Our 2007 trip to Las Vegas:

Thursday March 29, 2007 -
And we are off. Viva Las Vegas, baby! It's a long long way but we hit the road just before 7:00 AM. Vroom, vroom. A little before noon we stopped in the tiny town of Wasco along the way and had a really good mexican food lunch at a place called La Cabanita. It tasted pretty authentic and was run by a hispanic man and woman, certainly not a chain restaurant, just a mom and pop place that eeks out a living serving better food that some of the big boys (take that, El Torito). Anyway, really good and almost everyone in the place was hispanic. The menu was mostly spanish but enough english to let us know what we wanted. A spanish soap opera was on the TV and, well you get the idea. I'd eat there again anytime. Any time that I was 250 miles from home on HWY-46 that is.

And I gotta say that drive across the Mojave Desert is pretty dull. We had good music and that helps anything! Remind me not to move to Barstow. Nevermind, I'll remember. But anyway, we got to Vegas (baby!) and found the condo. Larry and Robin were nice enough to let us stay there with them. We visited for a bit and got our bearings, then we went out to get some dinner. Robin had located a Thai restaurant (Komol) on the Internet that purported to have a lot of vegetariaan options. We were SO there. The waiter warned us about ordered the food hot (spicy) so we all went for either medium or mild. He said that the cook was a little crazy that day so be warned. Anyway, it was kind of spicy but very good. On the way back we droved down the strip, stopping at the grocery store to pick up a few supplies. Then back to the room and we kicked back for a while. Then, zzzzzz....

Friday March 30, 2007 -
We had a breakfast snack at the condo and then headed out to the Art And Glass Expo. That event is why we decided to go to Vegas in the first place. It was an interesting show housed at the South Point hotel-casino. The main floor had lots and lots of booths of vendors, demos, crafts, and other glass-related stuff. There were also classes but Petra didn't take those. We mainly went to see what was there and both came away with a good day's enjoyment and entertainment. Midday, we took a break for lunch at the hotel's cafe, which was pretty decent for a hotel-casino cafe. Later in the day Larry and I played some blackjack. One of us broke even. Petra and Robin were visiting with Petra's online friends from her glass group. After a while Larry and I joined them. When we left there, we ended up in downtown Vegas, the 'old' area that used to be the gambling center of the town. We rambled around there for a while and took it in, then ducked into the Golden Nugget casino, where we had a really good breakfast burrito. Larry and I both thought it was great. So what more do you need? Well, maybe a drink or two.

Saturday March 31, 2007 -
We had our breakfast at the condo. Then we caught the free shuttle down to the strip. We visited a bunch of casinos on the southern end and middle of the strip. Some of the places we visited included: the Monte Carlo (where the shuttle let us off), New York New York (where I wanted to ride the rooftop roller coaster but decided to wait, hoping to do it later in the trip. And this casino has basically a small city within it.), The Excalibur (a cool-looking castle building), The Luxor (a pyramid-shaped black building with diagonal 'inclinators' instead of elevators), and Mandalay Bay (with a huge fish tank and a House Of Blues inside). We had some lunch at a Mexican restaurant inside there. It was a bit pricey but decent food and a tasty margarita. Then we made our way to The Tropicana, where Robin won a $400 keno jackpot. Yowie! Way to go Robin! Then we walked to the MGM Grand and watched the lions getting fed and roaming around in their pen for a while. Next was The Aladdin, where we gambled a bit with less than stellar results. Ugh. Then to the Paris casino, with a mega-huge replica of the Eiffel Tower. Next, to The Bellagio where we watched a great fountain water show set to music. It's free and well worth watching. This casino also had a nice glass exhibit all over the lobby roof by Dale Chihuly, best-known glass artist in the world. They had a nice garden area too and then we had a meal at their asian noodle restaurant. Then back to the Monte Carlo to catch the late-night shuttle back to the condo, but not before Larry won a little bit at the blackjack table. The down side of most of these places is that there are a lot of smokers and smoke, which makes it unpleasant for the rest of us. But even with that it was a great and fun day!

Sunday April 1, 2007 -
The US invasion of Iraq ended. Naaa, April Fools!!! People are still dying left and right, don't worry. Meanwhile, back in Las Vegas, we had a snack at the condo and then headed back over to the South Point for the last day of the Art And Glass Expo. We looked briefly at the booths but mainly we wanted to attend the charity auction that they were holding. Vendors and others had donated lots of items to be auctioned off and it was a fun event to just listen to and watch. Robin even bought a few items. Of course, all that excitement (or whatever) made us hungry and thirsty. It doesn't take much. The expo admissions included a drink ticket, so we each used ours. And we had some tasty onion rings in the cafe and then we were good to go. Rum-and-diet-coke with onion rings. What's not to love about that!

