps back into the cab and Chris roars out into traffic. We now have about fifteen minutes to make to Gaudin Ford and we aren’t waste’n’ around!

As we are moving along, Michelle calls the towing service to see were the tow truck is and I hear her exclaim, “He all ready took the truck!? Where?” All I could do is just stare at her. What could happen next!? No one is going to believe us when we get home!

The towing dispatcher calls the truck and finds out that the driver hasn’t actually made it to the Ford place yet. This is a huge relief because we thought we were going to have to go on the hunt for a rouge tow truck dragging a red Ford pickup around and down the Las Vegas Strip!

We get there, we pay for the diagnostics on the truck, the tow truck shows up and we all head back to the storage area.

There is no doubt that God sent Chris to us. He was professional but at the same time he helped us feel reassured. Thank you Chris! Where ever you are.

SATURDAY

We were sooooo tired by this time that we didn’t get to excited about anything. By now Michelle had called her friend Amanda to see if she could tow us on down to Twenty Nine Palms. Amanda said “No Problem!” So we didn’t worry too much about anything after that. We were just plain worried out.

We decided that we needed to find some “free” internet and email our folks back home. There was a Starbuck’s up the street that advertised “free internet”. HAH! Nothing is for free it doesn’t seem like anymore.

We go in, sit down, order something to drink and we figure it will be like home. Just put our computers on search-for-signal and connect to the wireless internet. But, OH! NO! it wasn’t going to be anything like that! Hut uh, no! We have to buy a Starbuck’s card or, have a AT&T account or, T Mobile. We had none of these things. We were finally able to log on after paying 3.99 for two hours. Which really didn’t give us much time to get much done. The server kept going out and I lost my message to Richard (whom I miss VERY MUCH!) several times. I finally got a shorter than I wanted message off to him, I hope he got it.

Waiting for the Southbound

After Starbuck’s, we got back on the South bound bus and decided to ride It the full length of its route and really check out our neighborhood. It was very interesting! Even beautiful, because the landscaping in many places was quite lovely.

We got home and had dinner, with beer and movies and just chilled and tried to relax. Things were ok. Little did we know!

The STRIP!

We woke up bright and early the next morning and ate a nice bacon breakfast. I casually asked Michelle if she had heard from Amanda yet.

“No, but she would be driving down from Idaho right now and probably won’t have service till she gets back to Pahrump. (Funny name for a town, huh?)”

Made sense to me so I didn’t even question it. Instead, we went on to planning our day since this was, hopefully, our last day here. Today we would take on the “STRIP”!

The Las Vegas Strip is where all the major casinos are and the light show is the brightest in the world! It can be seen from outer space! Michelle and Shanna especially wanted to go to the Nascar Café because there was a race Michelle wanted to watch. She has a favorite driver and she wanted to cheer him on. I figured I could play video poker or something while I waited. The Nascar Café also had a buffet that was pretty extensive, and we decided to eat lunch there. It was a good thing we did; because that was the last thing we ate till the next day!

To be continued...