Wednesday, July 12

We had an excellent breakfast buffet right here at Sam’s Town for five bucks each plus tax and tip. GREAT made to order omelets! Then we hit the road for the Strip. We parked at Harrah’s and joined their players club and I got a free T-shirt (woo hoo!) Next we got a Craps lesson at the Imperial Palace. Right after the lesson I went to the adjacent craps table and won about $25 bucks before giving it all back and then some. I rolled a 7 on my first roll, but then 7’d out on my next point. Again, why didn’t I just cash out! I guess it’s just too much fun.

We went over to Caesar’s Palace and had a Las Vegas WOW moment. That place is just INCREDIBLE! Beautiful statues, paintings on the ceilings, fountains, a spiral escalator… and the stores go on for days! Susan joined their players club and got a free visor (woo hoo!). They were also having a special promotion where you have your card scanned in any of the six MGM casinos on the strip for a chance to win prizes up to $10,000 each day. And if you get 3 stamps from different casinos on a promotional card you get a casino prize. I got a nifty beach towel from the Flamingo, and Susan got a crappy key ring from Harrah’s.

We wandered around the Flamingo for awhile and visited their outdoor aviary. They had flamingos (well duh!), a variety of geese, swans and ducks, but, alas, the penguins have been sent to the Dallas Zoo. Lots of pretty landscaping and fake waterfalls, but man was it ever HOT outside!

Then we went back to Harrah’s for the Mac King Comedy Magic Show. We had a coupon that gave us general admission seats for the price of two drinks. Susan tipped the maitre d’ a fiver for a better table, so the grand total was about $25 to see an AWESOME show! I laughed really hard several times. The family right behind us had a very noisy child and Mac really embarrassed them! He asked them how old their child was (3), and then related how he remembered taking his own daughter to some shows and sometimes she would start to cry. But then he went on to say something to the effect of “but we always took her out of the room whenever that happened.” I think they got the hint.

The highlight of the show for me can’t be easily put into words, so if you’re interested I’ll do my best to tell it in person. It was absolutely hysterical!

After the show we went back to Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops where they have (drumroll please)… a Cheesecake Factory! And best of all, their prices weren’t artificially inflated just cause it’s Vegas. We had the pineapple upside down cheesecake for dessert and it was yummy!

Next we went to the Mirage, but unfortunately it was too late to see the white tigers and the secret garden, so I guess we’ll catch those next Monday. After that we headed back to Sam’s Town to rest up for tomorrow. We’re going to Red Rock Canyon right after breakfast, then back to the hotel to “freshen up”, and then off to who knows where!

Smoke from the wildfires in Southern California can be seen in the skies to the south and east of the city, but over the Strip I saw only clear blue sky. The mountains are beautiful! They rise up quickly out of the flat land, but they look very desolate! They look so close, like you could just reach out and touch them. This is such a harsh climate. Thank goodness for air conditioning.