Sat Oct 30 - Nail In Tire -- Then Sin City

It was wonderful to awake to the warmth of sunny St. George, Utah -- and enjoy a couple block walk to a great cafe followed by a visit to a local farmer's market.  Because we knew we didn't have far to go today and no stops we wanted to make -- we had a relaxing morning that gave us time to enjoy watching the first hour of Jon Stewart's "Rally for Sanity" in DC.  Of course I was delighted to see the opening musical act of rap and rock music to include a guy playing a sousaphone (I took this photo of the TV with my phone).

We got out the door a little before check-out time and were only a few blocks from the motel when I noticed the tire pressure monitor warning light.  Good thing I don't believe in jinxes but it was just a little odd luck to realize that I had just posted on this blog about how the Smart Car had given no problems and even specifically mentioned the tire monitoring system.  Anyway, a quick check of all tires led to the discovery of about 1/2 of the proper pressure in the front passenger tire -- and a nail right smack middle of the tread.

We used the GPS to guide us to a nearby and busy Big O Tire shop.  The friendly salesman explained that I would have an up to a 2 hour wait unless I was interested in going to another Big O shop just a few miles away.  He even called the other shop to make sure they had no wait time.  So, off to the other shop where a very friendly staff immediately took care of the punction.  $17 and about 1/2 hour later -- we were on the road again with a patched tire.

Taking some scenic route advice from the manager of the Big O -- we proceeded on the freeway so we could traverse the Virgin River gorge -- the most expensive length of freeway in the country through a beautiful gorge.  Details of the passage and the construction are here in wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_15_in_Arizona

After getting through the gorge, we continued on the freeway in very windy conditions until we exited to take a backroad along Lake Mead Recreation Area into Las Vegas where we had prearranged a Worldmark condo for two nights.