(I wrote this Monday while flying home…)
Metropolis II
This time as I’m writing this, I’m about 34000 feet up and over the South San Francisco Bay. Comic-Con, Las Vegas and the return trip to LA is now behind me, with Portland in front. Let’s start off with San Diego Comic-Con International.
Picking up the badge for this year was astonishingly easy, compared to the 4 hours it took last year. As usual, Comic-Con was pure madness this year as there were an additional 5,000 people attending pushing the total number of people there up to 130,000, and it showed. Hall H is the largest room for panel discussions, holding something like 8,000 to 10,000 people, and like what has been happening the last few years, people line up the night before. This year saw something new – people camping out for Ballroom 20, which seats about 4,000 to 5,000 people. A lot of the panels I’m interested in are held in that room, so on Thursday, we weren’t able to get in. Such is the price you pay. However, here’s some of what I and thousands of others saw during the conference (yes, Comic-Con is a conference).
I left San Diego for Los Angeles on Monday via the train, got picked up at Union Station and immediately drove the 4 hours to Las Vegas, were my room at the Luxor was waiting, in the pyramid, on the 23rd floor. To get to my room, there were no elevators, but inclinators, since they went up at an angle. A little discomforting the first time going up and down, but you get used to it. That night, like thousands of other people, we tripped around the strip, walking between the hotels north of the Luxor, all the way to City Center, which is pretty cool.
The next day, Tuesday of last week, was the Imperial Palace to see the auto collection. I have more than a passing interest in automobiles, so this was pretty cool, seeing some rare, classic cars. And the price of admission was perfect – free. The rest of the day was tripping around some more via the monorail and having dinner with my family who live there.
Wednesday was the day we went to both sides of Las Vegas; Red Rock Canyon and the Hoover Dam. Red Rock Canyon is just outside of Sumerlin, on the western edge of the city, about a 10 minute drive from the nearest example of civilization. Once there, the new visitors center, which opened in 2009, greets you. I was pretty impressed with the place and how it approaches educating everyone from children to nerds like myself with a lot of interactive tools. The canyon itself has a 13 mile loop through it for vehicular traffic and lots of view points, often with trailheads for hiking. Since it was nearly 100 degrees that day and we still had to get to the dam, we decided not to take a hike; however, I would recommend doing so as some of the hikes allow you to see some pretty amazing sights. The one thing I really enjoyed was the near absolute silence.
Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
My friend Greg, who I was traveling with, kept telling me about this bridge that crosses over the gorge where Hoover Dam is, and was surprised I knew next to nothing about it since I tend to follow architectural stories from all around the world. I guess it was one of those things I just missed. To a certain a degree, I’m glad I did. When you cross the bridge, unless you’re in a very high vehicle, you won’t be able to see the dam. However, when you head down to the dam itself, you come around a corner and there’s the underside of the bridge. And it’s MASSIVE. The arch of the structure is the widest concrete arch in the western hemisphere and to be quite honest, it’s pretty amazing.
Our final day in Las Vegas found us at the National Atomic Testing Museum, part of the Smithsonian. Again, this was another well thought out and interactive place. Don’t go expecting to learn much about area 51, though – that is a seperate exhibit to this one. Essentially, the museum is about exactly what it’s name implies – it’s about the atomic testing range Northwest of Las Vegas, nuclear technology and the history of the cold war.
After leaving leaving Las Vegas, we pulled off the main highway in Jean, and headed towards
The Pioneer Saloon, Goodsprings, Nevada
Goodsprings. The reason I mention this is becasue as a kid, from the early 70’s through the early 80’s, we would make a trip here in June, after school let out, and again in November for Thanksgiving. My great-grandmother was the PostMaster in town and it had been nearly 30 years since I was last there. I’m happy to say, not much has changed. Except this time I got to go into the saloon, have lunch and get the history of the place, which I never knew as a kid.
Upon returning to Los Angeles, I finally made it to LACMA to see Metropolis II. And I wasn’t disappointed. I spent nearly a half hour in there, filming with my phone (it does pretty good 1080HD) the exhibit in motion from various angles. As a kid, you couldn’t imagine this even if you tried, but it’s exactly what you always wanted to do with your H0t Wheels. The price of admission for this alone was worth it (more links to what I filmed at the bottom).
And now I’m on my way home, then back to the office in a few days. I’m always amazed how fast the time goes by; at the beginning, it feels like it will last forever, then suddenly it’s over. This was time well spent.
Video 2, Video 3, Video 4, Video 5, Video 6, Video 7 (all are under a minute long)
Tags: Atomic Testing, Comic-Con, Goodsprings Nevada, Hoover Dam, Hot Wheels, LACMA, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Metropolis II, Pioneer Saloon, Red Rock Canyon, Union Station
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