Then we drove over to The Rio, a hotel casino known for, among other things, their Masquerade Show in the Sky. Parade floats with a Mardi Gras theme hang from and ride via tracks in the high ceiling circling high above the large casino floor. Pretty cool to see. There was a floor show at floor level too. All that was free. This is the hotel/casino that Prince plays at, but we deceided to pass on that late-night and stand-up-only show (at $150 each to stand it was expensive too). But! Along that line, we zipped back to the condo and dropped the car off and then caught the shuttle back to the strip. After a quick snack at New York New York, we headed over to Mandalay Bay to go to a show at the House Of Blues inside. We went to see Purple Reign, a Prince 'tribute band'. Check out their web site. The show was great, a lot of fun, and it did a pretty good job of capturing a real Prince show. The guy who impersonated Prince had the Prince moves, the Prince vocals, the Prince coolness down pretty well. Plus, using the coupons we found in a magazine, it was FREE! Well, except for the expensive drinks. But still... hella big fun.

Monday April 2, 2007 -
We had a late night so we had kind of a late morning. We ended up at the Original House Of Pancakes (not the IHOP) for a mega-whopper of a breakfast. I had a four-egg, 'baked' omelet with cheeses, salsa, jalapenos, onions, tomatos, maybe something else, I forget. It packed a punch, heat-wise, but was really good. And huge! And it came with three pancakes of course. Yow! This place was a nice find and we'll look later to see if they have a location closer to home. Then we spent a little time moaning about how full we were and how good it was. And then we ended up back at the South Point where we spent a couple hours gambling. I like to play Blackjack and had some luck today, winning back the money I had lost the other night and then some extra! HA!

Then we drove over to a 'hot glass shop and studio'. It was a local glass artist group showing their wares but mainly they were doing a live glass-blowing demonstration, explaining and taking questions. Very cool. There will be pictures here someday. No, really! Then back to the condo to drop the car off and we caught the shuttle back to the strip. We went to see a show, Cirque Du Soleil's LOVE. The are about five different Cirque shows in Vegas but we wanted to see this one because it uses all Beatles music. If you have ever seen a Cirque show, you know they are pretty incredible but this one even topped my expectations. Words can't do it justice so just go see it. You will NOT be disappointed! And The Beatles music just makes it that much better.

Tuesday April 3, 2007 -
The first order of the day was some breakfast at the condo. Then, once everyone was ready (four people, one bathroom/shower so it took some time), we headed out on the day's excursion to Hoover Dam. It wasn't far but as we got close the traffic crawled so it did take a while. Finally, a bored-looking security guard waved us through. Once there we took the tour, which led us down into the depths of the dam to see generators and tunnels, etc. We watched a short film about the building of the dam (pretty amazing for the time period it was built). And there were other exhibits and, of course, a gift shop. It was pretty awesome and really huge. Learn more here and here with pictures here. I'm glad we went here, it was not too long and very interesting. Of course, we were famished by then so we headed out to a place Larry and Robin had visited on a previous visit, Origin India. They serve great Indian food in a classy ambiance. Mmmm. I would go back. Of course, it's a 10-11 hour drive from where I am now in Cali, but someday!

Then we trekked to the "World's Largest Gift Shop" where we bought some souvenirs. Man did they have a lot of cheap junk! Not what we bought, of course. Then down the street to The Stratosphere hotel/casino. We thought about going up to the top of the tower to see the view and the rides up there (take a look at that link!), but at $10 a person to go up, we decided not to. Larry took some photos of the area (from ground level) and then we headed on. Then we headed down to the Freemont Street area, the 'old' strip. We wandered around there a bit, sightseeing, and then headed back to the condo. Another late night, another good day. Back at the condo, we talked about possible future vacations. Oh, yeah!

Wednesday April 4, 2007 -
When you go to Vegas, you really have to go to an all-you-can-eat bufffet at least once! We found a brunch buffet that stayed open into the afternoon (we are slow) at The Flamingo. Lots and lots of choices, of course all four of us are vegetarians so that eliminated some things. What a "meat" town. Seems like a steaks are worshipped here. Oh, well, we found plenty to eat. More than plenty, actually! Then we went over to Ceasars to check out the Forum Shops. Lots of high-end stores that we wouldn't buy from but also statues that come to life and a huge salt-water aqarium with a woman in it cleaning. An interesting stop but nothing that special. Things picked up at the next stop, Casino Royale. Main attractions there? One dollar margaritas (yes!) and switch blackjack where you play two hands and can switch some of your cards. Next stop, the Venetian. This place is wild, it actually has canals with gondolas running through it! And of course we had to pose with the wax statues of Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Jordan.

