Vegas Trip!

[Backlash]

My wife and I planned a trip out to Vegas to get away so we could thoroughly enjoy ourselves..... without any kids. This weekend was the perfect weekend to do so! I booked a room for us at a "New" resort where we haven't yet stayed. I also made plans for one day without her knowing, and the rest of the weekend was left "Wide open."

We're off!

We hit minimal traffic on our way out which was a nice surprise.

We were making great time, slipping past the slower drivers on our way through the he high desert. I'm always amazed at how many people insist on driving in the fast lane.....at 65mph.

After passing through Barstow, we started to hit some rain.

 

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We made our normal stop for gas in Baker and picked up some snacks from the Mad Greek.

Spell check must not have worked when they made this sign....

 

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Back on the road to once again pass all of the same slow drivers. LMAO! We hit some more traffic due to a semi that had caught fire. I don't know anything other than what we saw....

We kept on trucking along and made it to Primm. I couldn't believe how much water was standing in the dry lake bed! This was on the south side of town.

 

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I knew it had rained quite a bit last weekend, but I thought this would have all dried up by the time we passed through.

It was flooded from the golf course all the way in to town, on both sides of the freeway. Pretty crazy!!

We didn't stop in Primm but zoomed right on through. We got to Vegas and found our hotel for the weekend. Virgin Hotel and Casino. We haven't stayed here but thought we would give it a try. It is the old Hard Rock Hotel between The Strip and Paradise Blvd. The entrance to the hotel was decent and there is either valet parking or self parking in the adjacent structure. Once inside, the lobby area was also fairly nice. They are definitely working towards a "Trendy" or "Modernist" feel for the facility. Once inside we headed up to our room.

 

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The room itself was nice and pretty spacious for the two of us.

 

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Once we unpacked our belongings, we realized there was something wrong with the room. It was FREEZING!!!

We quickly bumped the thermostat up to 80, and left our room for the evening. The plan was to stretch our legs and walk over to the Strip.

 

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Las Vegas Boulevard hasn't changed much since our last visit a year ago. Everywhere we went, there is still an overwhelming stench from the weed. It's literally everywhere and it's disgusting. I don't know if the E-cigs or vape pens with all the stupid scented oils are making it worse, but that shit is everywhere too. People were packed in like sardines on all of the sidewalks and the motorists were damn near running people over at the crosswalks. It was pretty much a shit show. But since we enjoy "People watching," it suits us just fine.

I tried to focus on the positive and managed to catch some cool pictures considering I was using a cell phone. The clouds were incredible!

We walked from the Cromwell down to the Trump casino and back again. It rained a little bit along the way, but nothing worth worrying about. It was still warm and humid, especially for Las Vegas standards.

 

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Tired and worn out, we hit the sack sometime around 1:00am. Shivering.

I woke up late the next morning, and with my half-closed eyes, saw something on the wall. So I got up to check it out....

Apparently, my wife couldn't sleep, so she woke up to try her best to damn the flow. Pretty creative use of the binder clips. We later realized that the room A/C couldn't be completely turned off. I guess there is some type of "Master A/C" for the entire building that couldn't be turned off or adjusted. Poor thing, I felt bad for her!!

 

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I knew we had a schedule to keep today, so I had to get her out of the hotel, at a certain time, without telling her where we were going or what we were doing. If you're married, you know how easy this can be.

We ended up at the MGM where she threw some cash down on the Roulette table. Excellent choice!! She usually does really well, and could certainly put some money back in our account. We'll, not today. Burned through a thin wad of cash rather quickly, so we headed out!

Our pickup was scheduled to meet us at the valet lot on the street level. No problem! I knew what the bus looked like and figured we'd get there a bit early. So we hung out and chatted enjoying the warm breeze. As we got closer to our pickup time, I confirmed with the valet that we were at the correct lot.

No. You have to go back inside, down the stairs, and out the doors on the other side.

Shit!!! So we took off, now speed-walking through the casino like a couple of blue hairs in the Silver Sneakers Club! We found the right lot, but no tour bus with a familiar logo. We started walking around as I called the company directly. The receptionist stayed on the line with me, giving me directions to where the bus was parked, but we still couldn't find it! We ran all the way out of the parking structure, only to find this tour bus parked behind a semi trailer. We'll, at least they didn't leave us.

