It was an eventful day. I know that everyone is used to us posting at night, and I’m sure we’ve ruined many peoples morning routine by not posting this in our usual pattern. I’m afraid it was out of our hands, however, which I’ll get into shortly, but we do apologize for not sticking to our normal posting schedule.
The day began really well, with us packed, breakfasted, and checked out by 9am. We had an uneventful but beautiful trip retracing our steps out of LA. Our retracing stopped when we hit Barstow, CA as we continued on I-15 North toward Vegas. It’s lovely country, getting more and more desert-like the further North we travelled. There’s a lot more life in the Mojave Desert than either Chris or I gave credit for. When I picture a desert in my head, I see the Sahara, with endless dunes of sand with perhaps the odd stereotypical cactus poking up. Well, in the Mojave, it’s more like a sandy garden. Endless fields of little plants, shrubs, flowers, with each plant separated by a foot or so of stony sand. Not what we were expecting.
We stopped for lunch at about the halfway point of our trip, enjoying our first Jack In The Box experience. We both ordered the Hearty Breakfast Bowl with a Mango Smoothie on the side. It was very tasty, and the frozen drink really hit the spot in the desert heat.
Before we knew it we’d hit Nevada and were zeroing in on our destination. Nevada brought the desert even more into focus for us. It’s very, very flat but with various mountain ranges poking up. By the time we’d hit the first town (very touristy looking, as I suspect most southern Nevada towns are) we could see the next town in the distance. Vegas itself was hidden from us behind a hilly range, but as we broke through the entire city was laid out before us.
We found the strip without incident, mainly due to the fact that you can see any buildin
gs of note from the Interstate. We even found our particular hotel easily enough. Figuring out how to check in was another matter entirely, and frustration started to set in, for me in particular. I had in my head this idea that Vegas would cater to newcomers, making everything as accessible and welcoming as possible. This is not the case, in fact I found the opposite to be true. We didn’t feel like paying for Valet parking when there was a Self Park option, but there was really no easy way to do this. We ended up sneaking into a no parking zone, me staying with the car while Chris ran in to get our room keys. Then, we made our way to the parking garage and then needed to carry all of our stuff a long distance, through the casino, to Tower I where our room was located.
After mistakenly trying to take the wrong set of elevators, we finally arrived at our room only to be disappointed more when we realized they don’t have wireless internet. (Hence our lack of post last night). They had a hard wire internet access that cost an extra 15 bucks a day. We declined. But seriously, we’ve toured the country, staying in all sorts of hotels, and we’ve always had free wireless. I find it ridiculous that the only time we’ve had to do without is when we’re paying more than twice what we’re used to paying for the night. Things we’re used to having that the Excalibur made us do without: free wireless, fridge, microwave, free breakfast, accessible parking, and a decent television channel selection (Excalibur had perhaps 10). I was not impressed with it as a hotel. In fact, the whole concept of “hotel” seemed incidental to them. Chris believes the rooms are sparse and unenjoyable in order to force you to spend more time in the Casino, which I guess makes sense. It’s just a dirty trick.
/rant off
The rest of our Vegas experience, however was very positive from that point on. We dropped our bags and went exploring. We passed through New York, New York, a very interesting Casino, designed like the New York City sky line, but with a roller coaster touring it’s way around the property. Then, we crossed over to MGM Grand and then down to street level. From here, we made our way up the strip, just taking in all the sights.
One of the things I really wanted to do was to check out the wax museum. I’ve never been to one before, and the Vegas one has a good reputation. By the time we reached the Venetian (where the wax museum is) we were quite parched, and went looking for a cold drink. Chris had a Smirnoff Ice and I accidentally ordered a non-alcoholic beer. Oh well, it still hit the spot. And with our dry throats soothed, we made our way to the museum. It was really cool; it’s amazing how life like they are able to make these various celebrities. Each statue is made exactly life sized, following over 200 measurements they take from the real person. W
e had a grand old time posing with each of them, sometimes expressing shock at how short they are. Take Arnold Shwartziniger for instance. He always looms so large in the movies, but he’s really not that tall of a man.
My camera’s battery went dead in the last room of the museum, so it was back to the hotel to charge it. The Vegas Strip has a mono-rail mass transportation system that we took back to MGM Grand. A mono rail is an interesting way to see a city, and I wonder why there are not more of them out there. They seem like an ideal solution to a lot of space issues in large cities.
While the camera was charging we grabbed a bite to eat in one of the Excalibur’s cheaper restaurants, and then we hit the road again. Eaden and Eldrik had told us about the amazing fountain shows the Bellagio puts on outside it’s front doors, and as dusk was falling, this was our destination. We decided to walk on the opposite side of the street, this time, but it turned out to be much less interesting as there was a lot of construction on that side and most of the walk was through scaffolding.
