(Day 17: Henderson/Las Vegas)

So much for lots of sleep. The occupants of the room next door left at five  something. After microwaving their breakfast. They weren’t exceptionally noisy, but there was an adjoining door which I think let the sound through more than might have been the case otherwise. Still, the bed was comfy.

I got up around 8am and after showering started unpacking and repacking the cases. Not strictly necessary as I could have just stuffed things in. But now we have one case all sorted with the laundry ready to go in, another with clean/ish stuff and the third random things, such as trekking poles, hiking boots, first aid kits etc. Oh. And a fourth…. I decided there was little point cramming everything into three cases when I had packed an extra duffle. We haven’t bought that much but it was voluminous, including coats and a backpack.

Things were starting to get under control by 10am so we went back to Denny’s for breakfast. Same waitress as last night. She liked us because we cleared our plates last night and didn’t waste any food and seemed very happy to see us. We didn’t disappoint and again ate everything we ordered. Still on two meals a day, the next one being on the plane.

We went back to the hotel and finished the packing, checked in for our flight online and left just after 12noon. Our choice was either the mall, but there was nothing we really needed, or back to the District (where REI is located). This is a short road with shops that we don’t really want either, but it does have a couple of cafes and pleasant outdoor seating areas. We strolled up and down before buying iced coffee and relaxing in the shade.

After three quarters of an hour or so we took a final browse in REI, at the gizmos, widgets and tools that are fascinating just to browse. Then it was time to drive to the airport and return the car. We took stock of just how far we had driven on this trip. We have done over 1700 miles in 39 hours of driving… And still fitted in 68.6 miles of canyon hiking!

Retuning the car was straightforward and we were soon on the shuttle bus back to the Terminal building. They built a new building a couple of years ago and it is much nicer than the old one, although Andrew reckoned he missed its quirky inadequacy for international flights. We had soon dropped our bags off and navigated security. 

We had an hour and a half to spare so found an empty area of seats, bought some water and blogged, checked emails, browsed the Web for election day updates and read books. I feel I should be walking up and down to get today’s step count up….

We are returning on the same plane, the  Barbarella.

That’s it for American entries. Tomorrow we should be back home, while America and the world wakes up to find out who the new President will be. We have been here for the last 3 elections, but this is the first time we have hardly seen any election posters, banners or signs. It is definitely a strange election this time around. Until tomorrow…