Welcome to Vegas

March 2017 - Las Vegas NV

Here are links to the detailed posts from last week that I finally got done this week in Las Vegas.
March 2017 - Los Angeles to Las Vegas

Weekly Recap
Day 1 Los Angeles
Day 2 LA to Monterey
Day 3 Monterey and area
Mission at Carmel
Day 4 Monterey to Solvang including Hearst Castle
Day 5 Solvang
Day 6 Solvang to Bakersfield includes San Luis Obispo
SLO Mission
Day 7 Bakersfield to Las Vegas
Boron CA
Bloomin' Vegas

Mexican Resort Hopping



Saturday we did a quick tour of downtown Bakersfield before we hit the road for Las Vegas.
Here's a quick overview, lots more murals to come.



Bakersfield's Fox Theater opened on Christmas Day, 1930, with the feature film Just Imagine, a sci-fi film set 50 years in the future. The 1930s were a strong period for the Fox Theater. The silver screen featured the latest "talkie" pictures, and the stage was graced by numerous acts including Bakersfield native Metropolitan Opera baritone Lawrence Tibbett (1933); world-renowned soprano Kirsten Flagstad (1939); the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1939); and the classic pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1940).

Because of the Fox Theater's Type I construction of poured concrete over steel, the theater withstood the 1952 Kern County earthquake which shook Bakersfield and leveled many buildings throughout the city.

We were on the road around 11:30 for Las Vegas.
Interesting cloud formations, I named the one on the left King King.

A bathroom stop.

John swears that this gave him heartburn.

Turns out Bill and Carol have a son living here as well as Bill's brother! It is 4,500 feet above sea level and it got cold.

We know the Twenty Mule Team from a trip to Death Valley a few years ago.

We decide to detour and make a visit. It warrants a post of its own.

Taking highway 58 for two hours of the trip was a change from our usual route.

Town of Baker CA, home of the world's largest thermometer. It accurately reports the temperature.

Crossing into Nevada.

I caught a glimpse of Seven Magic Mountains. We may go back later this week.

As we go through Vegas to our exit, there is creative art work on the underpasses.

We're back at the Wyndham Grand Desert and get settled. There was a ton of stuff to take out of the car.

We have a one bedroom deluxe which means a full (FULL) kitchen (woo hoo) and a jacuzzi tub along with walk-in shower. It is larger than the standard one bedroom.

Sunday after a members' update and a $100 US "gift" it was grocery day to stock up for a few days, stops at Smith's and Whole Foods.

Then some pool time. Pools from our room, this time we are facing away from the strip.
The pool on the right is 18+ thank goodness as it is spring break here and the "family" pool is packed.

We walked to Planet Hollywood for dinner at P F Chang's, a mile each way.


Monday after a nice leisurely breakfast John headed out to golf at Revere Golf Course with a pal.

I took the shuttle to Harrah's and then walked over to Bally's. The rejuvenated sidewalk section is complete.

There's a Starbucks, Wahlburgers and Big and Rich's Redneck Rivera.

My lunch.

You never know what you'll see.

It started pouring rain (John never got rained on) so I popped into the Born and Raised Bar.

I crossed the pedestrian bridge to Bellagio's, my original destination. The rain clouds were hanging around.

Looking south.

Looking north.

Bellagio, The Conservatory, the spring display, I think is the best ever. If you click here you will see links to the various displays  that we've seen since 2012.

But you know I'm only going to give you a teaser here.

This is behind the registration desk, the line up was really long and roped off.

I never tire of photographing this Chihuly ceiling.

Tuesday we met our friends from Mazatlan for breakfast, they live here in Vegas when they are not RVing.

We went into Von's to see if they had Schar bread but they didn't.

Then we went to the factory outlets and I picked up three dresses, four t-shirts and John got some shorts and t-shirts. We both got new Bose headsets using our $100 timeshare credit.


We came back to the condo, parked and got the shuttle to Harrah's. From there we walked to the Linq, had some chips at Gordon Ramsey's and walked over to Bally's.

We picked up some show tickets and then stopped for a beer. There was big excitement as Mark Walhburg was expected with his family. We watched all the preparations but left before he showed.

But in the interest of providing the latest information here is the news announcement of his visit just in case anyone cared.

Film star Mark Wahlberg joined his star-chef brother, Paul Wahlberg, in formally launching Wahlburgers at Grand Bazaar Shops. He rambled to the Strip-side eatery at Bally’s about 90 minutes behind schedule, after his appearance at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace to promote the upcoming “Transformers: The Last Knight.” But the couple hundred fans jammed at the restaurant’s entrance didn’t seem to care about Wahlberg’s punctuality, as the crowd roared at the arrival of the onetime Marky Mark.

