Last day in Vegas

Well, not really. We don't leave until Wednesday afternoon. But yesterday was the last day for visiting the strip because today we are going hiking in Red Rock Canyon.

It was a beautiful blue sky day yesterday, but there was a bit of a chill in the air. It had snowed in the mountains the night before and we had a beautiful view of them when we left the house around 9:30 yesterday morning.

Snow on Mt. Charleston in the distance.

First on the agenda was a new kitchen faucet for Sherman. We had replaced the faucet about four years ago, and now it had developed a steady drip, as well as leaking from the base. It's not easy to buy an RV faucet in Mexico, so we need to bring one back with us. We had stopped at a Camping World the other day, but they wanted far too much money (like $80) and it wasn't really the one I wanted. Made it to an independent RV store and they had the one I wanted for $25.99. I told the guy I could buy it online for $22 and asked for 10% off. No problem, he said! 

Then we went to a couple of small casinos that were nearby. Only one of them had a sign up deal and we turned their $6 in free play into about $2.50 cash! Oh well, it was fun anyhow.

Then we drove to downtown and Freemont Street. We had another two for one coupon to the Freemont Hotel buffet and for the two of us it was $8.99. In answer to Contessa's comment yesterday about the cheaper buffet's being not very good, we've actually been very happy. Other than the one at Terrible's, we found the Fiesta in Henderson to be good enough and other than the rubber steak at the Main Street Station, it was okay too. Yesterday's lunch at the Freemont Street Hotel was quite good and we were happy with the food. Of course for the price we don't go into it with high expectations, so are usually satisfied. On the other side of the coin, I can't justify paying $17 or $18 for a BREAKFAST buffet at the more expensive places. Those same places are asking for $30 or more for their dinner buffets. Given that we're always looking for value, we just can't see the value for that kind of money.

After lunch we wandered down Freemont Street. I had a coupon for a free beer at another place and I was so stuffed from lunch I decided not to use it! Imagine me turning down a free beer!

Then we drove down to the strip. Parked at the far south end at the Mandalay Resort and wandered around there. Took their free monorail thing to the Luxor, and then walked to the Excalibur. Each one of the resorts on the strip has something to offer for free, even if it's just looking at the design and theme of the hotel itself.

Looking north on Las Vegas Blvd.

The stained glass ceiling in "Paris". 

Can you guess where this was taken? If you guessed the Flamingo Hotel, you were right!

Then we crossed the street to the opulence of Caesars Palace. The sheer size of these places is amazing. We had been there the other day but hadn't seen the display of the "talking statues". It was too dark to get a decent picture, but I didn't think the show was that good anyhow. And the recorded voices were kind of garbled and difficult to understand. Oh well.

Entranceway to Caesars Palace.

Around this time I was due for a sit down and I wanted that cold beer I had turned down earlier. Unfortunately the strip is VERY expensive and it's hard to find a deal on anything. So Ruth said that if we're ready to sit down and pay $5 each for a drink that we'd be better off to sit down at a couple of slot machines and put $5 each in while waiting for the free drinks from the cocktail waitress! Good idea, but we did end up losing the $5 each although it was fun playing. And we got to sit for while and enjoy our drinks. Proof once again that you can justify anything you want!

Some of the shops are pretty interesting. Don't know how they sell anything, but at those prices they only need to sell one or two items a day to pay the rent!

Then we went back to the Bellagio Hotel. We had seen their fountain show the other day, but it was during daylight hours and we knew it would be even more spectacular with the light at night. It runs every half hour so we didn't have to wait long. It is definitely a "must see" and certainly one of the better things you can watch in Vegas for free.

Fountain show at the Bellagio

The Bellagio also has a conservatory with beautiful indoor flower gardens. The theme this spring is "dutch" so there was a windmill and lots of tulips. Very well done and another free attraction worth seeing.

The conservatory at Bellagio.

Ruth and the fake swans.

Then we'd had enough! We had been gone for almost 12 hours. Only needed a snack when we got back to Mike and Carol's so our meal expenses for the whole day were only the $8.99 we spent at the two for one buffet! Probably not the healthiest way to eat but it won't hurt...our schedule will be back to normal soon enough.

The Excalibur Hotel at night.

Another beautiful day, so it's off to Red Rock Canyon!