Thursday, Nov 21, 2024

The drive to Vegas was a basically uneventful 5 hours. Skies were exciting!

Pulled into Vegas to see some famous sites. It’s been over a decade since we have been here if you don’t count the overnight trip in a motorhome 3 years ago.

Got a room in the Strat for $50 so it seemed like the way to go! Then it was off to explore the city for the first time in well over a decade!

We explored the Neom Museum, a collection of a lot of the retired neon signs from the past!

Wouldn’t be a night in the Stratosphere Hotel without a trip up to the Top of the World! Views of the strip and the “Sphere” kept our cameras happy!

Then we called it a night. The next morning we were up in time for breakfast before the real reason we came this weekend…

We meet up with my nephew for lunch. Haven’t seen him for many years. It was fun to reconnect and catch up on how he’s doing. We find out he is a dealer in one of the large casinos on the strip. He is happy with what he is doing. We are happy for him and the people he has in his life.

We then check in to our next hotel. we will stay here for the rest of the weekend, the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort. Around sunset we cross the street to ride the Monorail to visit the Strip. The ride takes us right next to the Sphere. Who knew the pixels on the Sphere were the size of hockey pucks? We also get a view close up of the Flamingo (That I stayed in decades ago). The Flamingo is on the short list to be demolished to make way for a new baseball stadium!

Views of the Strip renovated into a Formula 1 Race Track are eye opening! Getting a view of the occasional race car practicing and qualifying are fun. Security is such that getting photos of it are virtually impossible. Guards keep you moving and views are blocked by walls. We come across Homeland Security Officers and they are conversational and fun to chat with.

We head back to the hotel and call it a night. The next day, Saturday, we get breakfast at The Omelet House. Back to the Hotel, we attend a Timeshare Presentation which is the real reason we came up to Vegas. We have been attending these presentations for over 40 years. Then we say ‘No’ and collect our gift. This time the gift is 25,000 Hilton Honors Points, LOL. This will get us 5-6 nights stay at different Hilton Hotels. We have received many sets of luggage, tv’s, rental cars, and hotel stays over the years!

Then it is off to the Monorail and another trip to the Strip to see more sights and glimpses of the race track again.

Tonight, we visit the Paradox Museum, a collection of optical illusions.

Then we boarded the Monorail to go back to the hotel. We are just in time for the F1 Race! We watch the Race live in our room. Formula 1 is an exciting 90 minutes! Then we call it a night! We woke on Sunday to beautiful skies and a view from our room.

We kick back today and when evening comes, we head for Downtown (different than the Strip). We check out the “Fremont Experience” and boy has this place changed! The last time we were on Fremont Street we drove it in a car. Now it is totally a pedestrian street. Even the sky is now a roof, illuminated with LED screens and images galore! Live music from many venues cover the area. You can ride a Zip line down the street for a mere $150 each. To rich for our blood for a 90 second ride.

We hear about a “Speakeasy” and we go in search of it. Finding it online, it even gives us the code word to enter. Locating it is easy, especially if you are outgoing and talk to people on the street. We step down the darkened steps and ring the bell. A small sliding window opens in the door and dark eyes greet us. I speak the code word and the window slams shut with a bang. Did I get it wrong?

Then the door opens are we are welcomed inside! We are told there is a wait for a table but seats at the bar are available. So to the bar it is! Jazz, Blues, Ragtime and Swing music is playing by a Ragtime Band. All the employees (and several customers) are decked out in period costumes. The atmosphere is lively. Our Bartender is tossing drink cups around with obvious talent and we visit with other patrons. All are having a great time!

We ‘stumble’ out and pass through the Fremont Experience. We get to our car and we are done for the night!

We wake on Monday and have breakfast and then casually head out for the trip home. The traffic is light and we tool along at 75 mph until we get to the Cajon Pass. Traffic snarls. Eventually we come across a complete semi tractor trailer that has driven strait off the side of a cliff. We never find out the fate of the rig or driver. So the trip home takes us 7 hours.