Jo’s Quantum Cafe

Those who know me know I love to travel. My daughter and I were in Las Vegas in 1998 and we both loved it. That was the era when Las Vegas was aiming toward families. The hotels were built around themes and featured attractions that were Disneylike.

Although the hotels were massive, they weren’t excessively tall. The tallest hotels were roughly 30 stories. At that time, we stayed at NewYork,NewYork on the 29th floor, far away from the noise. Slot machines belched out coins and bells exploded when there were winners. In some hotel casinos the air was so thick with smoke, it was an adventure just walking through the place. Karen and I toured the Lexor, the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton, Excalibur, MGM Grand, Tropicana and a few others. Excalibur was her favorite.

Richard had never been to Las Vegas. When I mentioned getting away for the winter holiday season, I was floored when he chose that city. I was thinking something within driving range. His reason - it was the only major city in the US he had never been to. Mentally, I had my bags packed as soon as he said let’s go.

We bid on Priceline for a 5 star hotel on the strip and got the Venetian at an excellent price. In my opinion, it’s the best hotel on the strip. I didn’t see any rooms of other hotels, I’ll admit, but I loved the decor of the Venetian and the room was a huge plus. At first, I thought they upgraded us to a suite. I later found out every room in the hotel is a suite. And it was huge. The bathroom itself was almost the size of an ordinary hotel room. The suite had a sunken livingroom. I’ve stayed at other fancy hotels, but the Venetian was the most luxurious I’ve ever been in, including the Grand Bohemian and the Ritz Carlton. When you view the Gallery, you’ll see the photos of our room.

Las Vegas has changed. The strip is looking more like any other city - huge high rises and each building trying to outdo the rest. It’s becoming garish and ostentatious. Each hotel is starting to look like every other hotel. As many hotels as we walked through, there’s very few photos I have of the hotels that I can point to and say, “This one was taken at…” The Forum at Caesar’s Palace used to be unique with its changing ceiling going  from day to night in half an hour. Now, most of the hotels have the sky-painted ceilings set to twilight.

The Paris hotel was one of the unique ones with the 1/2 scale Eiffel Tower that you could go up inside to a viewing platform at the top. Neat. I also loved the Flamingo with its bird habitat. The MGM Grand lion display was lame, IMO. And Nathans in NewYork NewYork was a wonderful treat.

The first day we toured as many of the hotels as we could from the Venetian to MGM Grand and back the other side of the strip to the NY,NY, Ceasar’s Palace, etc. When we finished, we both decided the hotel we were staying at was the best of them all.

Of all the shows playing in Las Vegas, Richard wanted to see Jersey Boys. It was playing at the Palazzo, the hotel that adjoined the Venetian. When we bought the tickets, I asked if Rick Faugno was in it and learned he was the lead! I sent a note backstage to him and Richard and I met with him after the show. If you remember “Shenandoah” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC (2006), Rick played son, Nathan, and did that incredible slow handstand. Anyway, Richard and I loved the show, Rick got a standing ovation, and afterwards, we got to meet his parents as well.  It was a wonderful evening.

The next day, we drove out to Red Rock Park just outside Las Vegas. First, though, we drove through the city of Las Vegas, which is away from the Strip by a few miles. This was where it all began. We found Freemont Street and I was stunned by the sites. This was the Las Vegas my mother and I visited in the early 70’s. All this time I thought we had done Reno because the Strip I knew was so different from the town Mom and I had visited. Richard’s check of the web verified Reno did not have a Freemont Street.

When we reached Red Rock, it was cold, windy, raining and even a bit of hail. That didn’t stop us from exploring several stops outside of the car. We enjoyed it until my coat got so soaked I had to stay in the car at future stops. If the weather had been nicer, we would have hiked more.

When we left Red Rock, since California was so close, we decided to drive on to Death Valley and that was incredible. I know I was there once before, but I didn’t remember anything from what we saw. Death Valley is 289 feet below sea level and our GPS actually registered the negative numbers. Definitely not a place to visit in summer where temperatures can climb to over 125F! It’s one of the hottest places on earth. In the winter time, it’s a place of harsh winds and beautiful, ethreal scenery. The weather cleared for us so getting out of the car wasn’t a problem. Every bend brought a new view. As darkness decended, I captured a beautiful sunset over a mountain peak. We returned to Las Vegas in the dark.

Friday we checked out of the hotel and drove to Flagstaff, Arizona. It took all day. It was over an hour just crossing the Colorado River at Hoover Dam. Traffic on both sides was backed up over 5 miles. The slowdown was for tourists and a security check point. They are building a new bridge away from the dam that will alleviate traffic once it’s completed. The strangest sight, to me, was all the power lines and towers. Lake Mead was created when Boulder Dam was built in 1931. The dam was later renamed Hoover Dam.

When we reached the hotel in Flagstaff, it was 9 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill factor that put it down at 0.

Saturday we drove from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon and spent the day exploring and photographing from the various viewpoints. Needless to say, I took lots of photos! Richard and I had been to the Canyon in early 1980’s and I had been there previously with my mother in the 70’s but this was our first winter trip to the area. It was beautiful with the snow, if a bit dangerous. I took one spill on white ice that landed me on my back. I wasn’t hurt but lay there a moment, taking stock, with a group of people staring down at me. The men helped me upright when I was ready. I’m really greatful to them. I don’t think I could have made it up alone. You know that cartoon of the kid so encased in winter clothes he falls over backwards and can’t get up? Yeah. That was me. LOL  Another adventure. I got to drive on ice. My first time. It was interesting. Richard said I did a great job.

Saturday night we visited the Lowell Observatory and looked at the stars through 2 different telescopes. The next day we drove on to Phoenix and stayed the night with Lin before flying back to Orlando.