Rohnert Park or Henderson?

I had the (mis)fortune of driving to the Las Vegas area recently. I have never driven across the Mojave desert before. I think it's something everybody should do as there is a certain lonely, beautiful mystique about it. I won't even talk about going through the town of Barstow (a.k.a. Tijuana del Norte). I'll stick to the heading of 'Rohnert Park or Henderson.'

Henderson is suburban Las Vegas, or should I say Dante's ninth circle of hell? My daughter made this comment of Henderson in stating, "Mom, there is something weird about this town. Everything is so.... so.... so.... FAKE! It looks like a giant movie set."

Well said, dear daughter. If you're into miles and miles of endless non-descript, mega chain stores with outdoor temperatures sweltering well above 100*, then this is the town for you. Even the houses looked fake like they were made of sugar, and the palm trees looked plastic.

I could not tell the difference between Rohnert Park and Henderson, NV. Both are nothing more than super-mega-chain store/restaurant hosts. I was looking for anything, and I repeat ANYTHING that would make Henderson unique, authentic and differentiate it from the cookie cutter layout. The town has no soul.

After careful observation, I found the *one* thing that made the difference between Henderson and Rohnert Park: Henderson has the highest per capita of morbidly obese people on scooters smoking cigarettes.

Sorry, Rohnert Park..... you will need to find something else to set you apart from the fat pack.