Day 1: LA to Vegas to St. George

An all-too-familiar road, to a dark and winding road unknown

Wednesday night, my dear friend, LA roommate, and world travel companion Nathanial surprised me at our Santa Monica apartment and drove up from San Diego. This was a fun way to send me off on the solo chapter of my cross-country adventure. We got breakfast at Santa Monica’s legendary Layla Bagels (also sourdough-based, like our new bagel concept with Max Sussman in Detroit), I dropped Nathanial at LAX, and I set out on my way.

Many people hate this drive, but I love it. Having the top down for the first couple hours is always interesting - you literally feel the air heating up in real time. You can also feel this when driving from the coast to the valley in LA. It really is quite an experience. I started the drive in the most cliché way possible - hey Siri, play On The Road Again by Willie Nelson - ha. I love that Spotify radio suggests songs that match the vibe after. I proceeded to listen to the ‘On The Road Again’ Spotify radio for the remainder of the 6 hours on the road. It ran through some country classics like George Strait, Americana rock anthems like Fortunate Son by Credence Clearwater Revival, and even sprinkled in some of the more refined modern country, featuring some of my favorites like Chris Stapleton. Not bad.

I appreciate the emptiness of the Mojave - the dry golden-brown hills with tumbleweeds as far as the eye can see complemented the Willie Nelson-adjacent tunes with great synchronicity. There are some fun little stops along the 15 - a gaudy building shaped like a UFO peddling beef jerky, a Gold Rush ghost town called Calico, the worlds tallest thermometer, and these colorful manmade rock structures called the Seven Magic Mountains. You can see them all as you drive down 15, and don’t need to stop. I’ve stopped before. This time I pushed through.

Just kidding, I made one stop right at the border of California and Nevada in a town called Barstow - Mage and I were hungry, and where else would be stop then In n’ Out Burger. I hadn’t had it since I was back in LA in January and it was time to indulge. I am also training for an eating challenge in Amarillo, TX at Big Texan Steak Ranch in a few days time, so of course I ordered a 4x4 (4 patties, 4 cheese).

After attacking the 4x4 with fatal intentions, we continued ripping down to Vegas. I had some great catchups with friends and meetings with work colleagues throughout the drive. There’s something special about the level of attention you can give conversations when your eyes are on the road. In a world that forces us into a constant state of distraction, being on the road with your eyes in front of you and wholeheartedly listening to the words on the other end of the line is hard to manufacture. As a very ADHD person, being able to truly give my full attention was very satisfying.

I arrived in Vegas. I originally wasn’t going to stop, but later learned that Nathanial’s mother who I love and miss was arriving back to their Las Vegas apartment around the same time I was passing through. So we got dinner. It was lovely to see her. Coincidentally, my dear family friend Julianne who I’ve known since birth just finished up her freshman year at SMU and was hitting the EDC music festival in Vegas (that makes me feel old), so I stopped by the Vegas Strip (which I had promised myself of avoid) to say hi. Thankfully, I left my cash in the car and didn’t gamble.

As it usually goes, this pitstop was longer than expected as it was really nice catching up with friends. Nathanial’s mom really wanted me off the road before sundown. That wasn’t happening, despite my best intentions. I ended up on winding mountain roads, passing through the Moapa Reservation in Nevada, Valley of Fire State Park, and the Native American town of Ute along the way. This route along SR-105 took me through Nevada, Arizona, and ultimately to Utah. The moon peeked out over the rolling Western mountains as I made my way to the expansive valley in which St. George is nested. I forgot about the time change (even though I had accounted for it in my planning), so 12am quickly became 1am. Looks like the good-nights-sleep will need to wait and the caffeine will be flowing today.

Now, onto Zion, and more!