Kathie and I traveled to Las Vegas in February to see the strip and other sites in the area. The highlights of the vacation actually occured outside Vegas. We probably had the best time on our plane/helicopter/boat tour of the Grand Canyon, riding ATVs in the desert north of Vegas and visiting Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) with our new found vacation friends Michele and Earl (as in my name is Earl).
We stayed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel which is on the south end of the strip right next to the airport. It was a nice hotel, but getting up to see the rest of the strip could be tiresome, especially if you're wearing heels(Kathie). Knowing what we do now, we probably would have stayed at a hotel like MGM, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio or the Venetian where we could have easy access to the monorail on the east side of the strip. It made getting up and down the strip from MGM north a lot easier and was worth the ticket price. There is a tram/train that runs from Mandalay to Luxor and Excalibur and just shy of New York New York, but you have to cross the strip and walk up to and through the MGM to reach the train.
Stomp Out Loud was the only Show we had time to see while in Vegas, and it was very good.
Pictures:
Welcome to Vegas
Where we stayed
Kathie in front of New York New York and the MGM
Us before the Stomp Out Loud show
View from the Stratosphere
Our hotel and casino
MGM
Kathie on the plane from Boulder City Airport to the Grand Canyon
Looking at Hoover on the way to the Canyon
Looking at Lake Mead on the way to the Grand Canyon
Lake Mead
Arizona desert mountain
Airport view of Grand Canyon on South Rim
Kathie waiting for our helicopter
Helicopter
Me waiting for the helicopter
Our helicopter
Canyon
Kathie in the Canyon
Canyon views
Canyon and Colorado River
Kathie on her way down to the boat ride
Sylvia
Boat Riding with Michele and Earl
Cactus
Sky Bridge made by the Hualapai
Guano Point on the Hualapai Reservation
Guano Point
Guano Point
Heading back to the Boulder City airport on the plane
The strip from far away
ATV riding with Via Tours near the Valley of Fire (thanks to Earl and Michele)
Hoover Dam area. View of new bridge being constructed to bypass the dam.
Earl, Kathie and Michele on the way from the garage to the dam tour.
You might need to be a civil engineer or power system junkie to appreciate this work of art.
Another view of the towers over the canyon walls to the power station at the bottom of the dam.
Descriptive photo of dam area
Welcome to the dam
Rotor out of Nevada side generator being overhauled
Looking down the power units in the Nevada side powerhouse.
Pics on the overlook during the tour
The dam seal
The dam
The power plants at the bottom of the dam
The Nevada side intake towers (think transformers movie)
The dam seal
Lake Mead behind the dam
More Mead
Earl in Arizona as I take his picture from Nevada
Another look down the dam to the power houses
Generator step up transformers, steel, surge arresters and voltage transformers on the Nevada power house
What photo album is complete without Buster?
