Las Vegas NVApr 23, 2012
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Waiting for the water show to start at the Bellagio
A chocolate fountain in the Bellagio - yep, that's all chocolate
The new Aria hotel/casino at City Center
| We left the campground in Williams AZ right around 9:00 and headed west on our old friend I-40 to Kingman AZ where we stopped for gas, and then hopped onto US 93 north towards Las Vegas. The trip was uneventful and through some beautiful desert – even though I’m not a big fan of brown and dirt – especially the area just before the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. The area about 10 miles before the bridge was so impressive it was hard to keep my eyes on the road. Not a patch of green in sight, but it was so rugged it was really neat to see. We crossed the bridge with my intrepid assistant manning the camera, and not a view of the dam was to be had so no pics to post. Oh well, we will see it tomorrow. We crawled up the highway into Boulder City due to some construction, and then as soon as we came across Railroad Pass, the Las Vegas strip came into view to the west. The trip along the east side of Vegas on I-515 was easy and after a little in-town driving, we pulled into the Hitchin’ Post RV Park in North Las Vegas right at 1:30. It was a bit nasty here – bright sun, 99° and a hot breeze of about 15 mph to really take your breath away. One of the reasons the lovely wife picked this campground is because it’s close to Nellis Air Force Base and it didn’t take long before the impromptu air show began. We had numerous USAF fighters fly over the bus on their departure from Nellis and it is pretty neat – at least to me. I’m sure some of the other residents could do without it, but I’m OK with it. Dog ain’t too thrilled either but by now he needs to understand his opinion doesn’t count. About 5:00 we decided to head down to the Strip – after all, we are in Vegas – to see the sights and donate some shekels to the local economy. We parked at the MGM Grand and wandered and donated a bit, then headed out onto Las Vegas Blvd. to look around. The last time we were here the new City Center development was still under construction so this was our first chance to see the final product. It is pretty impressive – huge and very fancy. There are multiple high rise hotel/residential/shopping/casino buildings in the complex that extends from the Monte Carlo north to the Bellagio. It is a stunning sight, especially from across the street at night. We checked out some of the other hotels along the strip, watched the water show at the Bellagio, then walked back to the MGM and got into the Jeepster for our 30 minute ride up Las Vegas Blvd. to the campground right at midnight. If you have never been to Las Vegas, you have to give it a try – even if you are not into the nightlife and decadence, it is a very impressive piece of real estate. Plan for tomorrow is to get on the road fairly early for the 30+ minute trip to the Hoover Dam to do the tour. We hear that it will take about half a day between travel time to and from and the tour, but we have nothing in mind for after that is done. It is supposed to cool off tomorrow – to 92° - so the possibilities are endless. |
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