this exit- a vegas trip

'This Exit' we stopped for a toilet break in Baker.

the arrow points to Area 51 and where

nothing but a toilet really is.

on the way back we will look for an alien or two-

but right now we have places to go!

then we were back on the road, heading towards

the dark clouds - and the desert

rain storms were very colorful.

-

arriving in Las Vegas...

we pulled up to the Wynn and went up to our

room in the Encore tower.

what was the view from our window?

a few abandoned

construction sites that were left part done-

a sad view-

due to the recession hitting

Vegas so hard.

one of the holes

was where the old Stardust was.

but...

after reading about it

in the

local newspaper that was left for us on the desk...

James decided to put on an optimistic face despite

the industrial carnage below.

so---

we headed downstairs for a very relaxing and lovely dinner at Sinatra....

best caesar salad i think i have ever had,

[perhaps because that's the way Frank would have had it]-

and then it was back up the elevator to the 26th floor,

for a good night's rest

and a big day of bright light adventure awaiting...

[so glad Circus Circus is still over there on the left]

to be cont...

---

so then we did things like walked around and ate dinner and walked

around and looked at the many people walking up and down the strip.

there were people only looking upwards, people denying the people handing out flyers for

nude dance clubs, people who looked like they didn't want to walk anymore,

people who looked extremely lost, drunk people falling into the bushes and

even joggers weaving in and out of the strip walkers...

so

then we decided to escape

to a quiet, dark place at the far reaches of the strip.

a place where underwater creatures swim above and around you-

moving on-

after a few days of too much over the top-ness and topless this and

number one in town that and best of everything votes by whomever...

it was time to head home and recharge our heads

along with our internal batteries.

so

then it was back on the road -

and while

driving in a daze of desert wonderment,

i happened to glance over at a car passing us up...

we followed this car for several miles-

it led us to another planet... a place not much unlike that of a mini mart,

where one could find energizing-

out of this world - tasty treats such as alien jerky and

pistachios made by the local aliens themselves.

they were extra nice and even offered us a sample---

but then it was time to say our

goodbyes and traveled the rest of the way to what we call

home.