Monday, July 17

Well, we're stuck in Las Vegas airport, our flight being delayed to the lack of a pilot and co-pilot who are still in Los Angeles due to "air traffic control" problems. So, to the best of my recollection, here's what we did on Monday. (The only good thing is we have free wi-fi at the airport, as long as the battery holds out)

We had lunch at the Flamingo buffet. It was pretty good for only $10 each. We also went to a couple of other casinos. We had $50 in free slot play at Casino Royale. What a joke! They only had a few "promotional" machines, and within a couple of minutes our free play was over.

We had $55 in free play at Treasure Island, so we hit the best video poker machine we could find. I cashed out with $50 in my pocket, so not a bad evening.

We had dinner at Samba Brazilian Steakhouse. When we were in Cancun last year we went to a similar restaurant and LOVED it. Unfortunately, this one was AWFUL! The meat was overcooked and dry and tough. The side dishes were creamed spinach (supply your own sound effect here), carrots, rice & black beans, and fried plantains (like bananas). We never did get a single refill on our $3 diet cokes. $90 down the drain! What a disappointment!

Our favorite casino is still Caesar's Palace. They have several 25 cent "full pay" video poker machines to choose from, and we have had pretty good success with them.

After dinner we ventured down to the Bellagio to see the fountains. While one show was finishing a kid about 8 years old ran smack dab into Susan with his bright green mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. I forgot to tell you she was wearing a WHITE long-sleeved blouse. Can you imagine what that looked like? The kid's mom's idea of helping was to get a dry napkin. Susan rushed off to the ladies' room to rinse out what she could.

The fountains are SPECTACULAR! I made a short video that I'll upload when we get home (whenever that might be).

Then we watched the Mirage volcano again. I'll upload a video of it too.

Las Vegas had a pretty strong thunderstorm last night. Lots of lightning and high winds and about 2 tenths of an inch of rain. Considering they've only had about 6 tenths all year, that was pretty significant. We were already in the casino by then, so we missed it. By the time we got to our room it was all over with. What a shame, they had to cancel the pirate ship show outside our window. The pyrotechnics didn't wake me up.