It was completely different way back then!

And this is how I remember it!

It was a long haul from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and you drove through a lot of orange orchards and over railroad tracks before you hit the desert.

That whole eastern border of LA smelt like fermenting apples which must be a lot stronger that the smell of fermenting oranges because they were all over the place too.

The smell of apples dominated the landscape until you came to the 'edge of civilization' just a mile or two past the very center of Pasadena.

And that edge was clearly marked by some long forgotten highway that ran north and south. Once across - you were in no man's land!

But there was a road to follow through no man's land that took you in a north-east direction to a little desert town called Las Vegas that was always full of movie stars, prostitutes, and gangsters.

And I should add - many Mormons too!

But before we arrive in Las Vegas town, let's take a look outside the 1941 Ford's side view windows and see what we can see along the way.

Actually - not too much!

Once past the Pasadena area it was mostly very primitive desert land with one major exception as far as I can recall.

Smack dab in the middle of nowhere was a very small gas station and automotive repair shop that sold tires and rented 'air conditioners' for the upcoming and very hot and adventurous trip the rest of the way.

So we'd stop and fill up and get one of the guys to place one of them air conditioner units in the rear window, leave a deposit and off we'd be.

I forgot how them a/c's worked but we always managed to survive the desert heat without too much complaining, so they must have worked pretty darn good.

I don't recall stopping in Baker, but I do recall many Amboy Crater fuel stops where dad would check out the radiator and us kids would ask for nickles to get a Coca~Cola from that old Coca~Cola cooing box where you had to inseert your nickel and then slide the Coke bottle to the right or left through the mechanism that allow you to pull it free.

We'd always say\, "WOW!" AND "GEE!" as we enjoyed those 'desert cocktails' in the 105 degree shade of the oldest building I has evee seen.

And then we'd replace out empty bottles and hop back in the car and head on out again.

Next stop - Needles!

I have no idea why we didn't take the Baker route back then. Did that route even exist back then?

Many years later - the huge 50 pound ice block machine and desert homesteads. But this comes much later so for the sake of accuracy I'll discuss those at another time.

So to cut to the chase .... we'd eventually start looking for Russell Road which was the only way onto the Las Vegas Blvd back then if I remember precisely.

A 100 yard drive and you took a left onto Las Vegas Blvd.

And you saw absolutely nothing! Sure! .... there was a lot of desert stretching off into the horizons but nothing else.

But if you did look hard enough down that sand covered stretch of road you could see a little hotel on the left hand side. And that was our destination .... Doc Bayley's ( and Mrs. Bayley's too, of course) Hacienda Hotel and Casino.

It sat there right on the west side of the road with a swimming pool surrounded by green-green grass in front. And our rooms were in the back with another swimming pool outside our front doors.

WOW!!!

And there was a big casino that served Champaigne from a silver fountain and a restaurant where you could eat anything and everything you wanted all day long and even late at night for just about a buck or two.

And there was always some lady singing on a stage behind a bar. Or a movie star doing something or other in the showroom I never did get to see back then.

And I was too darn short and way too young to play any of the grownup games that all the grownups seemed to enjoy so much.

But I learned a lot as a young kid anyway ..........

Maybe way too much.

To be continued.

Mostly I leaned how to swim in a pool and ride a horse way in the back of the casino where the desert never seemed to end. It seemed to go way up into the mountains and over the top.

And it seemed to be that way in every direction I looked.

But there were a few exceptions ....

I can sort of remember standing on that road that ran in front of the Hacienda and looking down to see what I could see and the only thing I did see was an old gas station about a mile away and another real small hotel/casino about a mile beyond.

Just that and a little road leading to it with a covering of sand borrowed from the desert on both its sides.

Once I recall walking across that road to the other side becauseI had heard that there was a chicken there only to get stuck in the tar that the sun was in the process of melting. Any attempt to get back to the safety of the desert sand met with my foot coming out of my shoe with no other place to go - so I had to stick it right back in and stand there until help came along which was only a seldom occurence way back then.

But eventually somone would come to my rescue and lift me and my shoes to the side of the road and head on back to wherever they were heading on back to.

I guess I've made it somewhat evident that there were no sidewalks along that desert Strip back then. Just melting tar and lots of sand on either side.

And an occasional passing car.

We first went to Vegas in the 90's and the hotels were still giving out all types of freebies if you stayed with them. WE LOVE FREEBIES ! Now also each casino still had those big plastic cups with the hotel name to put those silver dollars in.
I also truly miss now that great sound of the silver dollars hitting the bottom of the machine. It was a great sound. I even miss those great little towelettes you would get to wipe your fingers clean from ALL OF THAT DIRTY MONEY YOU WOULD WIN.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIEND .

vegas Talker

I do not miss waiting for machine fills however! LOL