2018 Mojave Desert Road Trip Part 8; Leaving Las Vegas (The High Roller, Seven Magic Mountains, and wreckage of Mervyn's)

Upon returning to Las Vegas from the Hoover Dam it was time to close out the first major road trip of 2018. Saturday night I walked over to the High Roller which is the largest Ferris Wheel in the world at 550 feet. The High Roller was opened in March of 2014 and is located essentially directly east of The Flamingo. Rides on the High Roller are about 30 minutes in length from start to finish. What I found interesting was that the Ferris Wheel never stops moving and you literally jump-on/jump-off. There is a giant catch net under the Ferris Wheel pods, unfortunately I didn't get ask if anyone actually fell in.

Sunday afternoon heading out of Las Vegas south on I-15 I turned off onto Las Vegas Boulevard in Sloan. Seven miles south of Sloan is the Seven Magic Mountains which is an art display out in the waste above the Jean Dry Lake. Apparently the colored rocks are 25 feet and were assembled in May of 2016. According to the website the "mountains" will only be on display for two years (so, does that mean someone comes and knocks them over?).

After returning to I-15 I took it south to California State Route 58. A solid tip of advice is to never drive home from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon since you'll be competing with all the drivers from Los Angeles and San Diego going home. Suffice to say I was a little too tired to really capture the Hinkley Bypass on CA 58 but it is a pretty solid alignment that really helps mitigate backups at US 395 in Kramer Junction. The Kramer Junction Bypass seems to be in the initial stages with some earth moved to widen out CA 58.

West of US 395 I encountered an oddity I've observed on CA 58 since 2012, a derelict Mervyn's trailer.

Mervyn's was a somewhat large California based clothing retailer that was once owned by Target Corporation and went bankrupt in late 2008. According to local lore I've heard in Victorville the Mervyn's trailer on CA 58 showed up on the side of the highway after the bankruptcy was declared back in 2008. Given there isn't really a fence line CA 58 between Kramer Junction and Boron there might be an ounce of truth in the story, but then again who really knows?

On the way back to Fresno I was able to get a decent CA 202 shield finally for my photo collection. All my previous attempts to obtain a CA 202 have been blurred up or I just haven't around with enough light to capture a moving picture.

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Hidden California State Route 710 and the Pasadena Gap in the Long Beach Freeway

Infamous and the subject of much controversy the Pasadena Gap in the Long Beach Freeway has long existed as a contentious topic regarding the completion of Interstate 710 and California State Route 710. While the Pasadena Gap of the Long Beach Freeway effectively has been legislatively blocked the action only came after decades of controversy. While the Pasadena Gap of the Long Beach Freeway is fairly well known what many don't know is that a small segment was actually constructed south Interstate 210 and the Foothill Freeway. This disconnected segment of the Long Beach Freeway exists as the unsigned and largely hidden California State Route 710. On June 29, 2022 the California Transportation Commission relinquished California State Route 710 to the city of Pasadena. The blog cover above depicts a southward view on the completed Pasadena stub segment of the Long Beach Freeway which ends at California Boulevard. Part 1; the history of the Pasadena Gap of the Long Beach Freewa

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Paper Highways: Proposed US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas, Nevada

During February 1956 the State of Nevada in concurrence with the States of California and Arizona submitted a request to the American Association of State Highway Officials to establish US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas. The proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have originated from mainline US Route 66 in Kingman Arizona and followed a multiplex of US Routes 93-466 to Las Vegas, Nevada. From Las Vegas, Nevada the proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have multiplexed US Routes 91-466 back to mainline US Route 66 in Barstow, California. The request to establish US Route 66 Alternate was denied during June 1956 due to it being completely multiplexed with other US Routes. This blog will examine the timeline of the US Route 66 Alternate proposal to Las Vegas, Nevada. The history of the proposed US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas, Nevada On February 15, 1956, the Nevada State Highway Engineer in a letter to the American Association of State Highways Officials (AASHO) advising that six c