2002.01.02-04

Here are some shots from my very first trip to Vegas. True to form, I came away having lost all the money that I tried to gamble (all $5 of it...ooooh), but it was fun, there were lots of lights, the food was cheap (mmmm, steak & eggs for $3), and the air was dry. Huh?

Here's an exit sign off of I-15 toward Vegas. I guess when you get way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, why bother naming the streets, eh?

And here's a shot of the stuff off the freeway at Primm, NV, the first city over the state line.

This is a shot of Buffalo Bill's in Primm. Check out the spiffy roller coaster they have there.

Stuff on the Strip

Here are a few generic shots of the various places you'd come by along the strip.

And here's a shot of the Las Vegas Strip (or at least the part I first took a picture of) at night

Here's a shot of the walkway toward the entrance of Bally's, where I stayed.

This is a blurry shot of Excalibur - which had some sort of "Knights of the Round Table" theme to it. The only reason this shot got blurred was because I took it while on an escalator...only in Vegas would you see escalators at every street corner.

Here's a shot of the Luxor: the one that looks like a pyramid and has a Egyptian theme to it.

And this is a shot of Monte Carlo....

And here's New York New York by day. If you look closely, you'll notice a roller coaster on top of the hotel. It costs $10 to go on that thing.... Additionally, each one of the skyline buildings is part of the hotel, so you could actually end up with a room in the twin towers.

This is a fountain that you see along the walkway to Cesar's Palace.

Continuing the water theme, here's some of the fountains going off to music outside Bellagio.

What's Inside

Here's the inside of Bellagio all decked out in Christmas decorations. And this is also the set of stairs that you see Julia Roberts walking down in Ocean's 11.

And at the Flamingo Hilton, they have some sort of wildlife zoo thingie inside (well, that, and a nice brunch buffet with a view of these creatures). Here are two shots: of fish, and penguins! Yay!

Here's a shot of the fake daylight they use in the Paris casino. Looks pretty real and you can almost feel like you're outdoors.

And here's a slot machine from one of the casinos. Yes, they all look and act the same: you put money in, pull a lever, and watch lights blink.

Other Non-Casino Stuff

Outside Bally's on the sidewalk, there are a number of bushes shaped like animals...here's one that reminded me of my stuffed koala.

And of course, there was a Coca-Cola store, where I bought a gay-looking golf hat, and where they served big huge Coke floats. Mmmmm....this is me posing with a Coke polar bear in the store.

Here's a golden cow on the street randomly. The only thing I remember about this was that shortly after this picture was taken, an old lady was crossing the street nearby, and the car that dropped her off was being honked by the car behind it. As she crossed the street, the honking driver honked at her once more, and she flipped him off. Power to the old people!

There was also some sort of entertainment center, with arcade games, pool tables, and other sorts of activities. One of them was rock climbing, as seen here. The only thing I didn't like about that place was that they made me turn my hat around...something in the dress code prohibits the wearing of hats backwards.

Holy Cow!

And then there was this casino called the "Holy Cow Casino". Being cow enthusiasts, we naturally had to check it out.

Here's a cow that sits right inside the casino entrance.

And here's a star that is plastered into the ground outside.