Long day in Las Vegas

This sure was a long day for us here in Las Vegas today with a 7:30am wake up time.  We developed a leak in the motorhome on Monday and when I went outside to check it I noticed a mobile RV repairman was working on the RV next to us.  I asked him if he could check the leak when he got a chance and he came right over.  He couldn't repair it on Monday so said he would be back at 8:00am on Tuesday to do the job.

Sure enough, he arrived right at 8:00am and started working on the problem.  It was a bear to fix since it was behind the bathroom sink next to the shower.  The hot water line came to a T behind the sink and both outlet sections were leaking with a steady flow.  So, 4 3/4 hours later he declared the job finished.  There is no way in the world that I could have crawled around on the floor and reached way back into the sink area to make the repair.  So, big bucks later the job was finished and now we don't have the leak.  Enough said about that painful experience.

We decided to wait for the wind to die down from 40mph gusts and stay a couple days longer in Vegas.  It was another trip out to the M Casino for dinner this time, which was basically the same food as lunch, except more costly.  They do provide wine and beer with the meal so we made up for the extra charge by having a few adult beverages.

Gerry and I played the slots after dinner and she won $25 while I lost $20.  At least we came out $5 ahead for the time spent on the slots.  Gerry was playing 20 cents a turn and won for a while and then started a slow process of losing most of what she had won plus a little more.  I convinced her to play a dollar at a time and she hit on the 2nd time and won $32.  That was it for the slots.

The Bellagio Hotel & Casino was the next stop for the night and we snared a parking space right next to the casino entrance.  Our mission was to look at the Conservatory decorations.  They do a fantastic job on the decorations and use tons of flowers.  Rather than describe them, I am enclosing a number of pictures.  It was difficult to get good pictures since about 7 busloads of Japanese tourists were in the Conservatory while we were there. 

Mr Froggy

Tree house with fish aquarium inside

Mr snail tooling along

Another view of tree house

Flowers and kites for spring

Notice the garden shovel on the left of photo

Gerry -  I had to wait for the crowd to thin out to get a clear shot.

 We took a last drive down the Las Vegas strip for this visit and it was slow going;  bumper to bumper for blocks and lots of gawkers slowing down traffic.

Eiffel Tower

 Our next destination was Fremont St in the old downtown area.  They have worked to make this a nice destination and while it does look better, the crowds there seemed to be drunker, rowdier and a lot younger.  We walked up and down the area and visited a few casinos, listened to the band playing, watched the light show and decided to call it a night.  It was pushing 11:30pm by then and we were worn out.

BTW:  They still slots on Fremont St that take quarters and seem to pay out a little better.

Fremont St West view

Fremont St East view

While we know Las Vegas isn't for everyone, we always have a great time here and look forward to our next trip.  We've been here 16 days and could stay longer but we have reservations in Camp Verde starting Thursday.  Memorial Day weekend is coming up and it's always a good idea to have a place to park ahead of time since so many people will be camping out.

That was our day and it's now 1:00am on Wednesday morning and I have to be up by 8:00am to get ready for the drive out of here.  Goodnight all.

Redbox Movie TIme

Redbox was kind enough to send me offers via email the last couple days offering me a 2 for 1 rental and then another rental for $1.00 off.  It was too good to pass up so we located a Redbox nearby and went down and rented:

Odd Thomas
Gravity
Elysium

We had read the Odd Thomas book by Dean Koontz and enjoyed it and wondered how they could make a movie of it.  We were pleasantly surprised how they presented the creatures and the movie followed the book closely.  It was an interesting movie to watch but may not suit everyone's taste.

Gravity was next on the list and Gerry has been wanting to see the movie since it came out.  For one reason or the other we never got a chance to see it in the theaters and finally found a Redbox that had it in stock.  We were both underwhelmed by the movie even though we both like Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.  (Not his politics, but do like his acting.)  I wish I could say something good about the movie other than the special effects, but that isn't possible.  I would imagine everyone has seen the movie, so our likes won't enter into any lost sales.

Elysium will be watched on Sunday and we are looking forward to seeing it.  I hope it doesn't disappoint us like Gravity did.

So, for $1.52 we rented three recent movies and are 1 for 2 so far.  Not bad.  And, in the true movie tradition, we even had popcorn to eat while we watched them.

