...Second Photo is 'Leaving Holiday Inn, Pahrump, NV', Saturday Morning. (No!, the Spot of Oil on the Ground was Left from a Previous Vehicle).
The Desert is Bright at 8:30am and already 89F. Pahrump to Vegas ('Terribles' at 'Blue Diamond') in 39 Minutes 32 Sec. I would like to make it clear, here...this was Not a Race for Time! It was a 'Sustained Cruise'. We just started the Timer after the Morning Re-Fueling-Stop. Refreshments at Terribles and then We're off to Cruise the Entire Length of the Las Vegas Strip, Northbound at 12:30 in the Afternoon. 5-Lanes in One Direction, Slow Moving, stop and go, actually, and We were Followed most of the way, by a Black Rolls Royce. In all of My View I estimated near 100,000 People on the Sidewalks and in Cars. Mostly Tourists looking for a Place to eat lunch, and others just trying to find a place to Park. In the Pantera, Yes! We 'Turned' a Few Heads, and Received a couple of Comments. In All, of over One Hour of Cruising the 'Strip'...I Did NOT See One Face Smiling! As In, "I Don't Want to be Here, Why did I Come?"
We Finished to the End of the Strip and took the Expressway Over to LAKE Las Vegas, to Make an Appearance there. The Kat Cruised Along With a All-Black Audi Sport Coupe with Blacked-Out Windows, Gorgeous! IT was a 'Trip'!
Back to the Desert...
Every FOOT of Highway and Scenery Is Recorded On Video! BORING!! But! With Marvelous Panoramas, From Mountain Peaks, Cliffs, and Passes, to Wide Open Desert...for Hundreds of Miles...Continuous and Un-Cut! Farther than the Eye can See! From Breath-Taking Vistas, Right Down to the Guardrail with Long Straight-A-Ways and Vanishing Points, Blending into Beautiful Sweeping Curves, that Seem to Never End. Many Memorable Moments, all in the Desert, Ripe for Editing. Some would be Interested in the Videos, In Their Entirety, I have Hours of It, And It's a CLEVELAND! And...it 'Ain't IN 'NO'' SUV, Babi !!
YOUR View, is 'Riding' on This Panteras' Wing, Observing a Sustained Cruise Speed of 85mph, Up, Over and Down, Mountain Passes. Also, Many Other Desert Highways and Interstates. The Audio? The Cleveland Speaks, Indescribable....and including Wind Noise. And, there is the In Cockpit 'Passengers' View'. I Captured All of the Original Sound Recording of the Engine, but the GoPro Mics are Wanting! In All the Videos...NOT a Single Word is ever Spoken. This was Not a Documentary, and My Voice would have Spoiled the Scenes. AND, The Driver would Never Attempt to 'Talk-Over' the 'Exhaust Note' of a 'Boss 351' Cleveland...It would just Ruin the Vibe!
The 'Wing Cam' shows Into the Cockpit, as well as ALL of the Surrounding Scenery, with that GoPro Wide-Angle Lens. The Definitive 'Pantera ON The Road'. Yes, it shows Marlin at the wheel, but this was never about Him! This Sojourn is about The Desert, The Road, and The Machine In the Heat...Marlin was Just the Driver!! With Solitude and Tranquility(that is, Until We Arrived), and Nothing in The Way! Speaking of which...Notice NOT One Single 'Bug-Splatter' on the Windshield, in the Entire Trip!! I do Not Recall Seeing a Single Insect the whole time, Strange. I Never Once, Had to Clean the Windshield...In All Those Miles, Unheard Of!
Next Photos...Just coming down from Emigrant Pass, into the Lowlands. Looking North-East from In-Cockpit, A 'Vanishing Point'!
See what I mean about Hanging Out in the Roadway. 100's of miles, with the Shoulder Less Than 3-Feet Wide!
Next Stop...spend the Night in Pahrump.
MJ
...Go to 'Google Maps'. You can Search and Find all of These Roads There. Then switch over to the Satellite Imagery and Zoom-In, as I did many times. When planning this Trip, I Viewed every Mile of each Road, Highway and Interstate that I would use...by Satellite. What is really Cool...If You Max ZOOM Down onto ANY Road, that was surveyed by the Camera Team, At Maximum Zoom, the Aerial View, flips to the 'Street View', when You click on the Road and then, click on the Small Image that appears in a box, Below. And You can Pan 360 Degrees, AND Zoom-In Even More.
This is Very Helpful when Deciding on a Place to Spend the Night, Booking Hotels. Searching Fast Food or Restaurant Cuisine. You can Locate Gas Stations, zoom in on their Marquee, or get 'Info', and Compare Fuel Prices. Some Prices are Posted with-in 24 hours). Most important to Pantera Owners...You can View their Gas Pump to see if a certain Station even carries 'High Octane'* Fuel! And Most Telephone #'s are Posted. Last...find the Best Spots, and Angles, to set up Camera Shots.
Then, if You Zoom Back-Out, just One or Two Clicks, the Street View flips into a 'Birds-Eye' View...NOT Straight-down-Over-head, But, at a 45 Degree Angle to the Ground. Useful when 'Following' along a Road or Other, and All Objects are Defined with Greater Details. You can even make-out 'Pot-Holes' and Damaged Highway, Repaired, Or Not!
*In The Desert, A Few Gas Stations will carry , 'Super', Premium Grade Fuel! 91=95
I had pulled into a few Gas Stations "Out in the Middle of Nowhere", that Only Carried 87 Regular Fuel!! This would Be a Great Problem for Most Pantera Owners, with Built-Up Engines! And in the Heated Air! I Moved on up the road, to the Next Station...I always look to Fill-up, when the needle starts to cross '1/2 Tank'. I can remember the last time I was searching for Fuel, 2am In the Morning..."Running on Empty". 'Mid-America' saved My Life, and help from others.
Before You take the Excursion Into the 'Middle of Nowhere'...Do Your Homework, and Prepare Well. All Stations I refueled at, Did carry Premium Fuel. Some would Not. Could have gone the other way. MJ
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