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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Las Vegas to Los Angeles Road Trip: Scenic $2 Road Trip on Greyhound (Fun and Exciting LA Blog Series 1)

Las Vegas to Los Angeles Road Trip 
Scenic $2 Road Trip on Greyhound 
(Fun and Exciting LA Blog Series 1) 

On our 5th and last day in Las Vegas,
we took a taxi from Tropicana Hotel,


…that took us to the old downtown where
the Greyhound Bus terminal was located.


I earlier booked this trip on the net before leaving
the Philippines and I paid $3 for myself as the
main passenger and $2 each for my companions.


We spent $70 each on a LuxBus America
when we traveled to Las Vegas from Anaheim,


…and spending a total of $9 for all of us
was an unbelievable, HUGE BARGAIN.


The Las Vegas Greyhound Bus Terminal,
although moderately sized, was clean and tidy.


We took our seats at the middle part of the bus, and it 
was surprisingly new, very spacious, and also very clean.


The seats were comfortable, it has a good
wi- fi, had a tidy toilet and the rear end,


…and wide panoramic windows that provide
awesome views of both sides of the road.


The bus slowly rolled out
of downtown Las Vegas,




…and cruised at the freeway where we
caught a last glimpse of the fabulous
hotels and resorts at the nearby strip.



As we traveled farther from the city, we were
 treated to the sights and sounds of the 
suburban desert communities of Nevada,







…then, the roadside scenery was replaced
by the view of the vast and arid desert,




…until we reached the Whiskey Pete Casino,
that welcomes Vegas tourists from California
on their way to the popular gambling city,


…and bids them goodbye on their way back.


Shortly later, we caught the sight of one of the 
country’s biggest  Solar Electric Power Plant,
that shone like a mirage in the middle of the dessert,



…and we also passed by at the mining facility
of a company, one of the largest in the world
that mines rare earth metals like zirconium.



What followed again was a long 
stretch of arid and desolate desert,



... until we reached  the Joshua Tree National Park,
a protected area where Joshua Trees grows in abundance.



The cactus like Joshua Trees provided some kind
of greenery to the otherwise parched Mojave Desert.



We then passed the by desert city of Primm,



…and what followed was the view of
the endless Mojave desert once more,




…until we arrived at the massive
 California Border Inspection.


I was surprised as I did not see similar facility
on our way to Las Vegas almost a week ago,
and made me conclude that California is a lot
stricter than Nevada, its next door neighbor.


We then cruised on what seemed
 to be an endless tract of desert,




...followed by the sight of series
 of mid- sized bungalows





...until we arrived at the rustic 
and historic Barstow Station.



We were all famished as we did not take
any breakfast when we left Las Vegas,


…we initially planned to have a full lunch at the
Panda Express but the queue was so kilometeric.


So we decided to dine at our all
time favorite, Dunkin Donuts-




Where I feasted on a yummy and
chewy Old Fashioned  Donuts,



… my wife on a Croissant Donuts,


…and the two kids had the
classic Sugar Raised Donuts.


The Dunkin Donuts’ Coffee was a welcome
relief for the bitingly cold autumn weather.


My young son also marveled on what seem to
be an endless and very long train that passed by,


...and we also admired the classic car parked nearby.


We left Barstow after about 30 minutes,  


...and what followed next is another endless 
stretch of parched but very scenic  desert.




We had a brief stop in another 
desert town of Victorville. 


Victorville is located at the southwestern
edge of the Mojave Desert,  where the former
George Air Force Base (now closed) was located,


…and where the offices of the "Mojave Desert Branch"
of the San Bernardino County government are located.


It was a blessing in disguise that the bus had a stop in
Victorville as we have a chance to catch a glimpse of
this small desert city, which, I believe, we would never
get to visit in our lifetime had it not been for this trip.



The bus again cruised the modern desert highway,



…leading to San Bernardino.


San Bernardino
is known as the Inland Empire and
serves as a county seat of San Bernardino County.



The very first McDonalds store was established here
and was turned into McDonald’s Museum, one of
the city’s main attractions worth visiting in the future.


Our next stop was Claremont, a popular college town east of
Los Angeles also known as “The City of Trees and PhDs” ,



…due to the popularity of the city’s numerous
educational institutions, and its tree lines streets.




Our penultimate stop was  El Monte, known historically as 
“The End of Sta. Fe Trail”,  is now a modern and thriving 
residential and commercial city on Los Angeles County.



  It had the most modern central terminal compared
to the previous desert counties that we stopped.



From El Monte, the roadside scenery became more modern
 and more urban, so we knew that we are getting very close to LA. 




We arrived to LA after about 5 ½ hours of travel,





…took a taxi from the Greyhound Terminal,



…to Hilton Hotel at Universal City,


… our home for  a week on the last
phase of our US autumn vacation.

Read my other blogs
on Los Angeles Series













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