Goin' to Vegas
 

Leaving at 6:00 AM tomorrow to spend three days in Vegas with a friend. Staying at the Mirage. This time tomorrow night, I'll be watching Cirque du Soleil's "Love", their newest show, which is based on Beatles music.

I'll have pictures when I return. Can't wait. Haven't been anywhere in ages.

Right the fuck on... you deserve a trip.

ooh, yeah, Vegas, baby!

Hope you have lots o'fun!

I WANT to go to Vegas!!

Have a blast 'spode...do something really naughty and take pics, then tell us about it.

Oh my parents are going to Vegas and Los Angeles for their Ruby Wedding anniversary - leaving on 14 Feb. Any tips/ recommendations/ personal appearances by Dwellars would be appreciated :)

Have a wonderful time Spode & Selene.

(I don't think he's going with Selene, SG)

Hope you are having a great time 'Splode...

Oops, yes - just reread it.

Be sure to visit the Blue Moon Resort when you go.
It's a great, relaxing time and the view is always great! ;-)

"What happens in Vegas..........." Have fun!

That isn't like the Oyster Bar, is it, Shel?

I'm here in the Mirage. 21st floor. My nose is bleeding. I've already planned which dive I'm going to do if there's a fire.

There cannot possibly be, outside of Bahrain, be a more incedibly, deeply, depressingly artificial place on the face of the planet. I feel creepy just being here. Must...find...Pagan...friendly...location.

No, I'm gonna have a blast. You longer-term dwellars will remember, possibly, a post I made three or so years ago, the one about reconnecting with a HS girlfriend? It is she with whom I am spending the next two days.

I'm excited beyond words, yet filled with trepidation. I'm nervous. I've already spent $50, and I've been here for an hour...airport shuttle, two beers from the minibar, and 24 hours of 'Net access for $12.99. Fucking *nothing* is free in this town.

Needless to say, I probably won't be doing a lot of posting from the room. I have better things to do. But, there will be much reporting after the fact.

The best part of the trip so far? Flying across the Rockies out of Denver. Beautiful, even from 38,000 feet.

Get the hell out of your room, dude! Unless you aren't alone, in which case, get out of here!

I have some spectacular photos taken from the plane from when we left Vegas of the strip (during the day), Lake Mead, various desert shots, and on over the mountains. I agree, that was a really really cool part of the trip. When we flew in at night, and I wasn't thinking about taking pics...but those would have been cool to.

beer is free at the tables. or the slots. or video poker. sit down, enjoy the game, enjoy the scenery, and enjoy the drinks. when you feel like you are getting one over on the casino... get up, you've had enough to drink.

Everything is put there to overwhelm your senses, create a massive spectacle of things you would never see elsewhere. Don't take it seriously. Don't be like those killjoy people who hate Christmas lights. This is the biggest Christmas light display in the world, and it's not for Christmas it's 24x7x365 and its only intent is to shock and awe you. Lose the attitude and just be shocked and awed.

Don't ever be that guy who says "oh fuck they even put gondolas in the fake canals". Just don't be that guy. They put gondolas in the fake canals. How fucking cool is that?

I thought the fear was sposed to come before the loathing...

Have a good time... I saw the Love show a couple of months ago -- very cool. Be sure to go to the Revolution bar (just a left out of the Love theater entrance) and play with the tables.

It's a gay, clothing optional resort. ;-)

Just make sure when you leave the town's still standing. We're going for 10 nights in May.

Here are my Vegas links

Restaurant.com - Not a Vegas-only link, but a great place to buy restaurant gift certificates for Vegas. Get on their mailing list first, because every other week they discount the certs %40-70. That means you can buy a $25 gift cert (more like a coupon since you have to spend a matching amount) for $3 instead of $10. I bought a $100 gift cert for a steak place to use when I get there. Last year we used a $75 gift cert we paid $9 for.

http://www.lasvegas-nv.com/las-vegas-coupons.htm - printable Vegas coupons

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...Las_Vegas.html - Virtual Tourist Las Vegas

http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/index.jsp - Official Site. Let's you build and save itineraries

http://www.igoshows.com/ - Las Vegas Show Reviews

http://www.vegas4locals.com/coupons.html - Another printable coupon site

http://www.lakemeadcruises.com/desertprincess.html - Lake Mead Cruise, They have dinner, brunch, and lunch cruises. We did a dinner cruise and it was great. Don't forget the coupon at http://www.lasvegas-nv.com/lake-mead-cruises-coupon.htm

http://www.lvmonorail.com/ - Monorail Info
http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat/ - Bus info

When you get there check out tix4tonight for 1/2 price show and buffet tickets.

Hope this helps.

Have fun Elspode and thanks for the tips Rich. We are going for three nights the end of March

Get off the strip, too, and be sure to scramble over boulders at Red Rock Canyon, go see the Hoover Dam, walk a trail out at Lake Meade, etc, etc.

Whatever you do while out in the desert, never pet the fuzzy cacti. They look cute and harmless, but don't, for the love of god, ever touch them. The soft looking fuzz is composed of nanotube-like needles that effortlessly sink into the skin and don't come out for weeks.

I paid $30 for the two of us to ride in the gondolas in the *indoor* fake canal. We had a female gondolier, which offended Liz, who was rather hoping for a more buff young male pilot, but the lass had a great voice and sang us three songs, including one of my mother's favorites.

