{"id":928,"date":"2012-06-07T00:22:55","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T05:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=928"},"modified":"2012-06-07T00:22:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-07T05:22:55","slug":"vacation-day-14-leaving-for-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=928","title":{"rendered":"Vacation Day 14: Leaving for Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, Rich did happen to wake up today.<\/p>\n

Breakfast was at the IHOP attached to the hotel.\u00a0 Rich had a bad experience at an IHOP a long time ago, but it was the only thing close by.\u00a0 I had stuffed French toast, Rick had a bacon omelet, and Rich went for an omelet as well.<\/p>\n

We got packed and took things down to the car in the parking garage under the hotel.\u00a0 I went to the lobby to check out.\u00a0 When I returned an older gentleman in a Route 66 camp shirt was getting into his vintage Corvette.\u00a0 He fired it up with a very loud noise.\u00a0 Rich gave him a thumbs up as he drove past on his way out.\u00a0 The gentleman waved.\u00a0 It was the start of his adventure on the road called Route 66 all the way to Chicago.<\/p>\n

We got out and headed over to the building where the Naughty Dog gaming company had their offices.\u00a0 Rich and Rick jumped out at the light to go take a picture of Rick on the premises.\u00a0 I found parking around the corner and took a few minutes to let them know to walk over to where I was.\u00a0 Another item on the to do list was checked off.<\/p>\n

We got onto The 10 with no problem.\u00a0 Traffic soon became typical for LA and slowed way down.\u00a0 We did this until the split where The 10, The 5, The 405, and a bunch of other feeders all broke off to go their own way.\u00a0 It was smooth sailing out to The 15 from there.\u00a0 The 15 leads you out into the desert toward Victorville, Barstow, and eventually Vegas.<\/p>\n

I had done most of the work for Motorola up here.\u00a0 I love the desert out this way.\u00a0 It was good to see the area again and think about all the adventures while I was here.\u00a0 I saw a lot of the sites I had been at, including the mountaintop ones that were treacherous to climb.<\/p>\n

We stopped for gas and drinks in Barstow before heading in the empty space between there and Las Vegas.\u00a0 The wind was blowing things around, including us, and the temp was climbing into the 90s by then.\u00a0 Then we were off into the desert, without a camel.<\/p>\n

Our first stop after the desert was Hoover Dam.\u00a0 We got parked and found out that the tours were sold out.\u00a0 We did the self-guided tour, which allowed us to do everything but the generator room.\u00a0 We went through the exhibit on building the dam and then out on the observation deck first for a good look at the structure and the river.\u00a0 From there, we walked down one side of the dam and then crossed over to walk back.\u00a0 It was hot out there.\u00a0 But then you remember the guys building the dam in the 1930s and the fact that there was no air conditioning at the end of the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We walked back to the spillway to see the structure that handles the overflow.\u00a0 It was impressive.\u00a0 I wondered why there were no skateboards in there.\u00a0 It was a good place for skating.\u00a0 I guess that would be frowned upon by the authorities.\u00a0 We took lots of pictures and I got a postcard for my kitchen display.<\/p>\n

Next, we headed into Las Vegas proper.\u00a0 We got to our hotel, The Flamingo,without much trouble.\u00a0 It took a little bit to figure out how to get into the actual hotel.\u00a0 It definitely wraps around itself.\u00a0 Once I got to the check in desk, there was a very long line.\u00a0 I took my place and watched the people go by.\u00a0 There is one of everything in Vegas.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t classify them all using my usual chart for people watching.\u00a0 The hotel even allows dogs inside with a special place for them to go for their duty!<\/p>\n

