LAS VEGAS: MON MAR 7 2005
Monday was one of the best days of the trip for me. We got up early and took advantage of one of our free buffet coupons at the Imperial Palace. The food was pretty good compared to what I expected. I had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Then we loaded up the cars to drive out to the Valley of Fire, a state park about an hour north of Vegas on I-15.
It was really interesting to just drive through the barren terrain on the way out there. It's definitely not like the geography any of the places I've lived so far. Once we got to the exit, you're still not really sure where you are going, but then all of a sudden you start driving "down" and there's a whole new world down there, full of these bright red sandstone rocks. There are also many petroglyphs scattered among the rocks, left by Indians thousands of years ago. Some of the markings on the rocks are marked by signs and such, and others are just randomly scattered around. For the most part you are free to walk around and explore as you please. It was a lot of fun climbing around and trying to find ways to get from one point to the other. I felt like a little kid again. We spent a few hours there. It was a great time!!! The pictures also came out beautifully. I've included several below. Again, you can click the pic for a larger view.
Rock art by Mike, Young, and Jeremy
After we got back to the room Monday night, I went to try my hand again at craps. Some of my preferred dealers were there, so it felt like it would be a good day. I played for 5 hours at a hot table and picked up a lot of tips. I put in about $80 and I left with about $450 in profits. :-D It was definitely a lot of fun when you are winning!!! And of course the free rum & cokes were flowing the whole time.
That evening Dan, Perry, Young, and I walked around to some of the casinos to see them and the strip at night. The Venetian was very pretty, with great architecture, stylish lights, and canals on the outside. There are also Michaelangelo-esque paintings on the ceiling on the inside. :)
It was really interesting to just drive through the barren terrain on the way out there. It's definitely not like the geography any of the places I've lived so far. Once we got to the exit, you're still not really sure where you are going, but then all of a sudden you start driving "down" and there's a whole new world down there, full of these bright red sandstone rocks. There are also many petroglyphs scattered among the rocks, left by Indians thousands of years ago. Some of the markings on the rocks are marked by signs and such, and others are just randomly scattered around. For the most part you are free to walk around and explore as you please. It was a lot of fun climbing around and trying to find ways to get from one point to the other. I felt like a little kid again. We spent a few hours there. It was a great time!!! The pictures also came out beautifully. I've included several below. Again, you can click the pic for a larger view.
Rock art by Mike, Young, and Jeremy
After we got back to the room Monday night, I went to try my hand again at craps. Some of my preferred dealers were there, so it felt like it would be a good day. I played for 5 hours at a hot table and picked up a lot of tips. I put in about $80 and I left with about $450 in profits. :-D It was definitely a lot of fun when you are winning!!! And of course the free rum & cokes were flowing the whole time.
That evening Dan, Perry, Young, and I walked around to some of the casinos to see them and the strip at night. The Venetian was very pretty, with great architecture, stylish lights, and canals on the outside. There are also Michaelangelo-esque paintings on the ceiling on the inside. :)
