Las Vegas
We arrived at the Excalibur, where we were to spend the night, at the wrong time - everyone seemed to have arrived (by plane from their luggage tags) at the same time. Even though we had booked, it took over half an hour waiting in line to get to the checkin desk. It was just like Disneyland (in more ways than one). It was somewhat startling for Rob's parents.
Once we had settled in and changed our clothes we hit the casinos. Well, we went for a walk to see some of the different casions. We looked around Luxor, a huge black glass pyramid set in an Egyptian theme - there was a Sphynx over the front entrance and fake Egyption sculptures in the lobby. At night a bright light shines up into the sky from the apex of the pyramid "just because they can".
We looked in New York, New York but it didn't seem as spectacular as we remembered from our first trip. The outside is still pretty. We looked in MGM Grand and saw the lions walking around. We look a walk along the 300 foot Brooklyn Bridge and had a look at the Statue of Liberty.
We ate dinner at the Hyatt Buffet, and had a 15 minute wait in line for it. Afterwards, we drove into Las Vegas downtown, and watched the Freemont Experience, but were disappointed that it only lit up half the length of the covered area and we were in the wrong half.
We then drove to Bellagios, and after admiring the interior we watched the amazing fountain/water spectacular twice. It was getting late, and whilst we might have been in Las Vegas where the night is life, we went back to Excalibur and to sleep in our 10th and 17th floor rooms.
Monday - Homeward Bound
We couldn't take Rob's parents to Las Vegas without them seeing the Venetian and the white tigers,
so we went there first thing. Rob's Mum had been to Venice and recognised some of the copies. We admired the gondolas in all their fakeness and walked across the road the the Mirage and took a look at the fish tank behind the checkin desk, the orchids in the indoor garden and then the white tiger, who was wandering about in his domain. We thought the white tiger needed some sunglassses or a bit less white in its display area because it seemed to be squinting from the glare of the morning sun on all the white surfaces.
We then drove out to Hoover Dam. The government is spending an extraordinary amount of money on the dam bypass
- there are a number of bridges leading up to the main one over the Colorado and it is going to take years to complete. Rob's parents went on a tour whilst Rob and Jo sweltered a little in the heat (~40°C) and checked out the souvenier stops which had been closed when we were there
previously. It was interesting how the water level had further dropped from our previous visit and the security had not changed a lot. We had an interesting talk with a guy who was one of the tour guides and who certainly liked talking to people; he made the story of the two bronze statues and what is an eternal calendar and sky snapshot in granite on the ground around them into quite a talk. His talk was more entertainment than information transfer.
From Hoover Dam we drove home. 1600 miles in 8 days, 1336 Photos.
We couldn't take Rob's parents to Las Vegas without them seeing the Venetian and the white tigers, 
so we went there first thing. Rob's Mum had been to Venice and recognised some of the copies. We admired the gondolas in all their fakeness and walked across the road the the Mirage and took a look at the fish tank behind the checkin desk, the orchids in the indoor garden and then the white tiger, who was wandering about in his domain. We thought the white tiger needed some sunglassses or a bit less white in its display area because it seemed to be squinting from the glare of the morning sun on all the white surfaces.
- there are a number of bridges leading up to the main one over the Colorado and it is going to take years to complete. Rob's parents went on a tour whilst Rob and Jo sweltered a little in the heat (~40°C) and checked out the souvenier stops which had been closed when we were there previously. It was interesting how the water level had further dropped from our previous visit and the security had not changed a lot. We had an interesting talk with a guy who was one of the tour guides and who certainly liked talking to people; he made the story of the two bronze statues and what is an eternal calendar and sky snapshot in granite on the ground around them into quite a talk. His talk was more entertainment than information transfer.