what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

I've made the trip from Utah to LA dozens of times. I know the I-15 corridor like Denzel Washington knows cool. I made the trip again this week. I expected it to be uneventful and just like normal.

It wasn't.

As some of you may know, my Uncle Leonard passed away suddenly last Sunday in Oxnard. When my folks called and informed me, I was hit hard. The paternal side of my family has always been close and the news came as a shock. Even with the truths of the gospel, these events are trying. I wanted to be there with my family to support them so I decided to make a trip back home. Luckily my sister was already up in Utah visiting friends and was driving to CA the next day. The timing was great, no doubt; but it seemed to be the only thing that worked well as the trip ensued.

8:45am After a quick lesson on vehicle maintenance (e.g. checking your fluids and making sure you have oil in your car before a 800 mile trip) we were on the road.

11:23 am Hit the tail of a snow storm just outside Cedar City. Wasn't too crazy, but the roads got really nasty for about 20 miles. We figured we would go slow and be just fine.

11:29 Scratch that last entry. While going 35 mph, my sisters 97' Expedition decided that the engine needed to shut off and sent us spinning into the snowy median. We narrowly escaped "harm or accident" by about 15ft. I am convinced Heaven's providence started the engine back up and we used the 4WD to re-assume freeway patronization.

12:18 In N' Out Burger stop in St. George. The best part of the day.

2:31 While entering North Las Vegas, the Expedition starts acting funny. By funny I mean the speedometer shuts down, the odometer turns off, and the tachometer registers 4500 rpms while going 20 mph. We decided to turn off the I-15 and get some help.

3:01 My mother's Google proficiency lands us a tip for a transmission place in the industrial district of Las Vegas. We decide to take it in.

**Let me at this point of the blog post key you into a very important piece of information: I don't like Las Vegas. Take that back, I detest Las Vegas. To me the place is just a dirty, hedonistic, spectacle of excess and consumerism. When I plan any trip through Vegas I make sure it is only through Vegas. There are only three places in the entire town that I enjoy. At this point of the story I am now stuck in a place I take great effort to avoid. I am not pleased. (Seriously, I questioned the fates: Why couldn't have we broke down in Henderson??? Such a nice town, and only 10 more miles further.)

4:05 Turns out the transmission needs open-heart surgery and will take 2 days to finish. My sister has an appointment for her new job in LA in T-16 hours. Not good.

4:45 For the first time in my life, I rent a car. Adding plenty of salt to the wound, I had to rent it from Circus Circus. They have only one model left: a Dodge Charger. Where I live, Chargers are what the cops drive. But, as I have no choice, we fork out a ridiculous amount of dinero to secure vehicular passage back home.

5:15 We are back on the freeway heading south to the holy land.

9:52 We cruise into our driveway in sweet blessed suburbia.

Yesterday I drove back to Vegas to drop off the rental car and pick up the fixed Expedition. By then I had spent about two days driving the Charger around the valley. I must admit it kinda grew on me and think I started to take on some of its personality traits.

Moral of the story: Never leave California!