The fountain show was breathtaking, however, and well worth the walk. Eaden and Eldrik had told us to watch for the ducks, and sure enough, there they were, placidly paddling around between shows. Even though the entire pond erupts every fifteen minutes, they still seem surprised when it happens. I guess, ponds like this are scarce in the desert, huh? We sat through two shows (at night it seems as if they do a song every fifteen minutes or so), explored Caesar’s Palace a little and then made our way back. On the way, we stopped for a drink in the Planet Hollywood Casino. Both Chris and I were a little overwhelmed by the place, and we didn’t stay long. It seems more like a dance club than a casino in atmosphere, complete with thumping music and burlesque dancers on poles and girls in lingerie dealing cards at the tables. Really, not our style.
In fact, the blatant sexuality of the entire strip was really uncomfortable for me. As you walk along, there are dozens and dozens of people handing out little cards with naked women on them; prostitute trading cards. Thankfully, Eaden and Eldrik had forewarned us of this little quirk, and I was vigilant in avoiding eye contact. Another thing I noticed: you know how at bus stops they sometimes have little dispensers with free catalogues for things like apartment rentals, real estate, used cars, etc? Well, in Vegas, they have them with catalogues for prostitutes. Just so surreal. Last night, after Chris had crashed for the night and I was sick of trying to connect to the weak wireless signals our computer could see, I went for a before-bed smoking stroll and was propositioned. Right outside the hotel! Really made me uncomfortable, and I’m not sure now what I mumbled as I rushed back inside. It’s just another world. But I digress.
Finally arriving back at the hotel, it was time to gamble! My favourite table game has always been Let It Ride Poker, a game I am very familiar with from hours spent at the Casino in Hull, Quebec. The basic premise of the game, you put three bets on the table (table minimum in this case was $5 a bet) and receive three cards while the dealer has two face down on the table. You look at your cards, and if you don’t like them, you can pull back one of your bets. The dealer flips over one of his cards, and you have the option to pull back another bet. The dealer flips over his second card and then pays out according to what hand you have combining your three cards and the dealer’s two. The lowest winning hand is a pair of 10’s or better. The payout is: pair = 1 x your bet, two pair = 2 x your bet, three of a kind = 3 x your bet, etc. It’s a fun, unintimidating game because you’re playing against the house, not against your fellow players, so there’s a lot of friendly bantering amongst the players, and people actually get excited for you if you win.
Why the involved explanation? Well, this Let It Ride featured some bonus additions that I did
n’t understand. Besides the three normal bets, there was a 3 card bonus bet and a $1 five card bonus bet. The 3 card bonus pays out a ratio based on what you get in the three cards the dealer gives you. (pair = 1x your bet, straight = 3 x your bet, flush = 6 x your bet, etc.). The five card bonus is simply a flat dollar amount you get paid if you make certain hands. Now, I’m terrified of making dumb mistakes with games I’m unfamiliar with as gamblers are usually pretty unforgiving to newcomers (read: noobs), so instead of going with my gut and playing a game I enjoy, Chris and I headed for the slots. Having seen Eaden kick some serious butt on the 1 cent slots when we visited with them in Arizona, we decided to try the same. We each put in twenty bucks and while Chris played for a long time on that twenty, I busted almost immediately. I should have known better. Slots have always had it out for me. After Chris finally busted, I convinced him to accompany me back to the tables.
After watching the game for a while to f
igure out what this whole “bonus bet” thing was all about, I sat in. I converted $60 into chips with the intention of quitting if I drop to 40. Luckily, I played for quite a while on just that $20. I was never up by more than 15 dollars, but as often happens with Let It Ride I hit enough “no brainers” (a pair of 10’s or better in the three cards dealt to you so you can let all three bets ride for a guaranteed payout and perhaps hit a 3 of a kind, Full House, etc,.) to keep myself going for a good 40 minutes. It was a LOT of fun. Chris was tempted to sit in as well, but it was late and he said he was content just to watch.
Alas, it WAS getting really late. We used up our free drink vouchers we’d received on check in and then headed to bed. Chris fell asleep immediately, I tried to get internet and then had my run in with the “escort girl”. All in all, it was a very full day, full of new experiences. I think it was a good way to cap off our trip. From this point forward we’re just going to be pushing as hard as possible to get home. Really, though, I’m about ready for our adventures to end. Chris had told me that you reach a point on vacation where you just know it’s time to go home, and I’m about there.