 

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We drove around to a few other stops and picked up another couple. We also left one hotel WITHOUT picking up a couple, so I felt pretty lucky to have made it on the bus in time.

We pulled in to the parking lot and hopped out of the bus. After going inside and checking in with the staff, we were given our boarding pass numbers and told our pilot would be with us shortly.

 

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She was smiling and seemed excited, so I think this was a good surprise!!

 

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We took off from the airport and taxied around the smaller hangars where a fleet of lear jets were parked. After turning around, and receiving our clearance from the tower, we were off!

Our pilot flew us out from Vegas and headed east towards Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam.

 

[The Prisoner]

Beautiful pics. I was very impressed with the new Virgin rooms. As someone who always went to tge Hard Rock it’s a definite upgrade. In fact Friday I got an email for more comp rooms. Probably because all the money we donated last trip

 

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You can see below, just how low the lake really is. It's amazing. I know the level rose last week after the rains, but not enough to make much headway.

Below, you can see where the launch ramps are in relation to the water and the marina. It's insane. During our flyovers, I would say we saw less than 20 boats out on the water.

(Sorry about the reflections!)

 

[Backlash]

Beautiful pics. I was very impressed with the new Virgin rooms. As someone who always went to tge Hard Rock it’s a definite upgrade. In fact Friday I got an email for more comp rooms. Probably because all the money we donated last trip

Thank you for the compliment! This was our first time there, but yes Sir the rooms were nice. I would stay there again. I did find it odd that the pool closed at 7:00pm though.

 

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We flew over the lake for a bit then headed further east towards the west end of the Grand Canyon. We hit a few bumpy spots along the way, but only one lady got sick.

A lady in our group was from France, and she didn't speak any English. She was dressed to the 9's, with her white linen pants and linen jacket with trendy gold sunglasses. She was taking selfie's of herself the moment she got into the helicopter. That lasted about three minutes. She lost it the moment the pilot made the first turn over the airport. She managed to fill a number of bags throughout our trip!

 

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We flew over the Hualapai Indian Reservation located between Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon. Our pilot had a dry sense of humor and cracked a few jokes about arrows through the rotors. He was young for a pilot, but flew well and was quite entertaining throughout the trip.

We flew into the Grand Canyon and landed on a small flat area just south of the river. He may or may not have violated flight restrictions just prior to landing.

 

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As we were all enjoying the adventure and the flight into the canyon, somebody asked "What's that over there?"

I stood there, amazed, that a bighorn sheep would come strolling by as if to see what we were doing! He wasn't 100 yards away from us! He walked by, barely even looked in our direction, and continued on his merry way!

Our young pilot said he's flown here daily for quite some time, and this was the first sheep he had seen. Pretty awesome sighting!!

We wrapped up our snacks and drinks and loaded back up for the return flight home. What a blast!!

 

[boatpi]

Check out the Circa downtown and the new Resorts World, top floor. The steakhouse in Circa is one of the best in the city. Center Strip next to Harrah's are many new pubs and shops including the American Beer Garden. LinQ at the end of the walkway. Outlet Mall at north end always has some great deals if you are into shopping. Across the street from you is the Hoffbrow House, German food at its best and entertainment.

 

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PI, thank you for the recommendations! Lucky for me, my wife is not a shopper and won't spend money unless she has to. I'm the opposite, so we make a good pair. I have to support her gambling habit which usually works out well. For some reason, the tables didn't align with her this trip.

 

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After we left the Grand Canyon, we flew back towards Lake Mead and stopped along the way to top off fuel in the helicopter.

The landscape east of Las Vegas is incredible and viewed from the air, absolutely stunning. The colors of the water in the lake and the various colors of the surrounding desert can't be captured with a camera. Other than Lake Las Vegas, Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, it's desolate. Hard to believe this all used to be underwater not that long ago.

 

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Someplace, literally in the middle of nowhere.

 

[boatpi]

If you want an interesting lunch getting in a car and see if some of the places at the top of Mount Charleston are open for lunch it’s about 75° there most of the day and a 40 minute drive. Also the Valley of fire State Park is only 35 minutes north of Las Vegas like $10 to get in. Enter from the interstate 15 side go through the park when you come out the back side you’ll be at Lake Mead come back towards Lake Las Vegas and you could have lunch at the Westin on Lake Las Vegas.