Then we caught a shuttle over to The Rio, where we walked to The Palms. We wanted to go there because it is owned by the same family that owns our Sacramento Kings. Well, the casino was nothing special, like most of the others. The top floor lounge (the Ghost Bar) was not open so we couldn't go up there and when we attempted to go into the other tower. A young blonde "hostess" haughtily informed us that it was the Playboy Club (the world's only, apparently) and there was a $20 per person cover charge and that business casual attire was required. Yep. To see scantily-clad women with bunny ears. I don't think so. We took a wild taxi ride back to the strip and caught the free outdoor show at Treasure Island. HA! Some more scantily-clad babes in a cheesy stage act that involves a battle between two huge ships, the sinking of one, and a bunch of mild inuendo by the sirens. We had some Mexican food for dinner then caught the volcano eruption at the Mirage. Then back to Ceasars where we finally found the ultra-slow moving sidewalk that Petra and I remembered from our previous (1986) trip. Ah, brings back memories. Then we caught the late shuttle back to the condo and that was that.

Thursday April 5, 2007 -
We checked out of the Las Vegas condo. Goodbye. But before we left Vegas there were still a few things to do there. First: You gotta eat, right? So we went back to the Original House Of Pancakes (still not the IHOP) for another mondo-breakfast. Good good good. Afterward, we dropped Larry and Robin off at the airport so they could catch their plane home. Then Petra and I drove over to the Hard Rock Hotel Casino. They have music memorabilia all over the place and we wanted to check it out before we left town. After doing that for a while, we gassed up the beast and headed west. Of course, once we neared Los Angeles, our destination for the night, the traffic got thicker and thicker. So did the air, but that's another story. We arrived at our hotel late, about 9:00 PM, hungry and weary. Petra got out the phone book and found a very cool restaurant fairly closeby and open until 4:00 AM. It was Toi Rockin' Thai Food on Sunset. They had rock posters and stuff everywhere and on one wall a big screen (6 feet or so) showing Jimi Hendrix Live At Woodstock. And the food was great too! Along with a vegetarian section on the menu, they told us that almost anything on there could be made vegetarian. Oh, sweet bliss. We got very lucky for being in a strange city (!) and late at night.

Friday April 6, 2007 - Last day of vacation. We checked out of our hotel and drove into the heart of Hollywood. First stop, Amoeba Music, the world's largest record store. We had been to their other two stores (Berkeley and San Francisco) but had not been to the biggest one in Hollywood. It was pretty amazing. As you walk in, they have a person you can ask questions of and then you can pick up a map of the store. Big fun! We stayed in there a few hours and did some excellent damage. They gave us a free Amoeba canvas tote bag they liked us so much ;-) . Or maybe it had something to do with what we bought, listed below. But before we get to that, we also walked some of the Walk Of Fame and briefly visited the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. We grabbed lunch, slow waiter and all, at a nearby California Pizza Kitchen, walked around a bit more, then headed home. Much traffic greeted us until we got a ways out of LA and then it was pretty smooth sailing. A great vacation!!

Now, here is that list of what we bought at Amoeba. Don't laugh! Lots of things were really cheap, some at 50 cents and up.

8_Track tapes (!!!!!!) - remember, don't laugh.
Young, Neil After - The Gold Rush
Bowie, David - ChangesOneBowie

Cassettes
Prince - Emancipation 3-cassette box

7-inch vinyl
Costello, Elvis - You Little Fool
Bush, Kate - The Big Sky picture disc
XTC - Apple Vinyls 13-item box set

12-inch singles
Brooks, Meredith - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)
Thompson, Richard - Nearly In Love
Mellencamp, John - Rumbleseat
Weezer - Hash Pipe. The Remixes.
Tarver, Quindon - When Doves Cry
Thomas, Rob - This Is How A Heart Breaks

LPs
Nieve, Steve - Keyboard Jungle

CD singles/EPs
Mann, Aimee - Humpty Dumpty
Pretenders, The - I'm Not In Love
Ghost, Amanda - Idol
Mellencamp, John - Walk Tall
Live - The Dolphin's Cry
Live - Simple Creed
Live - Overcome

CDs
Various Artists - Electro Goth Tribute To Prince
Eaton Canyon Royal Ensemble, The - Symphonic Tribute To Prince's Purple Rain
Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
Costello, Elvis - The Juliet Letters (2-CD version)
Stefani, Gwen - The Sweet Escape
Shiny Toy Guns - We Are Pilots
Blondie - Parallel Lines (bonus tracks)
Talking Heads - 77
Young, Neil - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Partridge, Andy - Monstrance
Enya - Amarantine

Well what do you think? Tell me here!