Day 4,187 found us in Sin City itself, Las Vegas Nevada!  We arrived in Las Vegas at 6:30 AM, which was about an hour and a half ahead of schedule due to an early escape from Jackson.  The great thing about Vegas is everything is open almost all the time.  We naturally went to the classiest joint on the strip for breakfast: IHOP.  There are no words to capture the strange enjoyment one gets from seeing someone eating their Rutti Tutti Fresh and Fruity in their club clothes.  It makes you wonder if this is the cap to a good or bad night in Vegas.  There is a sociological study to be done here by someone.

I scheduled us for early check in at the Luxor (the big pyramid), but we were still an hour and half away from that.  The troops (myself included) were getting restless after a long drive, however, so I sprang into action to try and get us in the room early.  Many of negotiations and/or confrontations can be distilled to a signaling game between two parties.  Kati has heard this before, and has shouted several times that “EVERYTHING IS NOT A SIGNALING GAME, MATT!” which – ironically – is in and of itself a signal.  I had also read up on Las Vegas etiquette before the trip, so I knew tipping desk staff for things like upgrades or comps is proper form.  Before going to the desk I pulled a $20 out of my wallet and folded it carefully so the denomination was hidden.  After I got to the desk, I put the bill under my wallet so visible but not obvious.  The nice lady at the desk told me our rooms were not ready yet, but she had an upgrade to two clean rooms beside each other in the towers connected to the pyramid.  Mission accomplished.  It is also worth mentioning that she may have intended those rooms for us anyway, or given us an upgrade regardless of what I did.  She may have also fed me a line of BS longer than the strip.  I guess in the end, though, we both win since we were happy to get in the room early.

After a quick 3 or 4 hour nap (7 in Becky’s case), we started our exploration of the strip.  Josh, Chunk and I played a few slots in the early afternoon with everyone losing.  I was able to play my first $20 for several hours, though, out of sheer luck.  Our favorite game was the Wizard of Oz slot game.  When you sit down you have to pick whether you are Dorothy, the Lion, Scarecrow, or Tin Man.  There are four slots connected here so you could theoretically have one of each.  If you get three bonus symbols on the game, you trigger a “big event” where the Wizard shows up on a big screen above the bank of slots.  He then dolls out wild cards, bonus spins, etc. to the entire group.  For example, he’ll shout “Scarecrow!  I grant your request…and provide you ONE WILD!”  We never won much here, but the shiny objects, colors, and loud noises kept me entertained for $20, as dollars are the official measurement of time, distance, and quantity in Las Vegas. 

"Josh, I grant your request...and provide you TWO HOURS SLEEP!"

After Becky rejoined humanity we made the mistake of walking from the Luxor on the south end of the strip to the Bellagio in the middle.  I do not care if it is a dry heat, 110 degrees is hot.  We ducked in and out of casinos to both see the inside and stave off heat stroke.  Whatever the approximately 500 individuals handing out cards for “female companionship” on the strip are making is not enough.  Lesson learned, though.  We took a cab for anything over one block after this. 

Our last picture before the heal claimed us

For dinner we took in the Bellagio buffet. It was an hour wait, but totally worth it. They had everything on this buffet – steak, pasta, pizza, sushi, Chinese, French, dessert, etc. The crazy thing is the food was actually good. I could have ordered the pesto tortellini on any menu and been excited. The tragic part of the buffet is eventually you will fill up without sampling everything you want. With a combined 1,100 pounds of humanity at the table, though, that took a long, long time.

After the buffet we hit the casino at the Luxor for a nightcap.  Grand total, Kati and I lost $100 combine.  We planned to spend about this much gambling and were simply happy to have it last as long as it did.  Chunk and Becky ended in the red, too, but expected as much.  BUT, did you know that if you are playing in the casino they will bring you drinks?  Drinks for FREE?  I empirically observed a direct correlation between the tip you give the cocktail waitress and the frequency of visits (signaling game again).  The big winner was Josh, however, as hit it big playing “Pharaoh’s Gold.”  He ended $220 in the black and walked out of Vegas a winner.  Let’s go to Josh for the winner’s comments:

“I was down to $0.67 at one point.  This goes to show you should NEVER stop gambling, because it’s always darkest before the dawn.” 

My money is somewhere on the casino floor

Up Next: The Mob Attraction, Titanic, Tigers, and Cirque de Solei.

Random States:

Hours Driven: 68

Average Buffet Items Sampled: 47

Bellagio Profit from our buffet purchase: -$83.42

Hours of slots played: $100

Quote of the Day:

“………………………….”

-          Little girl when Chunk gave her all his carnival tickets.  While an incredibly nice gesture, she wasn’t sure if she should run or cower from the big scary man.