 

[Backlash]

The pilot was informative throughout the day and even explained where portions of our fees were dispersed. Apparently the helicopter company has to pay fees to land in the Grand Canyon, and another portion of the fees go to the Hualapai indians. He didn't get into the details, but I'm certain the money was shared with those who live on the reservation and none was spent on the million dollar homes owned by the elders.

^^ Messing with the French lady on our way back. Check out the horizon.

Cresting the ridges on our way back to town, at a questionable elevation didn't seem to help either. I'm sure he was close to running out of "Souvenir bags" at this point.

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

Great pictures

 

[FreeBird236]

Thanks for the trip. Might want to pick up a lottery ticket at the Country Store on the way back, they just had a million dollar winner.

 

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[mudpuppy]

That was more than the " Nickel Tour" . That looked awesome. Thanks for sharing

 

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After flying over Fremont Street, we headed south directly over the 15 freeway. Our pilot made one more steeply angled turn, just to make sure that lady's stomach was completely empty. He warned her prior, but it didn't help.

We taxied along the south end of the airport, hovering only a few feet above ground. Terrible's hangar doors were closed, but I still felt the need to snap a quick picture.

We landed safely on the tarmac and watched as another bird taxied in to the landing zone. I'm not a pilot and don't know what it takes to fly these suckers, but these guys made it look easy. Fighting the winds in Vegas and the jet wash from some of the other nearby jets has to take a certain amount of skill.

We were both thrilled with our adventure and if you are looking for something fun, I would highly recommend you look into it. I booked this trip through Maverick helicopters and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. The only hiccup we had was waiting at the wrong valet lot to be picked up, which was my fault. Other than that, this was a fantastic experience and one I'd love to repeat in the future.

 

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We were both starving and my wife said she was craving some sausage. I thought that was a hint to return to our room, but that was not the case. We headed over to Hofbrauhaus for dinner where we absolutely stuffed ourselves!

We managed to arrive just before the music started. It was enjoyable and these guys were pretty enthusiastic!

We snacked on their pretzels and then ordered a dinner which we split. Everything was great, but we made sure to save room for the desert.

This is their version of banana pudding, and all I can say is this was frigging amazing!!!! If you go, I would recommend you go light on the dinner and save room for this!! The two of us couldn't finish it, but man was it tasty!!

 

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On our last trip to here, my wife got a spanking that could be heard around the world. She had a bruise and welts on her cheeks for three weeks. She wanted another shot and another spanking, without the muscle. So I politely asked our waitress if she could do it, and she was happy to accommodate us.

This time around was much better! Thank you Samantha! If anyone goes, please ask for her. She was polite, cheerful, and a joy to speak with. Somewhat of rarity in the Vegas food service industry.

 

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We left Hofbrauhaus and felt the need to walk off our dinner.

We walked from our hotel, to the Tropicana, then back up the strip with a stop off at Margaritaville for a drink. Just like the night before, massive crowds, hustlers, dirtbags from South Central, and that overwhelming stench of weed in the air. Even with the humid breezes, it was still everywhere. There was a lot of police and fire activity, and we later learned there was a shooting at the Mirage Casino. It's been awhile since I've seen that many police cars rolling Code 3 up a crowded Las Vegas Boulevard. There were some close calls with idiot pedestrians trying to run across the street at the same time. Morons! To those officers who were working and responding to that call that evening, nicely done!

 

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We walked several miles and enjoyed being outside in the warm summer air. In the few places you escape the stench of the Strip, it was pleasant.

We managed to make it back to our hotel safely around midnight, and found ourselves tired and worn out. We both showered to wash off the sweat, and fell asleep watching Casino..... appropriate.

 

[FlyByWire]

80 degrees and still too cold in the room? Sheeeesh!!

 

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80 degrees and still too cold in the room? Sheeeesh!!

LMAO! I know, weaksauce!!

We don't have air conditioning in our home in L.A. and it's perfect! So when we go to other places that DO have A/C, we rarely use it.

Parker in the summertime is the exception.

