My friend Dave lives on the other side of the country, so we don't get to see each other that often. A couple of times a year, we'll pick a fun city and meet up for a few days. Last week, the two of us met up in Vegas for a long weekend. As always, we had a great time. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the trip:
We stayed at the Luxor, a jet black pyramid-shaped hotel casino. It was a pretty cool place to stay, and had an Egyptian theme throughout. Inside, it has inclinators instead of elevators. At night, a single spotlight that can be seen for miles shines from the apex.
Click for a Larger Image
I took this on a roller coaster outside of New York-New York Casino. I figured I could get some cool "action shots", so I smuggled my camera aboard and then took it out as we started to go up the first incline. Well, shortly after I took this pic, the ride stopped, and the operator came out on the catwalk to confiscate my camera. Okay, it wasn't the best idea I've ever had. I thought about getting different "action shots" of the attendant fighting me for the camera, but I decided that was probably an even worse idea :-)
Click for a Larger Image
What's the penalty in Las Vegas for smuggling cameras aboard roller coasters?
Click for a Larger Image
On Friday, we took a hard hat tour of Hoover Dam. They take you throughout the inner workings of the dam, including generator rooms, service tunnels, etc. It was a great tour for the engineer / little kid in all of us.
Click for a Larger Image
Here's Dave in a tunnel leading to the face of the dam. When you looked out the grate, you had an incredible view of the river. Our dam guide (seen in the background) made the same damn jokes as in National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation.
Click for a Larger Image
I think this is one of the coolest pics of the trip. It was taken inside the Venetian Casino. They did the lighting perfectly, such that it always looks and feels like dusk. The canal (complete with gondolas, of course) is built above the casino floor.
The thumbnail doesn't do this one justice, you really should check out the Larger Image
This was taken on the "Speed" roller coaster outside of the Nascar Café. We bought an unlimited pass and decided to ride it as many times as we could. We agreed that the first person to give up would owe the other a drink. After the 8th consecutive ride, Dave bought me a gin and tonic.
Click for a Larger Image
Here's Dave in front of the Stratosphere. On top, we went on yet another roller coaster, and a "free fall" type ride. It's amazing how much scarrier these are 100+ stories off the ground.
Click for a Larger Image
Here's the two of us on top of the Stratosphere. You can (sort of) see the Vegas strip behind us.
Click for a Larger Image
Dave and I got to ride a mechanical bull for the first time. (I grew up in the South... why hadn't I tried this before?) It was fun, but was a lot harder than it looks. I was thrown shortly after this pic was taken.
Click for a Larger Image
As I've said before, no trip would be complete without a romp in a water fountain. Though it was wise to not swim in this one, it was beautiful to watch. This was taken outside of the Bellagio, where the water "dances" in perfect synchronization with Italian music.
This show made a great finale to our trip. I had a great time and can't wait to go back.
Click for a Larger Image