Day 10: Sunday, October 3, 2010
Vega$, Baby, Vega$
So, our final full day was upon us. No agenda today other than to pack up, find something to do for the 4 hours between check out time and check in time at the Excalibur. While showering, where I tend to do my best thinking, I realized Winger still hadn’t seen the Hoover Dam, and really wanted to. I suggested we pack up the jeep and head to the damn Dam. Winger was excited and seemed to have a bit of a spring back in her step.
We checked out, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed out to the Hoover Dam. The weather was MUCH different than when I visited 9 days earlier. It was nearly 100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky that Friday but today it was cloudy and very breezy. We parked on the Arizona side of the dam, and walked across to the visitor’s center and back taking some pictures along the way. Our timing, as would be a theme today, was perfect as it started to rain just as we were getting back to the car.
Along the way and on the way back, we tried to contact the company we rented our camping gear from to see if we could return it a day earlier. I was supposed to return it Monday morning as my flight wasn’t until 1AM Monday night/Tuesday AM. I was going to try to get home earlier if I could get the gear back Sunday… Unfortunately, we hadn’t heard anything back. The company was a few miles from the Damn, but was open by appointment only.
We stopped in Boulder City on the way back where the temporary Visitors’ Center for the Lake Meade National Recreation Area was located and after finding a parking spot (there was an art festival going on, and traffic was pretty tough), we visited some very eager rangers… it seemed as if they hadn’t had many visitors that day! I got my National Parks passport stamped, chatted a little with the people there, and then we hit the road.
The one remaining thing left to see in the area was Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area which was just to the west of Vegas. The National Parks Pass worked for this area too. Best investment of the trip, methinks! The drive to Red Rock was pretty incredible scenery-wise, mostly because of the clouds, and the way the sunlight was hitting some of the rocks/mountains. There’s a beautiful 12 mile scenic loop drive through the park and we stopped at most of the viewpoints to take pictures and relax along the way. If the weather wasn’t so ominous, we would have hiked a little bit, as Winger had her energy back, but that’ll have to wait until next time…
On our way out, Winger saw that the woman from Western Wanderer (the camping company) contacted her via email and said she’d be in until 5PM (it was just 3 at the time) so we drove back to Boulder City, and dropped off the camping gear. We shared some stories with the woman at Western Wanderer, and headed back to the city with a much lighter load.
We headed back to the Strip to check into the Excalibur. The Excalibur has on site parking, but as we found out, it’s a bit of a walk from there to the registration. We basically cleared out the car and brought everything we had left (or threw it in the garbage) into the hotel. The walk to registration was fun with all of my stuff draped on my shoulders and back. I needed a serious repacking. The hotel was enormous! We ended up in the first tower on floor 4 with an amazing view…. Of the wall of an adjoining section of the hotel/casino. That’s what $35/night will get you, I guess! I had to take everything out of my bags and duffel bag so I could re-pack everything. Upon doing this, I realized that I had lost the book that inspired this trip, and worked as a guide for us: Photographing the Southwest, Volume 1: Southern Utah. I looked everywhere for it, and even called the hotel we left that morning, and was pretty bummed about it. I actually realized it might be missing when we were at Red Rock, but really realized it when I went through everything. Bummer! The only other thing(s) I couldn’t find were a lens end camp and my camera body cap which I can replace hopefully inexpensively…
Winger left to wander up the strip as she had to get to bed at a reasonable hour (up at 4AM to take a cab to the airport and fly at 6:40, yuk!) I had to finish packing or I’d have gone insane. Eventually I got everything organized, and it was time to play!
I wanted to walk up to the Bellagio to catch the fountain show which they set off every 15 minutes. Made it up there early for the 8PM show. Its pretty cool, kinda hokey, but worth checking out. Took a few okay pictures (though a tripod would have been optimal, I didn’t feel like walking around with it)…
I walked back down the other side of Las Vegas Blvd and took a few pictures along the way. It was my first time on the strip, and it was fun to see the people wandering around (though I imagine in a few hours, after midnight, it might have been more entertaining), and of course the lights!
I got back to the Excalibur after a quick snack at a FoodCourt across the street, at about 9:15 to clean up and check out the Casino…. I won’t get into details about that, but I had a certain amount of money I was willing to lose… and I did. That’s all you need to know about that! I was out until about 12:15, I played a combo of Poker, Roulette and Slots, including putting my last $5 on 17 Black for Kristina and Lily… It was fun to check out the madness, and it’d be fun to go back with more time to relax/explore the city…..
