Vegas Baby!

Yesterday we got to play tourists! We left Lake Mead and parked in Vegas near the Strip then walked for 2 miles to find the Cheesecake Factory. Then after eating we explored the enormous casinos with their endless maze of slot machines and poker tables, watched a street show of pirates taking over a ship (with a cheesy story, dancing, and music) witnessed statues moving and coming to life, an indoor theme park, and a volcano erupting. Funny that we walked for about 6 miles total and I felt much more tired than after my 12 mile run that morning.

On our search for the Cheesecake Factory, we stopped at one of the ships where they stage their nightly outside street show.

The Cheesecake Factory is one of my favorite restaurants! We haven't eaten out for over a month, so this was a real treat. We filled up on a dinner of 5 appetizers: Popcorn shrimp, crab wontons, nachos with salsa and guacamole, sweet corn tamales, and onion rings. Just enough fuel for the next 4 miles of walking!

This is one of the moving statues. They were 7 feet tall and rose out of the pedestal next to our table at the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace. Those statues had voices and told the story of the fall of Atlantis, complete with spitting fire, steam, and light effects. Then after their story they would disappear back inside the pedestal. Pretty cool.

The Treasure Island Casino and Hotel.

This is the Palazzo Casino and Hotel.

Vegas gets even busier at night. This is my first time to be right in the middle of a large city and it was entertaining!

This is the Venetian Casino. Amongst the others, this was noticeably fancier. Inside there were high ceilings with paintings on them like you would find in Rome or Venice or some other ancient city.

This was our last stop before footing it back to the RV. The Mirage Volcano erupts hourly every night. Very cool effects with water and colored lighting and fire.