Detour #214: Lost Vegas, USA – Sometimes the Detours that you don't plan are the very best
Photo Johannes Plenio /Unsplash
It’s rare to get lost in the days of satellite navigation, but if you do stray from your planned path it can be an unexpected joy.
The content on this website is dedicated to taking the road less travelled, choosing the longer route home, the most scenic or entertaining, instead of the quickest path from A to D.
But what if your detour is inadvertent, completely unplanned and one that takes you far from the intended route. Well, as it turns out, it can be equally enjoyable.
It’s pretty difficult to get lost these days, regardless of where you are in the world. Digital maps in mobile devices and the further spread of English to many parts of the globe mean that you’re never far from where you planned to be.
However, I have been a motor noter for a few decades now. I’ve travelled the world to drive new vehicles in interesting locales and this has resulted in a few ‘inadvertent detours’.
One of those occurred in, or more accurately outside, Las Vegas. I was a guest of an Italian automaker to experience its latest supercar first-hand. The brand and location suited each other perfectly.
As US speed enforcement is rather strict, my drive started with a few hot laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the oval and road course to the North East of Sin City. Adding to the glamour of the event I’d been flown in by helicopter, which didn’t exactly help with getting my bearings.
Then after a dizzying morning of hot-lappery I was given a roadbook and sent off to enjoy the car on a route back to the hotel in Vegas. Easy peasy. This was the same routine that I’d followed countless times on new car events… except this time it wasn’t.
My co-pilot and I left the racetrack and followed the metre-perfect roadbook instructions. The route was circuitous but we were going well. The calls from the passenger seat were timeous. Then, there was a call, a left turn at 28.5 miles but there was no road to match it. We proceeded at a slower rate thinking that the roadbook was incorrect by a few metres. After a short distance we double-backed to the last junction, maybe the direction change was a right-hand turn, not a left… no dice.
We made another U-turn to head back on the prescribed path, but the directions of the roadbook no longer made any sense. We were completely lost. Thankfully, the garish glow of Las Vegas is easy to spot in the flat Nevada landscape, so we simply headed towards the big buildings and bright lights in the distance.
Photo Anubhav Saxena / Unsplash
The unplanned route sent us deep into the desert. A perfectly smooth ribbon of tar took us past Nelis Air Force Base and another skirted Lake Las Vegas, but luckily not the running the risk of being probed by aliens in Area 51.
We encountered a pack of superbikes on one stretch, all of whom wanted a piece of the low-slung exotic. Thankfully there were no speed enforcement officials anywhere to be seen or I may still be there…
As we speared a path south east we drove through areas of Vegas that most tourists would likely never encounter. They were, putting it delicately, less than salubrious. However, everyone and their dog was happy to see the speedy wedge, and more eager to hear its V10 engine note. At one point we even did a full-bore launch-control start at the request of a group of young petrolheads; it would have been rude not to oblige.
Soon enough we were back on Las Vegas Boulevard aka The Strip, our hotel loomed large straight ahead. We followed the branding as we approached the underground parking area. There, we were met by a representative from the car company.
We apologised profusely for being several hours later than expected, but were met with a Latin shrug: “What do you mean late? You are the first ones back”.
Photo David Vives / Unsplash
ROADBOOK
CLASS:Desert drive
NAME: Lost Vegas
ROUTE: Who knows?
COUNTRY: USA
Distance: Many miles
The window of opportunity to drive into the wilds of Alaska’s Denali Highway is narrow.