Day Forty-Four

Being only sixty miles away, Zoobley and I decided to cruise through Las Vegas on our way to Mojave National Preserve. Being more inclined to stick my hard earned cash in a money market fund than a slot machine, Las Vegas and casinos have never held much allure for me, but I have to admit that the Las Vegas Strip with all the big casinos seemed pretty glamorous and exciting. The tourists in Vegas didn't seem to sport the same deathly pallor as the gamblers in Pahrump or Shreveport. I would have liked to have stuck around for a couple of days and seen some of the many shows advertised at the casinos but Las Vegas is no place for a small, spotted dog unschooled in the wicked ways of Sin City.

Mojave National Preserve

A couple of hours southwest of Las Vegas and we were back in California and setting up camp at Mid Hills Campground high in the desert mountains of Mojave National Preserve. We arrived after dark via washboard dirt roads to find a campground empty except for a single backpacker. I can't tell much about the place except that it's cold and it smells like gin so either somebody spilled a case of Tabqueray or we are surrounded by junipers.