John wanted to see the conservatory at Bellagio, seemly my pictures didn't cut it compared to seeing the real thing.

We caught the tail end of the Bellagio fountain display. And then got some different shots from that side of the Strip.

We walked back to the condo and settled in for the evening.

You never know what you'll see! Corner of Koval and Harmon. Hard day at work???

Wednesday John took the car for an oil change before we head home.

After lunch we decided to drive out to Seven Magic Mountains that I had seen from the highway on the way in.
Internationally renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains is a large-scale site-specific public art installation located near Jean Dry Lake and Interstate 15, approximately ten miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Comprised of seven towers of colorful, stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high, Seven Magic Mountains is situated within the Ivanpah Valley adjacent to Sheep Mountain and the McCullough, Bird Spring, and Goodsprings ranges of mountains. A creative expression of human presence in the desert, Seven Magic Mountains punctuates the Mojave with a poetic burst of form and color. The exhibition opened May 11, 2016 and will be on view for two years.

It was unbelievably sunny and bright out in the desert.

We had tickets for a show at Bally's at 5:30, perfect time as all shows are 90 minutes so we will be out by 7 and head back to condo for a leisurely dinner.

The show was really good. Father, two sons and some other band members. You can read their bio here.

Thursday turned out to be an interesting weather day.

It dawned sunny and really warm in the 80s. John was supposed to golf but they had moved it to Friday due to a wind warning.

Within a few hours this pool will be closed due to the winds. They had to vacuum and clean it out the next morning. You could see t he amount of sand that had blown into it from our room.

We were going to go to the movies, but there wasn't really anything on that we wanted to see. But we went over to the Palms anyway to have another hit of Chronic Tacos that we had tried on Friday in San Luis Obispo and loved it. I WANT one in Toronto!!

Winds are picking up but still some blue and it is mid 80s.

Met a bartender who had worked for Guy Fieri and he said he actually is a really nice guy.

We went to T-Mobile to switch my phone. Then we had a couple of places in mind to visit.

Next stop was the "weird" building at W Bonneville. From the highway.

Frank Gehry, FAIA, had always turned down commissions in Las Vegas, knowing that the city would inevitably turn his architecture into yet another theme. But Ruvo, a salesman on a crusade, won the architect over with the prospect of designing an Alzheimer’s research center in the emerging 61-acre Symphony Park, a development that aims to revitalize downtown Las Vegas, away from the lights of the Strip. The two made a deal. Gehry would design the building if Ruvo would stretch the research mandate to include Huntington’s disease, which Gehry has long championed. With Gehry signed on, Ruvo—who had lost his father, Lou, to Alzheimer’s—tried to enlist a research institution that would occupy and run the building. “I believe that with a great building, people will come,” Ruvo says. In 2009, two years after construction started, the Cleveland Clinic signed on.

Across the street, no easy feat as the winds were really picking up.

The dust is really moving in now.

Tracked down some murals. I'll save the really good ones for a separate post!

Time to pick up last minute groceries. Storm is definitely picking up!

Just across from the condo. And wow, we stepped out and the temperature at dropped at leasr 20 degrees!

Watching the news at 5 we were astounded to see our corner showing the power poles that had fallen.

Now if we had had January's unit we would have seen it all!

Here's the location from our last unit. This time we're facing the pool area. It is amazing that no one was hurt, this is a busy street. The condo shuttle uses it all the time. We had driven it to lunch today.

We popped up, grabbed cameras and coats and headed out.

Too cold to stay long! So glad we planned on eating in. We had thought about going to Ellis Island Casino on that street but am glad we didn't as they had no power.

Friday dark and gloomy as John got ready to golf. His buddy called and they cancelled their game.

We ended up packing. That involved rearranging suitcases again. So John's large blue one contains the stuff we won't need until we get home and it is already in the car.
Mine has the rest of our stuff, the maybes. Then the carry on bag has what we need for the week. We plan on being home by Friday.

Then I prepared vegetables for salads, made egg sandwiches for lunch tomorrow and a potato salad. We plan on having the sandwiches as we drive to Gallup NM and then have a large salad/potato salad for dinner. Tuna salad for Sunday and that should use up the produce.

Got the crab legs prepared for John's birthday dinner tonight.

DINNER

Saturday - cheese and crackers
Sunday - P F Chang's chicken wraps, Mongolian beef and spicy chicken
Monday - sweet and sour meatballs, broccoli and rice
Tuesday - leftovers from Sunday and Monday
Wednesday - chicken thighs potatoes carrots celery stew
Thursday - cooked the rest of the chicken we had and spiced it up with curry and spices served over rice
Friday - crab legs!!

BOOKS
Funny I thought I would get some reading in, but it never happened.