 

[Backlash]

I forgot to share a funny story from earlier in the trip. One night, we found our way up to Fremont Street, and lurked around for a bit. We weren't there for any particular reason, just walking around checking out the nonsense. We grabbed a few drinks and enjoyed the live bands and the street performers. Basically, a circus with a TON of drunk people everywhere! Folks seemed to be enjoying themselves whether they were drunk or not, whether they could dance or not, or whether they had a beautiful lady attached to their arm.

As we were walking east through the crowds, we noticed the police had set up a security checkpoint to search people entering the area. There was a decent sized crowd, but it moved quickly as it wasn't that late. Basically a TSA type search where people walked through metal detectors. No big deal.

So we continued on our way, and wound up at the east end of Fremont near the shipping container attraction. We realized we had reached the end of the line, so we turned around to head back down Fremont. Neither of us wanted to deal with the security checkpoint, so I came up with the bright idea to cut through an alley.

My wife was less than thrilled and questioned my decisions. I convinced her we would be fine as there was nobody else in this alley. For kicks and giggles, I told her we should take a picture! She said "Yeah, that way the police will know who to look for when we get kidnapped or killed by some wacko!"

The look on her face said it all...... "You're CRAZY!"

We'll, as luck would have it, the sketchy alley was a dead end. No outlet. So we turned around to head back to the main street. As we walked past a dumpster, this toothless goblin popped out from the shadows. He was carrying a stack of small cardboard boxes. I saw him, but he scared the shit out of my wife. We kept walking, me assuring her that everything was just fine. In my mind, I was already planning how I was going to fuck this dude up if he tried to grab either of us.

As we continued walking past him, he calls out to me as he falls in behind us.

"Gonna build a house with these."

I respond with my usual smartass type of response.... "Good luck with that."



My wife squeezed me and whispered "Babe, shut up!"

I couldn't help myself. We kept walking, and so did he.

 

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He yells at me "Luck!? I don't need no fucking luck!"

We continued walking. My wife squeezed my hand even harder as if telling me to "Shut up." By now I had one hand on my Emerson knife and was playing out a number of scenarios in my head. I didn't want to have anything to do with this dumbfuck, but I also wasn't going to be a victim who didn't fight back.

He continues yelling..... "You're going to need luck with a woman like that on your arm!"

I didn't know what he meant by that comment, but I didn't really care. I could feel this fucker getting closer to us and it was about to turn into something I didn't want to deal with.

As we got to the end of the alley, I saw the most beautiful sight a man in my predicttament could see. Three of the biggest black dudes you can imagine, standing outside of a bar on the sidewalk.

I guided my wife and I right between the three of them, excusing us as we walked past them. I started laughing! Man was I happy to see them! Mr. Homeless Goblin didn't have the stones to keep following us, and turned to walk in a different direction!

Then came the blows! My wife started using me as a punching bag! "Fuck Babe! What the fuck!?" This went on the entire way back to our car!! LMAO! All I could say to her was "I'm sorry" and "Fuck that guy!"

A moment she will NOT soon let me forget! Seeing that picture I took of us in that alley reminded me to share this little story. Note to self.....

Stay out of dark dead-end alleys while in Vegas.

 

[stephenkatsea]

Looks like you had a good weekend. We've began staying at the Trump Intl. It sits just off the strip and away from the stench and gangstas. We were there in late July. Outstanding view of the strip from our room on the 52nd floor. Discovered a China Town District we did not know was there and we've been doing Vegas since 1970. Had an outstanding Chinese dinner. We usually avoid the hotel-casino eateries. Find them crowded and over priced. Another fav is Bootleggers Bistro on south LV Blvd. Outstanding Italian.

 

[Backlash]

Looks like you had a good weekend. We've began staying at the Trump Intl. It sits just off the strip and away from the stench and gangstas. We were there in late July. Outstanding view of the strip from our room on the 52nd floor. Discovered a China Town District we did not know was there and we've been doing Vegas since 1970. Had an outstanding Chinese dinner. We usually avoid the hotel-casino eateries. Find them crowded and over priced. Another fav is Bootleggers Bistro on south LV Blvd. Outstanding Italian.

We wanted to check out Trumps hotel but didn't have time this trip. Maybe next time as the pool area looks inviting! As my wife is Chinese, we've spent some time in their version of Chinatown. There are some good eateries there too!

