Happy birthday, John. The way the years are spinning by, you'll hit 99 before you know it.
The travel gods were sure favorable this weekend. So much could have gone wrong. Heavy monsoon storms on Saturday, and we descended through serious looking thunder heads. Castles in the sky from the window seat:
The rain doesn't fool around either in the desert. There were dangerous looking brown rivers running through the valley in places where it is normally bone dry.
By Sunday, the weather train passed through and locals were just complaining about the humidity. It felt quite tropical. This has been the wettest monsoon season in Las Vegas since 1985. The yards were blooming like spring; the cactus swollen with moisture.
Our flights were on time, always a minor miracle. The many pieces of this complicated trip came together, despite one glitch. John stood in line over an hour at the rental car counter only to find out there were no cars available at the airport, with any company. (Yes, we had a reservation.)
A waste of vacation time, but what can you do? The unfortunate customers who waited in the first line were then sent off to a second long line in the dark garage, waiting for return cars to trickle in. Anyway, none of that for us. My trusty Uber app to the rescue again.
In 5 minutes flat, we were speeding away from the nasty car rental center in a clean SUV with a competent driver in the rain. It turned out to be a good thing, since we really didn't need that hassle of a rental when our hotel was just a few miles from Marji's house. Back and forth with the friendly Uber drivers, helping the local economy. Or we borrowed her car.
The three of us siblings haven't been together (at the same time) for years so we had a long overdue family visit. The highlight of course was the wonderful party, especially meeting Marji's friends from her writer's group. Dad was feeling well and had a great time. He also received a giant stack of over 100 cards and letters in the mail from folks all around the country. What a celebrity.
If you remember, at his birthday bash last year, we had Christina the Showgirl and a backyard barbecue. A hard act to follow, but Marji pulled off another smashing success. This time a lovely and relaxed afternoon reception-- delicious cakes, sandwiches, and many champagne toasts.
We said she better start thinking about next year!
I suspect the Burning Man festival had something to do with the dearth of rental cars. It takes place in the desert every year, and this year with an attendance of 73,000 (!) they got monsooned on the last two days of the festival, and it was utter chaos. There was a massive like 9-hour traffic jam to get out, and I'd bet that's where a significant portion of your rental cars were -- gridlocked in the middle of the desert.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of that-- and you are probably right! Las Vegas is one of the worst places to rent a car. To be avoided if at all possible. Not to mention, the vicious traffic once you get in the darn thing.
ReplyDelete