Las Vegas Sunday, Dec 22, 2019

 

Sunday morning was quieter than the day before on the Strip.  I had debated hitting one of the cheap breakfast places for breakfast but decided to head out.  I’d been in the same parking spot since Friday night and it was finally time to move off the Strip.  There were a number of off-strip activities that I had wanted to check out, but I also wanted to get back to Flagstaff early.  I had photo calendars at CVS waiting for pickup and an Amazon order at Whole Foods waiting for pickup.   And I needed to hit the gym before it got too late.  I checked my list and the Anderson Dairy Farm was closed on Sundays…understandable but I had looked forward to this tour and was sad to miss it.  There were two activities on Fremont I had on my list but decided to skip these too.  More traffic/parking issues and I wasn’t in the mood.  The Shelby Museum and Showroom opened at 10am on Sunday and the Pinball Hall of Fame opened at 11am.  These were places I really wanted to check out and I had time for a haircut before I got there.  The haircut went well…my hair is now really really short, but I definitely won’t have to deal with it anytime soon. 

Shelby Museum and Showroom…not what I expected.  I knew that Shelby designed the early Mustangs, but I thought that’s all it was.  Nope…Shelby designed race cars.  Very pretty race cars.  On some of the early Shelby Cobra race cars, you can see the body designs that were transferred over to the Mustangs.  After the Mustangs, Shelby designed the Chargers for Dodge and continued designing both race cars and street cars into current day.  They have designed a giant pickup truck which I thought was kind of ugly sitting next to the race cars.  The truck wasn’t ugly, it was very attractive for a truck.  It just seemed very out of place around all the pretty cars.

Last stop in Vegas…The Pinball Hall of Fame.  This appears to be someone’s lifelong collection of pinball machines that has recently been made public.  The building is a secondhand building with a hand painted sign.  I spoke with an attendant and they are planning on moving by the end of the year.   Based on the crowd it attracted, I expect it’s doing very well.  The current building houses roughly 90 pinball games but the owner has hundreds more in storage.  Its family friendly and a great place to bring kids.  The oldest functioning Pinball game is from 1933 and doesn’t have any flippers.  Your only control is in the amount of power you spring the ball into the game.  It is very simple and didn’t take long to complete, but totally worth a quarter to experience this blast from the past.  The other pinball games varied from a quarter to a dollar based on the age of the machine.  Older once, like the one I grew up with in my basement were only a quarter.  There were only a handful of actual designs on the games, but each had its own artistic theme.  The new games were more expensive, but also had more bumpers, ramps and electronic doodads.  They cost more, but they also lasted longer and were more interactive.  I played a variety of games of each era and spent $5 in quarters over the course of an hour.  If I wasn’t worried about time, I would have wasted a few more dollars and a few more hours here.  This was probably the most fun I’d had all weekend. 

It was nice driving back to Flagstaff in the daylight.  I’d driven to Vegas in the dark and I missed all the scenery.  The drive is pretty and there are a couple of places you can pull over and take photos.  There really isn’t a whole lot between Bolder City outside of Vegas and Kingman AZ.  A couple of gas stations that are up and running and a couple of gas stations that are abandoned and covered in graffiti.  Luckily, I remembered the lack of civilization on the drive up and topped off the gas tank before I left Boulder City.  Somehow, I missed the Hoover Dam on the drive back although I figure I had to drive over it.  I must have been distracted by traffic or scenery and didn’t actually see I was crossing the dam.

Back in Flagstaff, I was able to pick up my Amazon delivery (merino wool socks) and my photo calendars at CVS.  They messed up my calendars at CVS, so I ended up having to get them re-printed and didn’t have them on Monday morning like I wished.  Diana was working Tuesday, but Danielle wasn’t, so she’ll get hers after the holiday.  I suppose it doesn’t really matter that much, but it would have been nice to deliver them both on Monday.  Off to the gym, short workout and long shower and early to bed.