Days 18-19: Vegas

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Miles Traveled: 0


(Acknowledgments: Tom Wible contributed to the making of this post)
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UPDATE:  Ok, I guess some things that happen in Vegas don't have to stay in Vegas, so I'll give a short rundown of the couple days there.

Friday, August 20 - Saturday, August 21 (and a little bit of Sunday, August 22)

Relaxing on the moving sidewalk

Tom's flight had already landed in Vegas hours before I finished up at Zion and started my 3 hour drive to meet up with him.  In that time he managed to make himself a mini expert in the area by walking around multiple casinos, watching the Belagio fountain show 4 times, taking a nap in Caesar's Palace's Sports Book, refilling his Sbarro cup 6 times, and winning a dollar in video blackjack.

Sippin some Long Island's on the Strip

Eventually I made it to Bally's, checked in, and met up with Tom.  We were both exhausted so we took a group nap while we waited for Mark, who had worked a full day just outside of San Diego before driving into Vegas.  He got in at around 10 pm, and we immediately hit up an eatery in our hotel that had $2 hot dogs, and the bar next door which had $3 beers (who said everything in Vegas is crazy expensive?).  We played some blackjack in the next door casino, Paris, and then decided to walk the strip for a bit.  We found an outdoor bar area that served mixed drinks in giant souvenir glasses and found out that the $12 drink is reduced to $6 for all refills.  What a bargain.  One Long Island Iced Tea later (I always remember my roots), and everyone was feeling great as we continued around the strip, making stops at MGM Grand, Press Your Luck slot machines, and New York, New York (remembering my roots some more).  At no point in our trip around the strip or back to the room did anyone pass out nor start to randomly crave reuben sandwiches and soup, and I didn't take any pictures of them doing this. The ceiling was not leaking all over anyone's leg, and you definitely can't request copies of these pictures which may or may not be saved on my hard drive right now.

Atop the Stratosphere

On Saturday, Tom and I spent a quality day at the Paris pool which was quite lovely and was right next to the giant Eiffel Tower.  Mark spent some quality time napping and playing blackjack.  We met up at 5ish to wait in line for the Belagio dinner buffet.  It took us awhile to get in, but it was scrumptious.  We then took the metro to the north portion of the strip.  We first stopped at Sahara for dollar blackjack and some roulette (the only game all weekend I made some money on).  Then we headed to the Stratosphere and did two of the rides (Big Shot and Insanity) off the top of the tower overlooking the rest of the strip, which was pretty cool.  Then we got some dollar beers at Sahara, played some blackjack at Bally's, and then walked the strip some more to cash in on our $6 refills.  It had been a pretty tiring day so we relaxed in some random premium Planet Hollywood seating and people watched the drunk people for awhile before heading back to the hotel.

The Vegas portion of my trip went by fast.  We all lost some money, as almost everyone in Vegas does, but it was a great time.  It was good seeing some familiar faces again after spending the past 5+ days on my own, and the afternoon lounging at the pool was especially relaxing after days spent hiking.  Sunday morning we gathered our stuff and checked out.  Tom and I were headed to Hoover Dam as a sidestop before heading to LA.  Mark had work in the morning and wanted to head directly to San Diego. Either way, I realized the road trip was reaching its end. Also, I shaved Vacation Beard.  Recruiting season is just around the corner.

Final picture of Vacation Beard