Mark's Random Ramblings

Backing up a bit... all I could think of while we were driving aimlessly around Nevada was the line in Fear & Loathing: "Can't stop here... this is bat country!"


While we were in Las Vegas itself, there was really not much Fear or Loathing at all. Except after the second buffet of the day, having outdone myself both times... I'm pretty sure that feeling could be classified as loathing.

I was blown away by the quality of the free shows available to anyone walking along the strip in Vegas. We saw the pirate show at Treasure Island - it was a full scale production with pyrotechnics, choreographed dancing, and even a sinking pirate ship. Crazy! We also saw the water show at the Bellagio, and I was again floored. These shows go on several times a night, and some of them all day long too. It's nuts that they can squeeze the tourists for so much money that they can pay for all the extravagance.


We also checked out the Fremont Experience. That's where there is a roof over the street and there's what they (casually) refer to as a "light show" on the hour. I was expecting patterns of light bulbs and stuff, nothing special. In actual fact, it's a huge video screen several blocks long and as wide as a street. The first one we caught was a psychedelic music video for Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird. Here's a short video clip that captures what must be about the least interesting snippet of the video. I repeat: least interesting. The rest was even cooler. I hope you appreciate it - I almost fell over backwards when trying to pan to the end of the screen.

When we got to Yuma, we saw a couple of these little water shacks. Their biggest selling point: Salt-free. As opposed to all that heavily salted water people normally settle for. Also, their price was "5 for 50 cents". 5 what? Who knows! It didn't say anywhere. There were lots of people using them though.


The first business establishment I noticed in Mexico was this one:


I wonder what kind of a place it is... Probably some kind of bird museum.

In another fine example of Mexican signs that cut straight to the chase, here are some fantastic pet instructions. Don't be so subtle guys, and let us know what you really mean.


While we were strolling the beach at our campground in Santa Rosalia, we made friends with one of the random dogs running around. She was just a pup, and was begging food from people, and chasing us around, and generally being a nuisance. As we walked along, she ran up to someone's RV site, and grabbed a sandal that was lying on the ground and started running away with it. A man came chasing after her (a fat sunburned American fellow who stood little or no chance of catching her, of course), so we caught her and gave the guy his sandal back. About 2 minutes later, she grabbed another one from someone else's site, but this time nobody was home.

M: "Should we take it back for them?"
J: "Nah, she'll probably just grab it again"
M: "Good point."
J: "Well, not much else we can do but take a picture."
M: "Guess so."


One of the street vendors was selling Lucha Libre masks!!! We hadn't bought anything from the street vendors yet, as neither of us are very keen on haggling under the best of circumstances, let alone when we don't really speak the language. Anyways, we did a really half-assed job, and ended up buying a mask like Jack Black wore in Nacho Libre, as well as a little carrying bag Julie liked. We even managed to knock the price down a couple of bucks! Here we are modeling.