Vegas, Baby!

From our frigid campsite in NM we traveled to its polar opposite: Las Vegas, NV, a city warmed by brilliant neon and the fervent hopes of irrational gamblers. We stayed with Julia's sister in an impressive gated subdivision filled with sandstone-colored houses that looked nearly the same. Still, we had a great time.

The early evening featured tunnel crawling, Spiderman fighting, and watching dinosaurs on TV with Julia's two itty-bitty, adorable nephews. We moved from there on to much-needed showers, and an equally as-needed dinner. Finally, around 10pm, we were ready for the Strip.

We took advantage of the free parking at the Bellagio to start our journey among the throngs of tourists and cardsharks. We were very impressed by the large topiaries in the forms of giant pandas, a huge ox, and various other Chinese-themed imagery. From the Belagio, we traveled to Paris, where our luck did not seem so good. We were definitely taken aback by how different the atmosphere in Paris seemed from the Bellagio, and then again at the Planet Hollywood casino. Each was very intentional at catering to a specific clientele, and making them feel comfortable. We ended our tour of both high-end and somewhat seedy casinos in the Imperial Palace, probably more on the latter side of the spectrum. There we found $5 blackjack tables and, much to the group's delight, celebrity look-alike dealers. Over the course of the night, both Michael Jackson and Toby Keith paused their card dealing and took the stage in order to harangue the midnight gamblers with their hit songs. Michael was fairly good; Toby was decidedly not. By the end of the night, our two blackjack fiends, Julia and Sara, were both up money. Tara and Rachel tried one slot machine, once, but to no avail. We left the casino in good, though exhausted, spirits, after a fantastic night of people watching and playing the odds.