Hey Kokomo! This is make-believe, a beautiful mirage, an island built on sand. Las Vegas is fun, lazy, easy, unreal. But scratch any preconceived notions you may have,  the old vision of this place. It’s changed.

Hello-ooo Las Vegas!

The huge fantastical palaces in every color of the rainbow house not only casinos, but also first-class restaurants, cutting-edge designed theaters, museums, animal and bird refuges, beautiful landscaped swimming pools, some arranged solely for families with children, and most of all–the best conflux of entertainment you’ll find anywhere.

At night we’ve been partying. We saw an amazing Cirque Du Soleil show on Thursday night which was an homage to Elvis. Spectacular. On Friday night–the Freedom Concert, three hours of great music–many bands. Funds go to families, especially children, of fallen soldiers, our heroes. Here’s a picture of Lynyrd Skynyrd rocking the house.

Times are hard out here though–Nevada has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. A sign on the door of a little café: ‘Thank you for coming. Every cent you spend here helps us survive.’ Cab drivers, doormen, waitresses, hotel employess…all working hard to rebuild this economy, and to welcome families to Las Vegas.  Give it some thought. Jay Leno told a great joke apropos this point–His mother always told him never to judge a place and the people there until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.

And then if you still want to criticize the place, do it and run…but be sure you’re still wearing their shoes. 

What a great trip this has been. We’ve met so many wonderful people in the bookstores we visited. Traveling from Napa and Sonoma Valleys to Bodega Bay and Santa Rose. Through Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, down to San Jose, Monterey, and along the rocky beautiful Pacific coast on Highway One. The Hearst Castle at San Simeon–a peek into the 1920′s, one of my favorite periods as you’ll know if you’ve read The Moon in the Mango Tree. On down the coast to Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo. Across the coastal mountains and over the plains–layers of colored stone to our right, hills, mountains, wind-swept buttes, and Death Valley to our left. On Hwy 46 toward Bakersfield we caught a glimpse of time out of James Dean’s time. Then on through the desert–miles and miles of sunlit sand and flowering cactus on our way to the last stop, Las Vegas.

Reflection: The glory of God shone in all of those places. And the power of the individual made in His image shines through too, each person using the tools and blessings that have been given–strong, courageous, hardworking people. We saw them beating their way through obstacles, holding onto their faith. We saw the realization. The renewal. The faith. We saw people who’d lost jobs just doing what they could to make a buck, feed their families, get through the day. Overcoming. This is why I wrote Secret of the Shroud, releasing September 1st. Faith is sustaining. In America we see hope rising.

The power and the glory and the majesty of God, and our country fills my heart, and Jimmy’s.

In the next few months I’ll be traveling to promote Secret of the Shroud and I’ll blog those trips too. And within the next few days, I’m going to save you readers who are also writers a lot of pain and suffering and will compile a list of the Ten Things I Learned while my wonderful Jimmy was Driving Ms. Pamela around! 

Share this!

•