We are headed back East along Interstate 8 which runs very close to the US/Mexico border, through Imperial Dunes, and Yuma. Have not made this trip since 2004 going the other way. Forgot that it’s a real fucking desert. And like 100+ F. “Death Valley” is around here somewhere. In fact I think we went through it.
Since this is about “dream girls” couldn’t help but think back to 1997 and “Vegas Vacation.” My “dream girl” from that movie was of course Audrey Griswold, played by Marisol Nichols.
I was 14 when the movie first came out. A variety of actresses have played Chevy Chase’s daughter but Marisol was my favorite. She is still gorgeous and continues to act today.
My friends and I used to watch this movie all the time. Long before I was old enough to visit Vegas we always wondered what it was like. As an adult I have been there many times. Of course you know the saying “What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas…”
Audrey’s brother Rusty (Ethan Embry) has a string of bad luck tying to get into casinos. You must be 21. So he finally finds someone to sell him a fake ID. His new name: “Nick Papagiorgio.” Nick was “from Yuma and in Software.” Nick has a run of luck in the casinos where he also gets to hang out with “high rollers” and displays uncanny luck at winning cars. Especially a Dodge Viper.
The last picture is “Cousin Eddie” (Randy Quaid) who lives with his family in the desert in a trailer. You see a lot of that out here. Definitely “off the grid”
Maybe that’s what we will end up doing.
(Moderators: Marisol and Ethan were born in 1973 and 1978 so they are 24 and 19 here.)