Vega$, Baby, Vega$
So, our final full day was upon us. No agenda today other than to pack up, find something to do for the 4 hours between check out time and check in time at the Excalibur. While showering, where I tend to do my best thinking, I realized Winger still hadn’t seen the Hoover Dam, and really wanted to. I suggested we pack up the jeep and head to the damn Dam. Winger was excited and seemed to have a bit of a spring back in her step.
We checked out, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed out to the Hoover Dam. The weather was MUCH different than when I visited 9 days earlier. It was nearly 100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky that Friday but today it was cloudy and very breezy. We parked on the Arizona side of the dam, and walked across to the visitor’s center and back taking some pictures along the way. Our timing, as would be a theme today, was perfect as it started to rain just as we were getting back to the car.
Along the way and on the way back, we tried to contact the company we rented our camping gear from to see if we could return it a day earlier. I was supposed to return it Monday morning as my flight wasn’t until 1AM Monday night/Tuesday AM. I was going to try to get home earlier if I could get the gear back Sunday… Unfortunately, we hadn’t heard anything back. The company was a few miles from the Damn, but was open by appointment only.
We stopped in Boulder City on the way back where the temporary Visitors’ Center for the Lake Meade National Recreation Area was located and after finding a parking spot (there was an art festival going on, and traffic was pretty tough), we visited some very eager rangers… it seemed as if they hadn’t had many visitors that day! I got my National Parks passport stamped, chatted a little with the people there, and then we hit the road.
The one remaining thing left to see in the area was Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area which was just to the west of Vegas. The National Parks Pass worked for this area too. Best investment of the trip, methinks! The drive to Red Rock was pretty incredible scenery-wise, mostly because of the clouds, and the way the sunlight was hitting some of the rocks/mountains. There’s a beautiful 12 mile scenic loop drive through the park and we stopped at most of the viewpoints to take pictures and relax along the way. If the weather wasn’t so ominous, we would have hiked a little bit, as Winger had her energy back, but that’ll have to wait until next time…
On our way out, Winger saw that the woman from Western Wanderer (the camping company) contacted her via email and said she’d be in until 5PM (it was just 3 at the time) so we drove back to Boulder City, and dropped off the camping gear. We shared some stories with the woman at Western Wanderer, and headed back to the city with a much lighter load.
We headed back to the Strip to check into the Excalibur. The Excalibur has on site parking, but as we found out, it’s a bit of a walk from there to the registration. We basically cleared out the car and brought everything we had left (or threw it in the garbage) into the hotel. The walk to registration was fun with all of my stuff draped on my shoulders and back. I needed a serious repacking. The hotel was enormous! We ended up in the first tower on floor 4 with an amazing view…. Of the wall of an adjoining section of the hotel/casino. That’s what $35/night will get you, I guess! I had to take everything out of my bags and duffel bag so I could re-pack everything. Upon doing this, I realized that I had lost the book that inspired this trip, and worked as a guide for us: Photographing the Southwest, Volume 1: Southern Utah. I looked everywhere for it, and even called the hotel we left that morning, and was pretty bummed about it. I actually realized it might be missing when we were at Red Rock, but really realized it when I went through everything. Bummer! The only other thing(s) I couldn’t find were a lens end camp and my camera body cap which I can replace hopefully inexpensively…
Winger left to wander up the strip as she had to get to bed at a reasonable hour (up at 4AM to take a cab to the airport and fly at 6:40, yuk!) I had to finish packing or I’d have gone insane. Eventually I got everything organized, and it was time to play!
I wanted to walk up to the Bellagio to catch the fountain show which they set off every 15 minutes. Made it up there early for the 8PM show. Its pretty cool, kinda hokey, but worth checking out. Took a few okay pictures (though a tripod would have been optimal, I didn’t feel like walking around with it)…
I walked back down the other side of Las Vegas Blvd and took a few pictures along the way. It was my first time on the strip, and it was fun to see the people wandering around (though I imagine in a few hours, after midnight, it might have been more entertaining), and of course the lights!
I got back to the Excalibur after a quick snack at a FoodCourt across the street, at about 9:15 to clean up and check out the Casino…. I won’t get into details about that, but I had a certain amount of money I was willing to lose… and I did. That’s all you need to know about that! I was out until about 12:15, I played a combo of Poker, Roulette and Slots, including putting my last $5 on 17 Black for Kristina and Lily… It was fun to check out the madness, and it’d be fun to go back with more time to relax/explore the city…..
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