Boulder Beach Campground, Lake Mead Recreation Area, NV
We got up before sunrise and our original plan was to do some hiking in Death Valley. Looking at the day's itinerary we decided to "hike" the Vegas strip instead. We thought it would be fun to walk from Mandalay to the Fashion Show Mall then cross the street and head back. The only rule was we had to enter each and every hotel and casino. What we didn't factor in was getting lost in the maze of casino madness and all the stairs up and down. It took us 6 hrs and we think we did 10 miles.
At first we vowed to skip all escalators and only walk the stairs. By the end we were scouting out each and every escalator as the strip kept changing levels and forced pedestrians to meander through obscure passageway in the casinos. We got lost in the Mirage for at least 45 minutes somewhere in the bowels of the convention center. Gawd....
Before we left Death Valley we did manage to walk to Zabriskie Point. We were the only ones there. So cool to see the badlands in the early morning light. We also had fun taking numerous selfies of our shadows. Yeah, we're easily entertained.
Back to the strip...Our favorite hotel was the Aria with the bicycles hanging from the ceiling--go figure. We also liked the Bellagio, but more for sentimental reasons. It was the first trip Ned and I went on together about 15 years ago. Ned courted me with a trip to Vegas, tickets to Cirque du Soleil and a friend's wedding on Mt. Charleston. It was my first trip to Las Vegas. I was underwhelmed with Vegas, but smitten with Ned.
The canals at the Venetian, the roller coaster at NY-NY, the Eiffel Tower and the musical fountains were kitschy fun. We were not so much impressed by all the high end shopping malls. Note: this observation by someone who doesn't own any name brand clothing...unless I inherit if from Megan.
The people watching today was pretty crazy. Of course there were also countless Elvis impersonators wondering the streets too.
On the strip is the only Bean to Bar chocolate maker in the state of Nevada. Ned had met the owners at one of the chocolate conferences so of course we had to check it out.
It felt good to finally sit after about 4 hours of walking at this point and do a tasting. They used some of the same varieties of beans we use so the direct comparison was interesting. (Trying to be impartial, but I think Ned is the far superior chocolate maker.) The young kid giving us the tasting was really sweet. It was also fun to see their chocolate making lab. If you get a chance check out Hexx in the Paris hotel/casino.
Walking thru the Bellagio and admiring the incredible flower displays. For the record we never gambled or stopped for any adult libation. I'm pretty sure we violated some Vegas code.
We also really enjoyed all the interesting sculptures. Love the seats in the top picture wth the fountain display in the back.
Ned was fascinated with the metal craftsmanship of the woman on the lower left. It was huge at least 40 ft.
The bird was made entirely from flowers!
After a very exhausting day, we were thrilled that tonight's camping spot was only about 40 miles away. We're staying at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Still in Nevada, but super close to the Hoover Dam.
Home for tonight. I was expecting us to be camping in dirt with no trees. We were pleasantly surprised to get such a sweet spot. It felt good to get back to nature after so many neon signs, casino noise, crazy people and over the top hotels. Time to polish off the red wine we opened the first night and make a batch of popcorn.
Posted with Blogsy
