Vegas, Baby, Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada, wow, wow, wow. There isn't much more that I could imagine to be in Vegas than there was. The things people dressed up as and performed for tips was wild. My friend Janyne is currently living in Vegas with her aunt and uncle. She has goals to be a aquarist and take care of the sea creatures at one of the big casinos, in which most have mini aquariums. My other friend, Laney, drove from Santa Cruz, CA to spend the weekend with us. Janyne, Laney and I worked together in Alaska as observers (yes, more Alaskan observer friends). Brian and I kept the camper at a KOA next to a casino north of the downtown. Janyne's family are frequent visitors of the Silverton Casino and she had a few nights to spend at their hotel. The whole weekend went about as fast as R.E.M.'s lyrics to "It's the End of the World".

We saw a mermaid, bears, Where's Waldo? and magicians. We walked downFreemont Street drinking meter drinks filled with frozen daiquiris and margaritas. We gambled, mostly on black jack, and it left us only wanting to play more. We visited the Strip and saw the Welcome to Vegas sign. We admired the Golden Nugget, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Luxor, Excaliber, Mirage, the Venetian and Caesar's Palace casinos. We played beer pong on the street and took hamburger shots. We rode around the High Roller ferris wheel and enjoyed the city lights. We watched the water show at the Bellagio to the sound of the Beatles. We drank bootleg Corona's and played black jack on the street. We stayed out late and slept in late. We did some other touristy things too. We drove through a sea of solar panels in the Mojave Desert on our way to see the Grapevine Canyon, famous for it's petroglyphs left by Prehistoric Indians. We played hacky-sack and ate Lays potato chips and drank tall boys around the tail gate. Lastly, we hung out with the Pawn Stars crew at the infamous Pawn Shop (not the real casting crew, but still) and we saw where Elvis, Bon Jovi and Judy Garland all tied the knot.

Janyne had to work on Sunday so Laney and Brian and I drove to see the Hoover Dam. We checked it out from the bridge above and from the dam below. We bid farewell to Laney Bird at Janyne's place of work, Cactus Joe's, after picking out our new favorite house pets, as she had to be back for work on Monday. Brian and I stayed an extra night to recoup and reorganize. We cooked out and then went bowling and Janyne spent the night. We said goodbye in the morning and left with farm fresh eggs.

I somehow lost half of my pictures from this crazy adventure. I must have made a mistake importing them on my computer but I can't entirely be sure (ARGH%$^#!) but we will always have the memories.

Next Stop: Joshua Tree National Park, CA