EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITES

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Our first experience ever in Las Vegas will be one we will always remember.  All the casinos, hotels, tourist people from all over the world, the traffic, all the types of Limo’s & Rolls Royce's. 
As you stroll down the Strip of Las Vegas,  not only are you reeled in by the buildings and the surroundings, but what also the going on.  You walk down the walkway and traffic is going in every direction, you will notice traveling advertisement.  Some for Shows in Las Vegas, but the ones that we seen were the most appalling.  I think my mouth fell to the ground when I first seen this going by:

Also along the street you will come across several  boxes that appear to be holding maybe newspaper or magazines for casinos and upcoming shows.  Again, when we opened the box, we were appalled as to what you will find.  Oh they had flyers and magazines for casinos and shows, but also advertising girls to come to your hotel room in less than 20 minutes!
The Boxes and the traveling advertisement were for solicitation for female companion or what we call “Ladies Of The Night”.  On the main part of the strip, at every corner and in-between, there are folks handing out mini flyers and magazines and what Brian is calling “Trading Cards”, all of females with nothing on or barely covered.  Oh, they are somewhat discreet with tiny stars covering up the private areas. 
They didn’t care who they handed these “cards” or"  “magazines” too, I was even handed a few of them, or rather-shoved into my hands!  Oh, we did notice, that they didn’t hand any out to the kids, but to the parents instead!  Where are the morals now a days?  
As we walked around the Casinos, you could almost pick out the girls.  They the way they were dressed, we could almost guess where they were heading.  We even seen two girls acting like they were gambling, until they started their flirting with some young adult boys that were on Spring Break from college.  We again had to walk away.
Did you know that the state of Nevada legalized prostitution, all except for the county that Las Vegas is in.  We have been told that there are numerous “Chicken” farms all around, and they ain’t raising or selling chickens, but are brothels instead!
We learned to laugh at all this, or otherwise we knew we would be saying something that maybe could get us into a bit of trouble.  So as the saying goes:  What Happens In Las Vegas, Stays In Las Vegas….Don’t worry, I never let Brian out of my site for once and I never let him keep his “Trading Cards” either!

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

 
We took our first adventure into Las Vegas Nevada. We choose to go in late afternoon and into the evening hours, for we wanted to see the many lights and a few free attractions that only went on in the evenings.
From a far distant off  Lake Mead Hwy in Henderson, Las Vegas doesn’t appear to be that big or even confusing to maybe get around in.  I kept telling Brian that I could handle getting us around in there.
Brian, on the other hand, knowing that I don’t like to drive in crazy driving conditions, came up with the idea of parking our car at Sam’s Town; which is about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.  Sam’s Town does a free bus shuttle from their parking lot to two casinos on the Strip: Harrah’s and Riveria.  It will also drop you off at two spots in the downtown area of Las Vegas: California and Freemont.
So after parking our car at Sam’s Town and hitching a ride on the shuttle to Harrah’s, I’m so amazed by all the traffic and the buildings.  I would know for sure that I would have been lost in an heart beat-even with Ms. Garmin’s assistant.  If not lost, then defiantly frustrated.
Once we are dropped off in the parking garage of Harrah’s, then it’s time to figure out which direction do we go?  We decided to follow other fellow passengers through the maze of Harrah’s to the great outdoors and the beginning of what they call the “Strip”. 
As you exit out of the building, you are surrounded with many outdoor vendors all willing to sell you their goods.  Anything from Mardi Gras beads, to a mix drinks. to fast painters and cheap T-shirts.  Once out onto the Strip, the next decision is which direction to go?
Our first stop was to McDonald’s, as we were thirsty and knew we needed to quinch that thirst before moving on.  Again, we are amazed by this old stylish looking McDonald’s.  And their $1 tea was only a 12oz cup, which normally you get the gulper size at any other McDonald’s.

So now it’s time to go and wonder around.  We  headed towards the Stratosphere.  We had a handy little map that was handed to us free from the Bus Driver, along with many coupons and attractions to go and see.  So it was easy to follow the map of the Strip and find all the famous casinos and Hotels.
Along the way, we saw many casinos and motels, Wynn’s & Encore, Palazzo, Sahara just to name a few and  including Donald Trump’s.  As we headed toward the Riveria, we started to get a bit of an uneasy feeling.  tourist weren’t as many and we ran into a couple of gang bangers and some needy folks that needed a good bath, and probably a meal.  But determined as I was, we continue to march on, for I wanted to go into Circus, Circus and check out the Stratosphere.  As we kept moving on, we noticed many new buildings that appeared to be going up, but at a complete standstill due to our economy, which made the area even more eerie for us. 

we finally reached the Stratosphere, but could not go up into it, unless we wanted to pay high dollars.  We did watch from below as bungee jumpers jumped from the top and then was lowered to the ground.

So now it’s time to head to the other side of the street and head back to the main part of the strip and to Circus, Circus.  Once we got into Circus, Circus, it was liking walking in a maze and never getting to where you really wanted to go.  I wanted to head for the big top tent, and although there were signs pointing you into that direction, we literally never found the big top!  So much for that adventure.  Somehow in the process of trying to find it, we asked a lady that was sitting for directions.  She somehow started to reel us in by asking us if we would be interested in a free supper and a show.  Well, of course she got our interest, until the end.  We would have to come back into L.V. the next day, listen to a 120+ minute speel on some private resort that you paid into.  We walked away…So no free meals or shows for us this day.

by now Brian had said I have walked him to death and he needed food, drink and rest.  Me?  I’m so facinated by all the sites, I even forget about the pressure points sores on my feet!  Seems that any place you look you will find a McDonalds just about on every block.  So McDonald’s burger and fries and a resting spot won out.  It’s getting later and we need to get ourselves back into the main area where other tourist are and onto safer grounds.
As the crowd gather around the TI (Treasure Island), we watch the most fascinating 20+ minutes show that was put on by TI. 
       
The Male Ship                                           The Female Ship
The war between the two ships were just amazing, the sound & lighting effects were so “real “ feeling.  We could even feel the heat when ever they “blasted” each other.
the Volacanic eruption at the Mirage was another one that it appeared to look real with it’s sound and lighting effects.  Again, we were up close and could feel the heat and the vibration of the sound under our feet.

The Beligio puts on a very interesting water show put to music and you can watch the water dance away. 
We are now completely exhausted and have to wait for our bus to come and pick us up.  when it arrives at 9:30pm, we both were glad to aboard and head towards home.

This trip into Las Vegas calls for at least another visit or two, for we never got to the MGM, or inside Caesar's Palace, and a few other famous casinos and motels.

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