It was very hot here today with temps around 103 degrees and that was a factor in us hanging around the motorhome.  Not very exciting, but there are days that.

One exciting thing we saw was the running of the Preakness with California Chrome winning the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown.  We both hope the horse wins at the Belmont and completes the triple crown.  I remembered the race was on and turned the TV on 1 minute before the race began.  They only had 3-4 horses to get in the gate when we started watching it.  Close shave.

It was an enjoyable day for us and started out great with a call from our grandson Grant.  He had some exciting news to tell us and we will wait to divulge it until all aunts and grandparents have been notified.  He was excited and wanted to let us know, so called early in the morning.  

That was it for us today here in Las Vegas.  Hope you had a great day also.

Day of rest & 103 degrees

Gerry and I can go full blast for a couple days and then it is time to take a day off.  Today was an off day for us.  We worked a little around the motorhome and then drove the 2 miles to Costco to pick up some needed items.  As usual, we wound up spending more than we thought we would.  That seems to be the case in Las Vegas, spending more than planned.

We did meet Bob & Ihsan yesterday for lunch at the M buffet.  At $15.99 for the lunch buffet it is a bargain here in Las Vegas.  They have a very good selection of food and it is for the most part very tasty.  We also like that they include beer and wine in the price.  We've paid $7.50 for a beer in other places, so when you factor that in, it's a bargain.

Gerry managed to escape me and hide in the slot machines and continued in her quest to win a fortune.  Once again, the fortune eluded her, but she had a great time trying to win it.  I play to win while she plays for the fun of it.  She wound up playing in her first slot tournament, but missed the cutoff for prizes.

Ihsan also ran off and played the slots, so Bob and I sat at a couple machines and talked non stop for 2 1/2 hours rehashing things from working together over all the years from the 70s and 80s.  We kept jogging each other's memories of coworkers from the past.  I think I am going to have to write down their names so I don't forget them again.

I was talking to a neighbor at the RV park and he mentioned this section of town is always warmer than other parts.  Just my luck.  He had set up a fan outside of his unit and had it running, pushing the 100+ degree heat toward him.  We had a water outage this morning and I didn't realize he had a mister on the fan until I noticed later than it was wet in front of his fan.  That was my clue that we had water again.

Well, if you have read this far and expected something interesting or exciting, then I am afraid you are disappointed.  Saturday will be a more interesting day since we are planning on visiting some of the high end casinos and their shops.  It is nice to see $10,000 watches in cases even if we can't buy one.  That is as close to something that costly that we will encounter.

I couldn't publish the blog without including at least one picture.  The Luxor Hotel/Casino is shaped like a pyramid and they have this very powerful light shining straight up into the sky.  It is visible all over Las Vegas and it is visible from space.  That is one powerful flashlight.

Luxor Hotel/Casino

This is what it looks like during daylight hours.

Luxor Hotel/casino

That was our day here in the heat of Las Vegas, how was yours? 

Jersey Boys and Paris

We got up very early in the morning to drive down to the "strip" and pick up some tickets to see the show "Jersey Boys".  I stopped for 10 seconds in the bus pull off so Gerry could get in line for the tickets and then parked in the MGM garage while she bought them.  The policeman standing nearby started chewing Gerry out about parking in the bus pull out.  No bus in sight, but that didn't matter.  Thank God he didn't arrest that dangerous great grandmother to make her an example how serious of an offense it was.

Gerry bought the tickets and gave me a call to pick her up.  This time I drove down a narrow street near MGM and waited for her.  No policeman in sight so it worked out fine.

We walked around the area near the High Roller ferris wheel and found this nice little fountain.  Of course, I had to coax Gerry into posing for a picture in that relaxing area.  The wind was blowing and she had to watch the spray or get wet.

This is a picture of the ceiling between the Bally's & Paris Casinos.  We were sitting near another fountain and Gerry looked up at the beautiful ceiling.  We had a 15 minute wait to take advantage of Happy Hour at a bar/restaurant in the walkway.  It was worth it since the food was very good and the drinks were 2 for 1.
 

 Gerry had already managed to donate some funds to Bally's casino and got tired of waiting for the cocktail waitress to come by and left there to walk next door to Paris casino.  The Bally's casino and hallways looked worn out and badly in need of a major upgrading.

