vulture bait day 0: phx to vegas.

Driving. Northern Arizona. Wikieup Trading Post. Navigator/Photographer/Documentarian. The Saddest Palm Tree In The World. Sunset on The Strip. The Venetian. Very very good food at Yardbird (watermelon with lemon oil and farmer's cheese; roasted/blackened carrots with coriander and cumin, really great; and pretty definitely the best mac and cheese I've ever had). And a $15 cocktail so unexpectedly delicious that Nelson had two of them, called a Southern Revival (Wild Turkey 81, lemonade, passionfruit, Thai basil). Many games of pool at Dino's Lounge until bikers rained on our parade. One as-fast-as-possible beer at Club Platinum not pictured due to the absolute wrongness of it all.

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Hypothetical planning map for possibly upcoming westbound road trip from Phoenix to the North Coast of California. Las Vegas is there only as an overnight stop, ok? Nothing to worry about. Death Valley: hopefully not an overnight stop. The idea was to end up in Mendocino because I have very fond memories of a long weekend I spent there by myself in the mid-90s, but some research has made it sound like it's not the same place anymore: hit hard by economic turmoil, many businesses have closed, etc. Most importantly there's nowhere good to eat anymore. So Thelma I just don't know, we'll just end up somewhere over that way, maybe Albion. All of this is up in the air anyway, except for the Tioga Mobil Gas Mart (Wikipedia entry), I'm seeing that. And there'll be a visit to a Waffle House, also non-negotiable.

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