Here is a link to the interactive expedition map.
We didn't want to have to hurry out of the Grand Canyon to be sure we caught our flight home, so we stayed over in Vegas the night of June 1. Our daughter went home on June 2, so we started the day by making a trip to the airport. (A very short trip. The airport is practically on top of the strip.)
We didn't go home with her because I wanted to see Bellagio. I wanted to see the Chihuly glass, and I wanted to see the fountains in front. I plan to never, ever go back to Nevada, so I wanted to see anything I was interested in when I was already there.
Our hotel began our visit by attempting to gouge us on internet, even though we'd supposedly been promised free internet. We declined to pay them and did without. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........................
It was hot. Over 100 on June 2.
There are plants that are exotic to Michiganders. Palm trees in front of the hotel.
The next image is the same plant as above, taken from a few steps farther away.
A different plant.
This hairy stuff pleases me in the same way that grapevine tendrils please........
To describe Las Vegas in one word, that word must be "excessive." The place is all about too much of everything. Too much to drink, too much to eat, too much gambling. Too many people. Too many huge buildings. You know the whole thing is built on the labor of people who don't have many choices, and you know they are underpaid...............................
And far, far, far too much water wasted on all the above, as well as on plants that do not belong in this climate.
Tons of construction. Yesterday's excesses apparently no longer attracting enough marks -- tear them down, throw them away, and build something even more excessive!
The buildings are ENORMOUS. When you look at the map, you think "Oh, my destination is only a couple of blocks away." But then you look at the scale, and see that's more than a mile.............
I don't recognize this.
At least maybe it belongs in a hot, dry climate?
This, however......... Not so much.
It was so hot that we walked along toward Bellagio through casinos. And really, really fancy shopping areas.
Fancy floors. Thinking about the waste, when this building is demolished and all of this incredible stone is trashed......................
Looks like a planet.
For some reason that escapes me, there are many places in Vegas that are somewhat reminiscent of real destinations in real places. Fake Venice.
I've been told that the shows are great. We have friends who have come for celebrity shows, and have enjoyed them. We have friends who love Cirque de Soleil. There were five or six different Cirque de Soleil productions going on while we were there, including the Beatles one you see advertised at the top of the next image.
In addition to all the fake places, there are other so-called "attractions." Flamingo has ... flamingos, other birds, and fish. All small and limited, compared to a real zoo.
Blurry duck, because I was amused by the flamingo reflection the duck is swimming through.
Palm tree trunk.
They have the biggest bred-for-fancy fish I'd ever seen. These guys were huge.
Fat. And pushing a yard long, if I remember correctly.
Apparently they can get people to pay to go up in a Ferris wheel to look at all the fake places.
Here is a link to the next post about the Grand Canyon expedition.
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