 

[AZmike]

Looks like a good trip to sin city! Crazy to see the aerial lake photos!

 

[Nordie]

There's a pretty cool little area in front of Ballys, stop and grab a Giordanos pizza. When you wanna get off the strip, head downtown, there's an amazing food place I tell everyone to go check out. Carson Kitchen is where I take all of my out of town guests, they love the food.

 

[charred1]

Where is Harry’s Haufbrau?

 

[RichL]

"Like " the entire thread.
Thanks for the play by play.

 

[Familyties]

Great Post and pictures

 

[gqchris]

He yells at me "Luck!? I don't need no fucking luck!"

We continued walking. My wife squeezed my hand even harder as if telling me to "Shut up." By now I had one hand on my Emerson knife and was playing out a number of scenarios in my head. I didn't want to have anything to do with this dumbfuck, but I also wasn't going to be a victim who didn't fight back.

He continues yelling..... "You're going to need luck with a woman like that on your arm!"

I didn't know what he meant by that comment, but I didn't really care. I could feel this fucker getting closer to us and it was about to turn into something I didn't want to deal with.

As we got to the end of the alley, I saw the most beautiful sight a man in my predicttament could see. Three of the biggest black dudes you can imagine, standing outside of a bar on the sidewalk.

I guided my wife and I right between the three of them, excusing us as we walked past them. I started laughing! Man was I happy to see them! Mr. Homeless Goblin didn't have the stones to keep following us, and turned to walk in a different direction!

Then came the blows! My wife started using me as a punching bag! "Fuck Babe! What the fuck!?" This went on the entire way back to our car!! LMAO! All I could say to her was "I'm sorry" and "Fuck that guy!"

A moment she will NOT soon let me forget! Seeing that picture I took of us in that alley reminded me to share this little story. Note to self.....

Stay out of dark dead-end alleys while in Vegas.

Love the updates. Thanks for sharing.

I grew up in Vegas. Where all those little trendy Fremont bars are was/is one of the most scariest places in the city. We saw some crazy shit there before it was gentrified.

Be careful of the homeless. Try not to even engage them. My first Ambulance call when I was an EMT was on the strip. A homeless individual stabbed a tourist in the neck with his wife right there. The guys point blank asked me if he was going to die. It was obvious he was dead, but ill never forget that call. Later fouund out that the bum asked him for money and he told him to get a job. He then got a Commando knife to the throat.

 

[Backlash]

Where is Harry’s Haufbrau?

It's on Paradise east of the MGM. I forget the cross street, but it's right on the corner.

 

[Backlash]

Love the updates. Thanks for sharing.

I grew up in Vegas. Where all those little trendy Fremont bars are was/is one of the most scariest places in the city. We saw some crazy shit there before it was gentrified.

Be careful of the homeless. Try not to even engage them. My first Ambulance call when I was an EMT was on the strip. A homeless individual stabbed a tourist in the neck with his wife right there. The guys point blank asked me if he was going to die. It was obvious he was dead, but ill never forget that call. Later fouund out that the bum asked him for money and he told him to get a job. He then got a Commando knife to the throat.

People don't understand the dangers of dealing with the homeless population. They are not "Normal" and many suffer from a number of issues, whether it's mental, narcotic or a combination of both of those issues. They are completely unpredictable which makes them extremely dangerous.

 

[Backlash]

Where is Harry’s Haufbrau?

I may have mispoke as the name doesn't include "Harry." I guess it's just Hofbrauhaus. Sorry! (There are two similar restaurants in CA that are named Harry's. Maybe that's where I got it from).

 

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After sleeping in the next morning, we found our way to the pool. It was nice, but definitely geared towards the party crowd. Essentially, there are two pools. One is for all of the hotel guests while the other is for folks who want to pay an additional entrance fee and experience something similar to the old MTV Spring Break days. That pool has music that is far too loud and it resonates around the entire Virgin property, regardless of where you are. They had several "Famous" DJ's working that pool this weekend, but all I heard was the constant pounding of bass. Not my scene, but others may enjoy it.

I prefer a more laid-back and relaxing atmosphere when relaxing by a pool, which was in short supply.

This is the pool designated for us peasants.