"It ain't rare to hear the streetlights"

“Call themselves stars”

That about covers Vegas. Wow. But we’ll get there.

Left Flagstaff in the morning and headed to Hoover Dam…and found a Dunkin Donuts in Kingman! I was thrilled.

“Mmm, perfectly circular eggs…”

Thanks, Colleen.

But it wasn’t terrible, although the NJ bagels are better, even at Dunkin. Sigh.

On to the Hoover Dam. I’m not a big man-made structures guy…I prefer woods and mountains and things like that over eleventy billion tons of concrete, but it was alright. Wasn’t crazy about the charging for everything part of the Dam experience, but it was ok. Lake Mead is cool.

From the Dam, we headed on to Las Vegas, hitting a Del Taco on the way. It’s like Taco Bell but less gross…not that that’s a challenge. We made it to our hotel, Circus Circus, around two in the afternoon and checked in. It was a far cry from America’s Best Value Inn in Flagstaff…which was a dive. This place was really, really nice. We took a cab down the Strip and wandered around the Flamingo, the Mirage, the Bellagio. It was total sensory overload. Noise, lights, smells…we hit a Mexican place inside the Flamingo, and the food was good. The waitress was pushy (of course) and tried to give me food I didn’t order and then charge me for it, but that didn’t end well for her. After dinner we wandered around and eventually found a brew pub, where I tried my second stout in as many days…and enjoyed my second stout in as many days. I’m becoming concerned about my tastes. After that, we watched a couple of the fountain shows at the Bellagio and then headed back to Circus Circus, totally exhausted.

I cannot accurately describe Las Vegas, like I cannot take pictures of the Grand Canyon that will do it justice. Suffice to say that for a guy whose ideal night is a pine forest and a campfire, the constant sensory bombardment of Las Vegas is overwhelming.

I took Colleen to the airport at 5 this morning and made it to work by seven. 5 weeks until I’m home.