We really slept in today. We didn’t even get out of bed until after noon. We took showers, ate in, and then I did three loads of laundry in the campground Laundromat, which was right next to their fabulous store. I got a Mocha Granita (which is a sugary slushie drink) and made some phone calls while I waited for the laundry to finish.
New York, New York:
I spoke to our friend, Artie, He said we have to stop thinking of Las Vegas as a place to gamble, and think of it as a giant theme park. He said to visit NEW YORK, NEW YORK and PARIS, the LUXOR PYRAMID and some of the fancy hotels, just to see the sights. He also recommended the car museum, which Eric will love.
I spoke to our friend, Jimmy. He said we have to go to see some of the shows and also recommended the LIBERACE MUSEUM, which he said was fabulous. I really want to see that, but Eric’s not very enthusiastic. I’ll see how Geri and Larry feel about it!
After the laundry was done, Eric took me over to the strip where I had seen a sign for the LAS VEGAS NAIL SALON AND SPA. I didn’t know if they would be able to accommodate me, but I really needed a pedicure! The place was super fancy (like most Las Vegas establishments!) with lots of mirrors, gold-framed pictures and massage pedicure chairs in a circle in the middle. They were able to take me right away and I got a pedicure by Nancy, which was the absolute best I’ve had since I left New York. She gave me a reflexology massage on my feet that had me in heaven. After that, she tweezed and shaped my eyebrows, and I would have gotten a manicure, too, but I didn’t have time before we had to go meet our cousin, Audrey, for dinner.
We met Audrey a few miles from the strip at SAMMY’S WOODFIRED PIZZA. It’s one of her favorite places and it sounded right up our alley. We shared an appetizer of hummus (garbanzo beans, lemon, tahini, and garlic with grilled herb flat bread), a Margherita pizza (a classic with roma tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil), and the grilled shrimp salad (mixed greens, bell peppers, roma tomatoes, feta cheese, roasted sunflower seeds, scallions, cilantro, grilled garlic shrimp and balsamic basil dressing). It was all so good and the salad was fantastic. I love a chopped salad with lots of great stuff.
We decided to go for a ride in the RV to DAIRY QUEEN for dessert (but Audrey passed – I hate her for her discipline!). I got a small peanut butter shake and Eric got a “Butterscotch Dilly” which was an ice cream popsicle with a butterscotch shell.
It was so great to see Audrey again. It had been a couple of years since we had seen her (when she was in New York) but it’s as if we saw each other yesterday. We know each other so well, and it’s always comfortable and easy. Audrey is so funny, so she’s a lot of fun to be around. She had us laughing and was telling us stories about Vegas, but also gave us lots of good advice about places to go and things to do.
We were so lucky to have her here, because she works at THE STRATOSPHERE and was able to get Geri and Larry a great deal on a room. She told us that CIRCUS CIRCUS KOA CAMPGROUND was a great place for us to stay, and has given us a lot of info on what to do and what to avoid. She’s a great resource, and great company, too!
Since she had been on vacation in North Carolina and just got back to town yesterday, she was pretty exhausted, so we dropped her back at her car and then decided to drive around the strip to see more than we saw last night. We went all the way down and came all the way back, so we got to see everything on the strip.
It’s really fabulous to see all the lights, all the people (the streets were REALLY crowded tonight, because the weather was much better and there was no wind), and all the advertisements. Most of the billboards are really electronic, so the pictures change and some of them are more like TVs or movie screens! It’s very exciting to walk or drive down the strip. We passed NEW YORK, NEW YORK, and PARIS, which I definitely want to see close-up. It will be like being back in New York! Well, maybe not exactly, but it will be close!
We returned to the campground and did some research on mountain biking in Las Vegas. There’s a place called RED ROCK, which is just 20 miles away and we’re heading there tomorrow morning to see if Eric can get in a ride before we meet Geri and Larry tomorrow afternoon.