The Big Black Bus and the Strip

Outside of LA heading East
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After playing a new year's eve party down in Costa Mesa (luckily I was home by 2 AM), I awoke early (well, 9:00 AM for me that's early) on new year's day to prepare for the outing to Las Vegas, Nevada.  The trip would be a trip more for fun than anything else, but also it would be the first major outing for the tour bus since it's renovation.  The bus swung by and picked me up around midday and we were off.  The bus had been refurbished throughout and had nice amenities such as toilets, showers, a kitchen area, as well as bunks for sleeping.  The front area just behind the driver was the living area with an entertainment center and couches lining both walls of the bus.  We rolled into Vegas that evening around 7 PM after having only made a couple of brief stops.  Our destination:  The Hard Rock Casino.  The security there was very helpful in providing space for us and soon we were parked and itchin' to check out the casino.

Where we parked the bus
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The Hard Rock Casino was your standard affair of slot machines and game tables.  There were also little shops which sold various items and clothing.  The attraction to this casino was the excellent choice in music (mainly classic rock) and rock paraphernalia that adorned every surface in the building.  The Joint was the club inside the Hard Rock Casino where Supernova would unleash their new frontman (from the TV show Rockstar Supernova for those of you who do not follow that type of programming -myself included).  The show started at 8 PM with the Nashville based band Luna Halo.  WIth a mainstream rock "Killers"  type vibe they were followed by a lengthy intermission in order to reconfigure the stage for the main act.  Drink in hand and plugs in ears, I was ready for the next onslaught of din.  Supernova performed an hour set and came back for an encore which climaxed in an explosion of confetti from the ceiling.

Drink in hand and plugs in ears, I was ready for the next onslaught of din.

Our hotel room for the night
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After the concert, the conquest was simple -gamble.  Not being much of a gambling man myself, I went for the easy stuff, the slots.  Unbelievably, I hit some luck right off the bat totalling nearly 200 bucks, but just as quickly lost it while trying to compound upon my winnings.  Though there were no big winners, we had quite bit of fun.  And, of course, everything seemed that much more appealing with the help of Mr. Johnnie Walker (that would be alcohol, for those of you who don't know about Walker Black Label Whiskey).

New York, New York
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Finally found my way to my bunk around 3 AM and called it a day.

The next day (1-2-07) we rolled out of the parking lot heading towards the strip.  Cruising down the strip, we took in the exteriors of all the different hotels and casinos while pedestrians checked out the bus.  Once we had our fill it was back to the highway to start the journey back home to LA.  We stopped in Barstow to fuel up, dump the water tanks, and then fill them back up with some fresh water.  Not too long after we were back in LA with preparations for the next outing already in our heads.