After 30 to 45 minutes, it was finally my turn.\u00a0 I got my cardkeys and a map of the place.\u00a0 No, there was no cart to bring up luggage with.\u00a0 We had a lot of things to get upstairs and it was not going to be pretty to do.\u00a0 We stacked up suitcases, packs, along odds and ends and made the trek to the elevators and then to our room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first thing was the noise.\u00a0 There were jackhammers running right under us.\u00a0 I called the Guest Services to see when the noise was scheduled to stop.\u00a0 They told me they didn\u2019t know since they didn\u2019t understand why it was still going on at 6:30 PM.\u00a0 She assured me they were working on it.\u00a0 Thanks, Alex.\u00a0 You recommended the place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We went down to the buffet to eat before striking out on the street.\u00a0 The flamingoes were in the garden eating and generally entertaining guests.\u00a0 We could see them while we wait in line.\u00a0 Two gentlemen in front of us started up a conversation.\u00a0 They wanted to guess where we were from.\u00a0 One guy was Indian and the other an American.\u00a0 They threw out Indiana, but I believe they had been listening to me talk before they started a conversation.\u00a0 My guess is the Indian gentleman knew something of linguistics and was using it against me.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine.\u00a0 We had a good conversation before we got seated.<\/p>\n

After dinner, we went out to walk the strip.\u00a0 First, we went to the Bellagio to watch the water and light show.\u00a0 It was impressive.\u00a0 Then we walked down to The Venetian so I could see the canals.\u00a0 While we were looking, The Mirage lava show went off and we watched from across the street.\u00a0 We could feel the heat from here and there were people right under it!\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we walked down the street, it became a wave of people surging against us.\u00a0 We felt like salmon swimming upstream to spawn.\u00a0 Later, we figured that the crowd was coming from the pirate show at Treasure Island trying to get down to The Mirage for their show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After seeing the canals, I was trying to find out from Rich what we should see.\u00a0 It took a bit to get that the Grand Shoppes in The Venetian had an interesting motif.\u00a0 The shop area was arranged as squares in Venice with painted skies above.\u00a0 One square even had an evening sky at dusky.\u00a0 That was truly awesome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We then decided to go back to the Flamingo, where we were staying.\u00a0 But we couldn\u2019t find the exit!\u00a0 The hotels are all set up to take you through the casino floor to allow you access to anything else.\u00a0 We found an HP convention in The Venetian, but it appeared to be all Japanese attendees.\u00a0 Finally, Rick found the hotel front desk and we made our escape out the doors.<\/p>\n

Walking in the street wasn\u2019t much better than before.\u00a0 It was crowded with a lot of pushing and stopping.\u00a0 And the cigarettes and cigars!\u00a0 I could only cough and try to stay away from them.\u00a0 I grew up in a house with a smoker (my Dad). But once he stopped, the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke only makes me nauseous.\u00a0 I can stand some pipe smoke though.\u00a0 My grandfather was a pipe smoker and it brings back good memories when I smell it.<\/p>\n

Back at the Flamingo, the jackhammers had stopped!\u00a0 I wanted to log in and try to post Day 13.\u00a0 Rich tried to log in with his Nook and found out that they were charging $14.95 to connect!\u00a0 No way.\u00a0 I could wait for a free WiFi connection the following night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So we fell exhausted into our beds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
It's me doing another Rose pose in front of the Hoover Dam!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
It was a long way down, but the water looked so beautiful. It was really dam hot one up here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Rich and Rick walking across the Hoover Dam. It's a little bit of a walk in the heat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
I was across the street from our hotel, The Flamingo, to get this shot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Just an example of the water and light show at the Bellagio. It was beautiful and the choregraphy with the music was great.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Rich and I were having a good time in Vegas so far.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The canals were beautiful. One girl even stopped her gondola to seranade the crowd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Rich and Rick with the stone beauties at the fountain in The Venetian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
We were across the street, but you could feel the heat from the water being pumped with the flames for the lava show at The Mirage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, Rich did happen to wake up today. Breakfast was at the IHOP attached to the hotel.\u00a0 Rich had a bad experience at an IHOP a long time ago, but it was the only thing close by.\u00a0 I had stuffed French toast, Rick had a bacon omelet, and Rich went for an omelet as well. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,13,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}