posted
I just got back from Las Vegas and the BIG ISA show there. It was quite the adventure.
I got to meet some great letterheads in person and also met up with folks I've known a while.
Last night after the show Duncan & I decided to go for a 'little' walk. We started out towards the strip but decided to take a gander at Fremont street. The evening was nice and warm and we had lots of free time.
Between us we determined that it probably wasn't that far... we'd walk until we got tired and then catch a bus or cab from there if need be.
For some reason I tend to get a little disoriented in Vegas. I trusted Duncan, him being the flatlander and all... and real men don't ask directions.
We walked, and walked, and walked. We knew we were on the right road. But the town started to thin out pretty good. I think we were in east LA before we came to a gas station called "TERRIBLES" - no kidding!
Duncan casually asked how much further it was to Freemont street. The lady behind the counter didn't need to say anything... her expression said it all... stupid tourists. We had been walking for an hour or so - in the wrong direction.
We bought some cokes and headed back the way we had come. Luckily there was a bus stop not more than two or three miles up the road. And the bus wasn't too long in coming.
Two bucks each got us back into town, but it was hot and stuffy in the bus and the traffic on the strip wasn't even progressing at a walking speed so we bailed (at Duncan's insistance) and set off once again on foot - in the right direction this time.
We thought that Freemont street was near the sky tower thing which didn't look that far away... but the desert air must have a mirage effect. It turned out to be quite a hike. And when we got there Freemont street was nowhere in sight. Duncan insisted it was just a little further. So off we went.
The town started to peter our once more. We saw 'the other side of Vegas' We walked by some of the seediest wedding chapels I have ever seen and even witnessed a couple in wedding attire poking through the sunroof of a big white limo getting married at a drive-through facility. We saw Elvis presiding at another facility.
It wasn't more than a few more miles after the wedding chapels before we finally got to Freemont Street. Duncan & I shared a bunch of laughs on the way and I got more excercise than I have in quite a while. We saw sign extavaganzas, wall dog work, and just about everything else you could inagine on our journey. And we saw it up colose and personal. It was quite the experience.
We decided to catch a cab for the return trip and asked him to take the freeway back to our hotel. It turned out to be a while lot quicker and was the best $20 I had spent in a long while.
Now Duncan has his very own version of the experience too, biased somehow to where I am totally to blame for the long, trek. And I'm sure he believes it too.
But having spent some serious time with Duncan I can tell you with some authority that there is a side to him few here realize. There was the question of how his voice got to be so hoarse on our second day in Vegas. Others there heard of his 'other' adventure too and I'm sure it will get out eventually.... From what I heard it was much more exciting than our little walk from one end of Vegas to the other!
But I wouldn't want to spread rumors... what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas....
-grampa dan
[ April 03, 2005, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Grampa's memory is already getting a little fuzzy. A few clarifications seem to be in order here. Although my instincts said that we should turn left outside the hotel, I felt I should defer to my older and wiser companion's judgement. So off we headed into the driving desert wind, Pancho and Cisco, in search of the oasis known as the "Old Strip". I now refer you to the following map to illustrate outcome of that decision.
In retrospect I erred to two important points. 1) Dogs have better instincts than dragons. 2) I'm actually older than Dan, so I'm the wiser guy...Actually we're both wise guys
The rest of his tale is accurate and this was the most fun I've had in a long time. Dan's summary of the extra mileage... "Well at least we made good time!" Dan can put a positive spin on anything, and I'm happly to call him my friend. Just in case you think he was kidding about the wedding chapel...
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Mark, You know real men don't need maps, and never, never, ask for directions. Yours truly, faltered from that dogma and asked a simple question of a gal at Dumbass Gas or whatever that place was called...no Dan is right is "Terrible Gas 'n Go" was what it is called... So anyway we're paying for the Cokes, and stupid me says to the gal,"Excuse me but Freemont Street must be close by, eh? ". Well! she almost swallowed her tongue, then sputtered as politely as possible, "Well, no,<as she paused to take deep breath and compose herself> it's actually back there a bit." As she gestured broadly we knew the terrible truth... We were lost, 10 miles off course and found out by a girl. "Oh the Humanity!!!!!!!!!!!"
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Well that settles it - I guess that next time you'll have to take me with. I can ask for directions, with no ill effects... besides I walked from the strip to the old strip myself once. No Taxi was gonna get the better of us...
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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Well, despite my recent wrong-way adventures in the outskirts of Vegas when I went to see Magoo, I actually know my way around the Strip very well...
.. because, I have walked the entire length many times I usually get sidetracked at the giant Coke bottle and m&m's... mmmmmm chocolate....
Then there's the time I parked in the garage at the MGM Grand.. walked through the tunnel that leads into the hotel, which is a shopping mall with a place where they sell booze... got a drink and by the time I walked through the casino and hit the street I was broke, completely lost, and confused when I saw the Statue of Liberty. (New York New York is right across the street).
Good times.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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I can't figure it out, but today I was a little stiff... musta been the cramped quarters on the plane ride home!
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Your right Dan! Those new planes sure are cramped. Anyway I'm sure all we need is an industrial pedicure and a double hip replacement and we'll be as good as new. Yes Kel, next time you come along too, your level headed influence would have been most welcome. Mike, I love your story. I can just see that scene in progress.
I went to the NESA show in Las Vegas in '87, brought my street skates(this was pre rollerblade days..) and one night, skated from Old downtown out to the freeway, where my motel was. forget how many miles. During the day, skates were my trans. for visiting shops, etc.
The Neon Signs & Free Champagne Bus Tour is another story...
JOhn
-------------------- John Lennig / Big Top Sign Arts 5668 Ewart Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada bigtopya@hotmail.com 604.451.0006 Posts: 2184 | From: Burnaby, British Columbia,Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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What, not enough signs in Vegas for you guys???lol
-------------------- "Are we having fun yet?" Peter Schuttinga DZines Sign Studio 1617 Millstream rd Victoria BC V9B-6G4 Posts: 521 | From: Victoria BC | Registered: Mar 2002
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
And the bus wasn't too long in coming. 
![[Rolling On The Floor]](graemlins/rolf.gif)
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