July 10

Number of miles traveled: 1,035
Start: 7:48a CDT - Silverthorne, CO
Finish: 12:24a PDT - Las Vegas, NV
Stops: Four Corners (Navajo Nation/Ute Reservation)

The final day of the trip was not a proud day for Mr. Science. I had mentioned during the Rocky Mountain National Park portion to Craig that it is very difficult to light a fire at altitude due to the reduced presence of oxygen. Mr. Science (from this point forward we'll call him "Craig") decided to test the hypothesis by purchasing a lighter from the gas station. Happy with his discovery, Craig walked around trying to start the lighter. Fortunately, Dr. Science (we'll call him "Dwight") reminded Mr. Science that this is not the kind of experiment to try near gas pumps. The real victor here was the fine workmen of whatever cheap-labor country the lighter was manufactured, since it's defectiveness staved off a nasty situation. I should have clarified to Mr. Science that the ignition is not the hard part, it's the keeping it lit part is what makes a fire tricky, due to the lack of oxygen to feed the fire until it can live off the oxygen in the wood or whatever else you're burning.

So after that little incident, we're on our way. To nowhere. I've done this before, and the trick is, the Western part of Colorado and Utah are big. And somewhat uninhabitable. You have your standard ranchers, burned-out celebrity ranchers and your left-handed conspiracy nut Hall of Fame ranchers. So you just keep your eyes on the road and keep from going nuts. Think of a batting stance. Oh, wait a minute, that's to stop from doing something else.

Our first stop on our way to the Four Corners area is Moab. It was not named for the "Mother of All Bombs", something I think the Moab Chamber of Commerce is less than thrilled about. Named for the biblical Moab, it was a mining town, vanadium before World War II and uranium after. When the uranium trade died down in the 60s, they went for tourism instead, so the focus of the town is basically for the exterme-sport types. Which explains why very little was open during the day, but they did have one touristy thing that federal legislation must be introudced to subsidize these on every street corner. A SnoConeMat! Like the FotoMats of days gone by, here was a little booth where you could get nature's perfect treat in over 40 flavors. However, I was still unable to answer the question that pretty much launched Louie Anderson's comedy career: "Where do Fotomat employees take their breaks?"

On our way out of Moab, it was time to play see if you can get a radio station. Obviously, since there's not a lot of people out here, there isn't a lot of media either. We stumbled upon an A.M. station that was playing, and we're not making this up, A Horse With No Name. Which Dwight then decided to add another rule to his growing list: "When you're in the desert, the first thing you do is name your horse." However, if you were actually listening to the lyrics, the song is about a positive experience in the desert. We also stumbled upon an all-news station from Durango (don't ask me why, there just isn't enough news on the Western Slope) and listened to a farm report where the reporter either: 1-has been doing the farm report way too long, 2-was chemically altered or 3-we were hallucinating it.

We finally arrive at Four Corners. The entrance is on the New Mexico side, and I was told at most there would be about 20 people there. Well, it was a good day for the Four Corners MetroPlex because there was about 50. And a side note to parents, do not take your kids on any trip where they cannot even grasp a scintilla of the signficance. A four year-old does not the grasp the concept of being on four states at once, so don't create a second scene when the kid is creating a scene. Due to the freaky way they have you take pictures, our hoped-for shot of playing Twister in four states was a bust. On the way back, I nearly clocked a horse in Ute Territory.

It's 4, 4, 4 states in one.

OK, left front paw on blue. Key: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona split red and yellow due to clerical error.

We didn't get this horse's name.

Nothing much to report on the way from Four Corners to Vegas, except that you can't really get there direct (hence the weird loopback into Utah) and you can pretty much do whatever speed you want (there were portions of I-70 I was doing 90). At the one point I really felt I couldn't drive anymore, I couldn't pass off the driving since everyone else was asleep, we roll into Vegas just after Midnight PDT.

I do not like Vegas. It breaks my heart to walk into a casino and see a bunch of Stepford retirees plunk coin after coin into a machine that will not get you a return. I can't stand to see all of the lights burning or water being wasted in an area of the country with precious little national resources. The tournament was great, the convention was fine, I got the Game Show Round out to people outside the quiz bowl community (and found three new bugs). I didn't do much on the outside world of things, because it was 115 degrees. That's right, 115 Farenheit, 46 Celsius. Well, at least the Prairie Dog had some fun...

He can enjoy craps.	Catch up with his homies at Studio 54.	Successfully answer a tossup.
Eat at a buffet.	Have a little too much to drink.	Recover through the mircale of pharmacueticals.
Two words: Don't Play.	There's $5,040,000 standing right here.	Rock on, Mike, rock on.

Would I do it again. Absolutely. Would I drive it again. Absolutely. I have only seven states to go, and five of them are in one convienent location (Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina).