June 1 - United States: Las Vegas, Nevada

I woke up this morning with sudden motivation to work out.  We knew there were a few gyms here at the Luxor, so I hopped out of bed before Jon and Ketron were awake, got dressed, and headed down to find the gym.  When I got there, it was beautiful!  Called the "Oasis Spa", there were quite a few people already there and working out.  I walked to the front desk to check in, and was told that a day pass costs $20.  $20?!?!?! For the gym?!?!  But we're already paying a ridiculous amount of money to stay at this behemoth of a hotel!  We have to pay for the gym too?

Damn.

So I went back up to the room, where Ketron and Jon were sitting around talking.  They were both shocked when I told them.  Instead of working out, Jon went downstairs to Krispy Kreme to get a dozen doughnuts for breakfast.  Now that's much more fun than running on a treadmill.

Elvis Has Left the Building

I spent about an hour on the phone calling around to various wedding chapels.  Last night, the three of us decided that it would be fun if Jon and I had our vows renewed by Elvis in a cheesy wedding chapel.  Since we're about to hit our One-Year-On-The-Road-Anniversary, we thought it would be a good way to celebrate.  And Ketron is the perfect person to be our Maid of Honor/Best Man/Limo Driver/Photographer.

Unfortunately, we were SHOCKED at the prices quoted to me.  Prices just for Elvis start at $150 and run over $200.  And that doesn't include the costs for the wedding chapel, the music, and the photos (which are usually required in packages).  So we unfortunately had to nix the Elvis-Vow-Renewal scenario.

Lounging Around The Pool

We spent the rest of the day split up.  Jon headed to the craps tables to try his luck downstairs.  Ketron and I headed out for a walk.  We crossed the street and went to the Mandalay Bay next door.  There, we checked out the gorgeous decor, the swanky restaurants, and the very cool wave pool.  We also walked to "Shark Reef", which we'd assumed was a large fish tank but instead found an aquarium with an admissions window.  Is there nothing in this town that's free?

We went back to the room and changed for the pool.

There are multiple pools at the Luxor, and hundreds upon hundreds of lounge chairs.  Ketron - having gone to the pool earlier - found two lounges near a stone Sphinx and also near the water misters on some of the palm trees.  These misters were set up for the people who hire cabanas, but we reaped the residual benefits of them when the wind direction shifted.  The weather was incredibly hot, but the mist made it a bit more bearable.  

A few minutes after I arrived at the pool, a guy came up with two Pina Coladas and said that he could only drink one, and did we want on of them?  Of course, we're not going to turn down a free drink.  It didn't occur to me until later that the guy had obviously come over with the intention of sitting next to Ketron and giving her the drink.  Of course, he wasn't her type at all.  But I must have messed up his plans by (a) sitting in his seat, and (b) drinking his drink.  (Ketron doesn't like Rum).  Poor guy.

After a few hours at the pool, we headed in to shower and get ready for dinner.  Ketron made reservations at 9:00 at Mikado, a Japanese Steak House in the Mirage Hotel.

Mikado

Because we were (naturally) running late, we caught a taxi to the Mirage.  There, we walked through the tropical decor to find our way to Mikado.  Japanese Steak Houses are always fun, especially because you meet new people.  Ketron sat next to a guy from Sydney who was in town for an opal show.  

Our Japanese Chef at Mikado 

Dinner was good, but not spectacular.  And we all figured that the money would have been better spent elsewhere.  But the Cabernet was surprisingly tasty!  And after dinner we had a nice long, serious talk about Ketron's future and law school.  So all in all it was a good experience.

Since we were going to pop from all that food, we decided to take a walk around.  Our first stop inside the Mirage was the  white tiger exhibit.  The white tigers are owned by Sigfreid and Roy, two famous Vegas magicians and zoo owners.  Then we headed out to go to the Venetian Hotel.

Ketron and Heidi At The Mirage Hotel 

On our way to the Venetian Hotel, the water fountain out front suddenly exploded into a torrent of colors and fire and volcano-like sound effects.  It was totally unexpected and very cool.

The Mirage Volcano 

Vegas is SO over-the-top, and completely different from the place I lived in twenty years ago.

We walked around the Venetian for a bit and played a quick game of craps.  Then walked to the fancy Bellagio to see what it was like.  Definitely the high-class joint of The Strip.  Where the Luxor and New York New York were filled with "normal" people in shorts and cheesy looking dresses, the Bellagio was filled with beautiful people and designer clothes.  We stayed there for a while and Ketron got really lucky at a craps table.  Then we went out front and stood in the really long taxi line.  This wouldn't have been so bad, except that the four people wouldn't shut up about "Tori and Aaron" this and "Tori and Aaron" that.  Please.  Like having met the Spellings (of 90210 fame) is something to speak of.  Loudly.