The First Leg of our Trip

Our first stay (for two nights) was VEGAS, Baby! We enjoyed ourselves there (though neither of us gambles and one of us could not take advantage of the very loose drinking laws) but both agreed that two days was probably plenty of time there (with limited cash flow there is only so much you can do)!

Reid and I in the lobby of our hotel, the Imperial Palace... and by lobby, I of course mean casino!

Reid on the strip in front of the Mirage.

Me in front of the Venetian... have I mentioned that it was hot...

This is the view from our room the first night... we actually changed rooms the second night into a room that overlooked the parking lot. Really we got the best of both worlds. You see under the circus tent down there is a live band that played until about 4am (or so we were told... luckily Reid and I can sleep through anything and both feel asleep with little trouble to the music at one in the morning). And you certainly couldn't beat that view! But the second night was nice and quiet.

Our first dinner we ate at Serendipidity 3, in front of Ceasar's on the strip...

Some of the sights of the strip... we spent a fair amount of time just wandering up and down looking at everything (even though it was SCALDING hot and I could only go very short distances before we had to escape to the air conditioning)... Like I said, hot! We didn't get to about half the strip... but I figure that gives us a reason to go another time.

The coolest part of Vegas (for both of us I think) we didn't actually get any pictures of as there was a no photo policy. We saw Mystere, a Cirque do Soleil show that has been running at Treasure Island since 1993. The costumes, sets and feats of physical prowess were INCREDIBLE (of course). But my favorite part by far were the clowns. These aren't Bozo clowns, but clowns in the traditional commedia/Italian fashion and they were so inspiring! I can't wait to talk to my students about them.

Next up... the Grand Canyon!