The Cirque du Soleil show "Love" was indescribeable...almost. I felt like I was on drugs. Amazing, just amazing. Also notable are the dancing waters at the Bellagio. This town just fucking *reeks* of technological magic. Still, I'm glad to be getting out of here today. Sitting at McCarran now, sucking down free wi-fi and killing time until my flight. I miss my wife and my dogs and cats, and I am *so* done with this crazy ass town. I didn't gamle *one dime*, but I have no idea how much I've spent...meals, taxis, drinks...oh my god. $3.50 for a bottle of water?!! WTF?

More later...tired and not too profound. LR, I ran my camera battery down and didn't bring the charger, so I'm gonna miss the pics of Lake Mead on the way back East. It was on the wrong side of the plane on the way in. Damn.

yeah, it's a nice place to visit, but . . . it would be okay to live there. Just not on the Strip!

you should try visiting LV with a few hundred heavily modified people (the Association of Professional Piercers convention). Oh boy, what a ride!

Oh, modified with metal and ink, as opposed to the locals that are modified with silicone and paint.

yep. But that counts too.

My cousin lived and worked in Vegas for several years. He said back in the neighborhoods, it is dark--no street lights or even porch lights in most places, nothing.

Undoubtedly Vegas' idea of energy conservation. Can't afford to light the neighborhoods when there's casinos to make visible from space.

Downloading the pics from my camera now. A little processing and resizing, and I'll post a few.

I got back into KCI at 10:15 last night. It was snowing like a bitch, and it took me an hour to get home from there on the snow packed highways. I can't really complain, though. Liz took a "luxury bus" from LA and back again. When I was sitting in the plane in Denver, my phone rang. It was Liz...seems the alleged luxury bus had broken down in the middle of the California desert somewhere between Barstow and Bakersfield. They were going to have to send a replacement bus from LA. She probably didn't get back home until 6:00 this morning. I'm going to call her shortly, as she has to go on duty at LA County Hospital in 90 minutes.

Third circle of hell, I'd say.

Liz got home at 2:30 AM PST. Bad enough, but coulda been worse.

Here's a pic of Liz at the Mirage pool...I don't think anyone will call me out if I say that she's one damn fine 49 year old woman. Why she has any interest in me at all remains a mystery...

Vegas is unreal...here's a couple of shots that prove it.

Lennon was definitely *not* thinking of a bar in a casino called "Revolution" when he wrote the song, or so I believe.

Even if he was, would he have ever imagined there'd be a nightclub claiming to be Taoist?

No, really, they apparently want you to believe there's some convergence between Vegas and Tao...

Did I mention that this woman is incredibly hot? Standing in the piazza of The Venetian, overlooking the Strip...

But Patrick!?, you cry. Aren't you in at least one picture?!!

Yeah. Sorry, but I am. Here I am, jamming with the wax version of the Blue Man Group.

Hey, I know! How about another pic with that fine damn woman who met you there in Vegas?!!

'K.

Liz standing in front of the original lamp from The Aladdin...

I liked Downtown a lot better than The Strip... more honest, more regular, more like I grew up with in movies.

Okay, they added the big fucking LED display thing, but it was fun, too.

Cesar's Palace has grown beyond all reason...it is truly the finest example of American excess that a mere mortal can conceive.

So...I was trying to pose myself as though I was tweaking the titty of this headless goddess.

Cesar's Palace is excess beyond all reason. The Bellagio is that, but with an artistic flair beyond all comprehension.

Here's an obelisk made of quartz crystal slices, with quartz crystal balls at the support points, internally illuminated. Strangely, this was not actually for sale, although I supposed it could have been bought. Everything else there was available.

Those of you who think Vegas is harmless need to heed this warning.

I'm a little surprised "Pagans" aren't on the guy's Warning poster. I guess he didn't know you were in town. :)

Anyway, neat pictures! I love the one of the Bellagio garden. The floating red Chinese lanterns make the whole thing seem surreal. Does the image change on the giant LED screen, or is it just cherry blossoms all the time?

oh, the image changes constantly. at least that's what I've heard--in the several times I've been, I've never made it downtown.

Elspode--looks like you had a wonderful time! The pics are great!

I saw the LED display a few years ago. (Everyone was looking up and at first we had no idea what they were looking at.) I think it started with airplanes flying over...looked real. But there were all kinds of things going on. I thought it was great!

Great pics, Els! Glad you had a great time.

P.S. "Rebellious Women" on that guy's sign. I guess we Cellar women are in BIG trouble! ;)

Hey!! I live on an almost direct path between Barstow and Bakersfield, and it isn't the third circle of hell, although Bakersfield might be, at least the part where the amtrak station is

No kidding. One can do that at Disney, but try fight the facade in Vegas and the strip quickly becomes an ugly, unforgiving place to the visitor. Fail to embrace the fabricated world and you'll be lost to the curbside collections of porn adverts, cigarette butts, and plastic booze cups that swirl with the traffic.

"Yes, that is a boat. In a swimming pool. Inside a shopping mall."

Sign guy is *advertising*, not protesting. Got a little City of Las Vegas Chamber of Economic and Sexual Commerce sticker on the other side of the sign.