Las Vegas, Nevada

2009-05-11

We both work up at our usual 7 am time, had breakfast, got ready, packed up the car and were soon on our way to Las Vegas. We took interstate 40 to highway 93 north and crossed over the border into Nevada (our 12th state) as we went over the Hoover Damn. We got out at a few viewpoints at the Damn to take some photos and take in the greatness of it.  Originally called the Boulder Dam, this New Deal project was completed in 1935 at a cost of $175 million and towers 726 feet high. It was originally intended to act as flood control, but it now helps the Colorado River (and hydroelectric power) to thirsty cities such as Las Vegas. Since 2001, construction has started to divert traffic over a new bridge instead of going directly over the damn due to terrorist concerns. We went through a security check a few miles before the bridge and we could see one that people coming the other way had to go through. Soon we were in the city limits of Las Vegas and could start to make the outline of the various casinos on the strip. Vegas entered into the modern era when the railroad completed a line linking Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, California. In the 1920’s Vegas boomed due to federally sponsored building projects. The legalization of gambling in 1931 carried the city through the Great Depression. World War II brought in a huge air force base and the aerospace business and a paved highway to Los Angeles. The Cold War justified the Nevada Test Site and while monthly atomic blasts shuttled the windows downtown, the city promoted everything atomic to build tourism. A building spree marked by the Flamingo in 1946, led to mob backed tycoon’s upping the glitz at every turn. Big name entertainers arrived at the same time as topless French showgirls. The 1993 arrival of the MGM Grand marked the start of the megaresorts. We checked into the Courtyard Marriot on Paradise road, about a five minute walk to the strip, unpacked and made lunch. As we had travelled close to 4000 miles, the car was in need of an oil check, so we decided to find the nearest Walmart to have that done and pick up some supplies. The car was still in good shape, but he air filter was a bit dirty, so we had that changed as well. Lori had seen that there was a P. F. Chang’s in town, so we changed when we go home and went down to the strip. The Planet Hollywood Casino, where the restaurant was, was a bit of a walk and we enjoyed seeing several casinos. We managed to see the Volcano erupt at the Mirage as we were walking by. Around 9 pm, we sat down for dinner. They had a set menu deal, so we decided to have that and both started with hot and sour soup, shared chicken lettuce wraps (Lori’s favourite and Ian is now a fan), and Mongolian beef and Kung Po shrimp for our mains. We were both pretty stuffed at this point, so we were glad that the desserts were small as Lori and Ian could only take a few bits of her smore and his chocolate desserts. We were happy for the longer walk home and enjoyed seeing all the casinos light up.

Ian wanted to try his hand at gambling, so we went into the Encore hotel first.

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2009-05-12

We both managed to sleep in until 9 am that morning. The room had great shades, so the morning light had not woke us up. We had breakfast and were soon by the pool with our books enjoying the sunshine. Ian managed to finish “Twilight”, which Lori was happy about as she planned on reading it after she finished reading “the Appeal” by John Grisham. By 12:30 pm, it was hot and we were hungry, so we retreated to the air conditioning of the rooms to make sandwiches.  We went back out to the pool for another hour in the afternoon. We decided to have a cheap dinner, so we drove out to Walmart and picked up a rotisserie chicken, salad and mash potatoes for dinner. Everything was really good and we had enough chicken left over for lunch for the next two days. After eating, we walked down to the strip. Ian wanted to try his hand at gambling, so we went into the Encore hotel first. The inside of the hotel was amazing with red everywhere and pretty butterflies The casino was not very crowded and Ian was still getting a feel for the place, so we walked down to the Wynn casino next door. The two hotels were done by the same owner, so it again had red theme. Ian spotted a poker player area and as he wanted to try and participate in a poker tournament while we were in Las Vegas, we went to check it out. Ian established how it worked, but decided not to play that night. We went to the roulette tables and within five minutes Ian was $30 up. He decided not to push it and called it a night.  We walked back to the room and relaxed while watching TV.

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2009-05-13

We got up around 9:30 am the next morning. Ian managed to check his Mum on Skype and spent some time catching up with her. We were soon back out at the pool. It was another morning of us relaxing in the sunshine until close to 1 pm, when again it go way too hot. We had lunch in the room and enjoyed the air conditioning. We had another hour back at the pool and Lori finished her book, which had an interesting ending. We decided to treat ourselves to another nice dinner that night, so Ian did some research and decided we would eat at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel. Lori wanted to try and see more of the casinos, so we put our walking shoes (flip flops) on and were soon walking down  the strip. Our feet started to get a little tired after we passed the Paris hotel, but we continued all the way down to the Luxour hotel. Unfortunately, the walkway only took them through the middle of that hotel, so they did not get a good look at the outside of it. We did enjoy seeing New York New York and the MGM Grand as we walked by. BY the time we got to Luxour, we had to head back in order to make our dinner reservation. We walked back on the other side of the road and there was massive construction where a new hotel was being built.  We managed to see the 8 pm show of the Bellagio fountains before going to dinner.. They did not have any set menus, so Ian ordered a Steak Bouselli and Lori ordered fish and chips. They started us off with complementary fresh French bread and a shredded carrot sauce. Ian could see the some more of the Bellagio fountain shows from his seat that went off every 15 minutes. As we ate, we tried to ignore the two men eating next to us who clearly worked in the car industry and were talking work. Our meals arrived and were usual American portion sized, so we were glad that we did not get starters. The steak was really good and the fish was only lightly fried, which Lori enjoyed. After dinner, we stopped at O’Shea’s, which Julia had recommended. Ian checked out their poker games and played a few games of roulette, but the luck of the Irish was not with him that night and he lost $20.

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2009-05-14

We spent our last full day in Vegas much like the others, waking up around 9:30 am and spending a few hours by the pool and then escaping the heat and going back to the room for lunch. Lori went back out to the pool to continue reading “Twilight” while Ian relaxed inside. Around 4 pm, Ian left for O’Shea to play in a poker tournament. Lori knew that her USA tax forms were due in mid June, which would soon be with them, so she stayed behind to work on them. She got a nice break when Megan and her two nephews called her on the videophone. It was amazing to see how much Noah had grown since we had seen him three weeks ago. Lori had gotten a good start on her taxes when Ian returned from his poker game around 7 pm. He had come in fourth out of 11 people and just got unlucky on the last hand he played. He has also stopped by the Grand Canle stories on the way home at the Peter Lik gallery and bought the America book that we had looked at in Key West. We decided to keep it cheap for dinner and made a trip to a nearby Taco Bell. Lori had tacos again and Ian had a burrito, taco and potatoes. We made our last visit to Walmart in Vegas and picked up a few supplies. We packed things up when we got back to the room.

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