Gerry took her huge fortune of pennies and walked next door to the Paris casino to add to her fortune.  She did manage to win here and I dragged her out screaming & kicking.  I don't think I will do that again.

 Paris casino looked nicer and the walkways had small shops along the way in a French setting.  The area we saw looked nice and was in big contrast to Bally's.

Paris Hotel walkway

Paris Casino & Hotel

 We were at the Paris to watch the "Jersey Boys" show on stage.  It is an adaptation of the rise of the Four Seasons group from their earlier days and all the problems they went through over the years.  They do use foul language in the show, but I would imagine it was typical language they would have used in those days.  Nothing we didn't hear back in that era and now it is common in the movies and cable TV.

Wikipedia
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before the Beatles. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. In 1960, the group known as the Four Lovers evolved into the Four Seasons, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio (formerly of the Royal Teens) on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals.
The legal name of the organization is the Four Seasons Partnership, formed by Gaudio and Valli after a failed audition in 1960. While singers, producers, and musicians have come and gone, Gaudio and Valli remain the group's constant (with each owning fifty percent of the act and its assets, including virtually all of its recording catalog). Gaudio no longer plays live, leaving Valli the only member of the group from its inception who is currently touring.


The Four Seasons (group members 1960–1966) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999^. They are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide.

The show started off slowly and we were wondering if we had spent our money wisely by coming to see them.  After 10-15 minutes they had set the stage and then we got a chance to see and hear them  sing a number of hit songs.  Gaudio was the writer and Frankie Valli was the lead singer of the group.  

It was nice hearing all their hit songs and learning about the rise in the music business.  Frankie Valli is 80 now and still performs. 

The show was good, but not the best one we have seen in Las Vegas.  We felt we got our moneys worth, but weren't overwhelmed by the group.  The theatre was full and they received numerous standing ovations, so I imagine most of the people loved the show.

Jersey Boys cast with Frankie Valli & Bob Gaudio -  London 2008

We gambled a little more in the Paris casino and then drove up and down the strip to see all the sights.  Buildings and people!  It wasn't too crowded on the road like times in the past, but the streets were full of people.  The High Roller was lit up at night.  We snapped a few photos of it as the colors changed constantly.

It was quite late when we got back to the motorhome and we were both wiped out.  It was a long day and we accomplished a lot, so it goes in the books as a great day in Las Vegas for us.

Did any of you win any money at the casinos or see a great play?  

The High Roller - Las Vegas

We have been planning on riding the High Roller for a couple days, but the wind was fairly strong and we put it off.  Later we found out that they close the High Roller when winds are in the 35mph range.

What, you ask is the High Roller.  It is a 550 ft high ferris wheel with 28 cars that can hold up to 40 people.  I don't think it would be much fun if there were 40 people on board since it would be very crowded.

The ride is in operation from 12 noon until 2 AM and the cost is $24.95 during the day and $34.95 at night.  You only go around one revolution and it takes around 30 minutes.  The wheel doesn't stop for loading or unloading and you have to be quick on your feet to enter the pods.  The night ride seems to be the most popular since you can see all the lights on the strip and all over the Las Vegas area.  We took the daytime trip so we could get some photos.

Spiderwork on the cables holding it together

Tires for the cars

Taken from a long block away

Entrance/exit area

Trailing pod

Proof that I rode the ferris wheel.

Highest point.  Note the cars on the ground.

Our car is at he bottom of the wheel

Docking area

Blue lights at night.

A few minutes later they changed to white lights.

 When we were almost finished with the ride it reminded us of the cable car ride we took in Rio de Janerio many years ago.  The wheel moves so slowly that you can't feel the motion.  In order to see the changes you have to focus on a building or an object.  Since it was all enclosed, it wasn't the same as an outdoor ferris wheel.  It wasn't nearly as exciting since the pods don't rock like a ferris wheel seat does.  That is a good thing in my eyes.

We enjoyed the ride and next time we will try the night ride to see all the lights in town and around the city.  

The area around the High Roller has a number of shops and restaurants.  One common thread running through the area is that you will need to bring lots of cash or credit cards if you want to spend any time in the area called LINQ. 

Website for the High Roller.  High Roller website

We did some other things today and I will write about that later.  It is after midnight and I am tired.  That was our day, how was yours?