With the winter season fast approaching & the thought of dawn starts & finishes long after dark its time to start thinking about brushing up on our night navigation. On a typical cold and wet early Decmber evening we set off north to practice our techniques.
We followed route 66 & parked at Square Corner, free parking. It was a bit of a pea souper so we took a bearing east.
Lets do some pacing 98,99,100 to our amazement we found ourselves staring through the mist at a busy little harbor. A sign told us a battle was due to start in 5 minutes, checking the GPS to make sure we were at the right place, we were. Not wanting to get involved in another foreign conflict we stealthed away unseen.
We were now handrailing the harbour wall & we were not alone in fact it it was suprisingly busy, people were looming out of the mist & staring at our headtorch's. I did a double take what on earth, gondolier’s, once again the GPS said we were at the right place. On reaching Hawaii I had given up looking a plonker & replaced the headtorch with a camera so now I looked like one of the crowd.
Square Corner seemed busier than normal
We passed Rome, New York, Planet Hollywood, Luxor, Donnie & Marie, Caesars Place complete with Elton John playing his Red Piano. Starting to get into the swing of things we took a time out to watch the Bellagio water show.
Hopelessly lost in France we came across the Eifel Tower we decided tclimb up to higher ground & see if we could see any familiar landmarks.
Surely that can't be the Eiffel Tower
We took an elevator ride on a nearby block to a bar on the 50 something floor, the air felt rite thin up here but the mist had cleared leaving an incredible of the surroundings so I took a few photo's & decided on a new navigation strategy, as the drinks were $25 dollars a shot we declined & were promptly asked to leave, so from a nearby balcony I quickly checked the aspect of slope before we took the elevator back to ground level..
Using our new found intelligence I aimed off where we thought Square Corner would be.
An incredible view once the mist had cleared
Instead of familiar ground we found ourselves outside the Harley Davidson Café the drinks were cheaper here so we had a quick pint as we needed a moment to gather our thoughts & find our way out of this strange world.
New York New York nuf said
As often in these situations we had a bit of luck & found a cairn another 100 meters & there was another one, lo & behold there was old Elton on the Piano. It was plain sailing now we soon came across Hawaii followed by New York then whoosh another soaking at the Bellagio before long we were back at Square corner & the car, the mist had lifted completely.
Phweww the most difficult bit of navigating I have done for a long time, it’s always good to go back to the basics!!!
A brill night got some great photos.
Another pre dawn start in Red Rocks
Can't think of anywhere else you could have a walk round Venice, Paris, Rome, Hollywood, Luxor, New York, Rio, Hawaii, & the Carribean in one evening.