Greetings from Canyon Cafe: Chapter One: Vegas

Hello out there! It's been a while so we've got a lot to catch up on. Andrew and I are just sitting in the Canyon Cafeteria at the Grand Canyon National Park in AZ. We are waiting for the line at the salad bar to wind down so figured we'd boot up!

Last you really heard we left Zion en route to Las Vegas.

I'll start 'er off with the important details... we practically broke even. :) ;)! <3

After having roughed it for a little bit, the city of sin was looking like heaven. The drive from Zion was brutal. Thank god I remembered the episode of Man vs. Wild when Bear Grilles pees on his shirt and wrapped it around his head to keep cool. Andrew and I drove across the Mojave with no air conditioning, no pants, with soaked rags on our heads. Heat is becoming a huge participant on this journey. In the tent... Andrew, me, and heat. On the trail...Andrew, me, heat. Doing laundry...Andrew, me, heat. And especially in the car Andrew, me, and heat. I suppose I'd better get used to it. Texas is hot. But, like parents with kids at national parks I'll take any opportunity to escape it. So, when we arrived at our sweet digs at the far end of the strip (provided by Brian!!) I knew that we had to stay at least one more night.  Lucky for us we were able to.

I mean Vegas is Vegas right? For us is was much more a rest stop than a destination. Andrew and I were pretty exhausted from Zion so we spent a good amount of time just relaxing. Plus by the time we did get outside it was 110 outside, so we didn't need to add much to our activities list.

What I can tell you?

-Lunch buffet at the Bellagio- do it. It's so good.
- The Treasure Island sidewalk show is not how I remembered it. Think Pussy Cat Dolls meets the Odyssey. It was full of bad and inappropriate sexual innuendos and lines like " Are there any sexy sirens out there ready to PARTY!?" We shot a video of it but it was pretty long so I think we're gonna spare you. Don't waste your time.
-We spent one day at the theme park at Circus Circus. That whole end of the strip is pretty depressing. The rides were half empty and not very good.
-The monorail is pretty handy.
-Most importantly, no matter how much you think you do, you do not have the penny slots figured out. I know that most people know this, I did too, before I discovered the Goldfish game. I convinced myself I had figured out a winning strategy. Which I did!...for a while.

I was ready to leave Vegas. It was obvious she wasn't gonna give me anymore than she had. Our last stop was the Lunch Buffet at the Orleans. We happened to choose the 2 for 1 senior citizens lunch. I missed the Bellagio. I missed being ahead. It was time for us to leave.