Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps. Which pretty much summed up my weekend as well. Sure I grabbed a few hours here and there, but with everything that was going on...how could I get more. Yes, I am talking about the annual Team Sol Las Vegas Invasion. This year 34 Honda del Sols took over the world famous Las Vegas Strip. We also invaded the Treasure Island parking structure and the Scenic Red Rock road for an insanely beautiful drive. The weather was perfect and we couldn't have asked for any thing better.
I started my day with 2 other Sols and we cruised over to Denny's in Irvine to meet with another 2 Sols. Our total was 5 as we had our breakfast and made last minute preparations for our drive. We took a few minutes to top off our gas tanks and then we were on our way. About 30 minutes into our drive we met up with our 6th Sol along the way. Sol number 7, a black Si with yellow stripes, just happened to be on the same freeway at the same time as us and brought up the rear. Shortly after that, our final lingering Sol met us for our initial cruise to Peggy Sues 50's Diner just past Barstow, California. We arrived at Peggy Sues ahead of schedule at 11:30am and waited for the remaining California Sol Trains to arrive. The Sol train from the Antelope Valley arrived cruising 3 strong and was quickly followed by a few single cruisers from various locations. Our total was now 16. We are off to a good start. Our last confirmed Sol Train of 3 was still a good 45 minutes away when it was time for us to depart after a hearty lunch. We opted to leave without them, but we left one brave Sol to wait and lead them into Las Vegas.
15 del Sols on I-15 heading north into the South end of the Las Vegas Strip…yes, we turned a lot of heads. We made a quick pit stop at our hotels to check in and then hurriedly departed for our first meet up spot with the Solers from other states…. Sonic Drive In. Our initial group of 15 was joined by 11 other Solers from Arizona, Colorado, and right there in Las Vegas… Streetracing.org sent a representive to display his car among ours as well. 26 del Sols sat at the Sonic Drive in with the patrons and employees of Sonics looking on in amazement and wonder.
Our next planned event was a social gathering in one of our rooms at the Tropicana Hotel/Casino. There we ate, drank and talked the night away. At around 11 pm the party died down and people headed towards their rooms to get some shut eye… we have a big day ahead of us.
10AM, top of the Treasure Island parking garage… site of the amazing and famous Vegas Invasion I photo shoot….this would be even bigger! 33 Sols made their way to the top floor of the parking garage, the view, simply amazing! And the strip looked great from there as well. :
The temperature was unusually warm for the time of the year so we decided to postpone our Red Rock drive till the early evening. Everyone met back up on top of the Treasure Island parking garage and we headed out for our drive. If you have never been on this drive, you must drive it! The sight of the surrounding red mountains is simply breath-taking. We couldn't have picked a more perfect spot for this drive. The air was warm and the scenery on this 10 mile stretch of road was out of this world. What more could we ask for? 22 del Sols cruising along the one lane road turned more than one weekend warriors head out there. The sun reluctantly tucked in behind the mountains and nightfall was upon us….so we did what any sane Sol train would do at night in Las Vegas...we cruised the strip! Needless to say, Team Sol owned the Las Vegas Strip that evening.
What a trip, and what great members we have. Look for Vegas Invasion III taking over Las Vegas once again next year! Think we will hit 50 cars? I do!
- Brandon "Jago"
Lynch