Anaheim to Las Vegas Road Trip: Comfortable Desert Ride on LuxBus America Bus (Spectacular Las Vegas Series 1)

 Anaheim to Las Vegas Road Trip 
Comfortable Desert Ride on LuxBus America Bus 
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 1)

On our 5^th day in Anaheim, we had  

a very early breakfast at Denny’s , 

 

…and proceeded to Tony Roma’s where we
would be picked up by a shuttle,

... to take us to LuxAmerica Bus Depot 

at the nearby Garden Walk Mall, 

…where we boarded a bus that would take us to Las Vegas, Nevada, 

the second city that we would visit in our American autumn vacation.

This is the third time that I have visited Las Vegas,   

while it would but the first time for my wife and kids.
We were all excited as this was our first trip to be traveling
together as a family to this popular gambling capital.

 

We were seated at the middle part of the
 bus and the seats were comfortable.
It had panoramic windows that offers a excellent
view of both sides of the road to the passengers.

They also have several TV screens
installed every four rows of the seat.

The bus was equipped with water closets so
there is no need for frequent toilet stops during
this long drive to the popular desert city.

We had a funny Russian stewardess who 
kept us entertained by her funny antics,

... and served unlimited snacks
 and drinks throughout the trip.

We settled on our seats and off we went to one
of the most enthralling road trips of our lives.

From a quaint but modern city of Anaheim, we passed by 
some green cities and counties of Southern California,

…and gradually replaced with the view
of browning roadside scenes,

...and later slowly turned into a barren landscape,

….punctuated by isolated town centers,

…located at the middle of the desert.

We had a lunch stop in the bucolic city of Barstow,
at the historic Barstow Station, but no one was hungry,

 

…so the kids and I decided to
have their fortunes told by Zoltar,

…feasted on cookies and candies,

…while my wife shopped for souvenirs.

We left Barstow after
about thirty minutes,

…and resumed our trip on
the vast Californian desert.

The scenic barren landscape
seem to go on and on forever,

Huge tract of sand dunes,

…arid beautiful mountains gracefully
sloping down the great desert plains,

…dry river beds,

… forlorn, secluded houses
in the middle of the desert,

…and even old abandoned ghost towns.,

…provide a dramatic and stirring backdrop
to the otherwise forbidding and hostile scenery.

Despite on what appears to bean inhospitable desert,
life goes on to some people living in the area as there
were still thriving  town centers that we passed by,

...and some even successfully  farmed on the arid desert  
as it was interspersed with  several Olive plantations

Our friendly Russian stewardess would sometimes
interrupt the silence whenever we pass by a certain
landmark like when we passed by the Mojave desert,

…and brought to our attention the when we passed by a
protected area where the Joshua Tree National Park 
 was located noted for the abundance of Joshua Trees .

She also pointed out one of the largest mining
 company in the world that mines rare earth metals
like zirconium located in the middle of the desert,

…and the large Solar Electric Plant located
near the California and Nevada border.

One thing I noted, there was a dramatic change
of the mountain topography in California that
appears to  slope gently down the desert bed,

…while the Nevada mountains have ragged
multi- layered edges that appears to have
been  formed by gradually receding water.

It baffled me as how can these two mountain
ranges lying right beside each other could have
such a bewildering and contrasting topographies?

Right at the border, our eyes were met by the
very first hallmark of Nevada’s civilization-

…a casino of course.

The iconic Whiskey Pete’s Resort and Casino
welcomes and reminds the traveler that they
have arrived at the gambling capital of the world.

We were again treated by the scenic mountains
with beautifully layered ragged mountainsides,

…until we reached the city of Las Vegas.

The bus slowly cruised down the strip,

…and took us to Harrah’s Hotel the
LuxBus America’s final stop.

We took a taxi to Tropicana Hotel, which would
be our home for the next five days in Las Vegas.



Kaching, kaching! We're in Las Vegas.

Read my other blogs on 

Spectacular Las Vegas Series


Anaheim to Las Vegas Road Trip 

Comfort Ride on LuxAmerica Bus
(Spectacular Las Vegas, Series 1) 

Tropicana Double Tree by Hilton 
Tropical Paradise in the Las Vegas Strip
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 2) 

Rio’s Carnival World Buffet

Dining the World in One Place
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 3) 

The Fabulous Las Vegas Strip

An Enchanting Evening Walk on the Strip
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 4) 

Bavarian RestaurantLas Vegas

A Piece Germany Transplanted in Las Vegas
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 5) 

High Roller Experience at the Linque

Brightly Shimmering Splendor at 550 Feet
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 6) 

Las Vegas to Arizona Road Trip
Exhilarating Nature Trip
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 7) 

Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
Breathtaking Man Made Wonder
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 8) 

Majestic Grand Canyon
Nature’s Grand Design
(Fabulous Las VegasSeries 9) 

Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef Aquarium
An Underwater Experience in the Desert
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 10) 

Freemont Street Experience
Modern reinvention of Old Las Vegas Downtown
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 11) 

Dazzling Las Vegas, Nevada 
America’s Flamboyant Urban Paradise
(Spectacular Las Vegas Series 12)