Friday, November 19, 2010

No-Poem # 17: Las Vegas Mish Mash

No poem today.I'm too excited to fill you in on my vacation.
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Finally, I have adequate internet service! I can show and tell that last Saturday JB and I began a week's vacation in Sedona AZ. We've survived a Minnesota blizzard, visited family in Tuscon, met up with my friend Linda in Phoenix, and settled into a one bedroom timeshare in Sedona.
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But not for long! JB and I travel well together, we plan but we don't plan. We are pretty relaxed about what we do when and we don't mind gallivanting. We started off today in a cafe where I drew and colored and JB wrote and read, then we walked along a stream to one of Sedona's four vortexes (natural healing energy centers), and later we took a Pink Jeep sunset trip through the canyon. In between all this, we ate. :)
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But I'm getting ahead of myself. Today I want to show you Las Vegas. JB and I hopped in our rental car on Tuesday and we drove five hours through the desolate Mojave Desert until we reached the bigger-than-life city of Las Vegas.
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We stayed overnight in a very nice hotel room for $ 35, such a low price that is typical in Vegas since people like me will be willingly handing over gambling money to the string of casinos on the 'strip.' We had the most incredible dinner buffet at the high end Belaggio Hotel--the best buffet I've ever seen--at another unbelievably low price.
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And we played the slot machines. Did we ever. I LOVE the slots. I won $ 700 in the first half hour--normally I lose my way through the orgasmic thrill of it all--but this time I played with the casino's money all day, all night, and into the following morning. I left with $ 550 profit in my pocket--how cool is that?
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It was quite an experience to experience Las Vegas and then head to the dusty unpaved roads of the Grand Canyon West, but all these contrasts have been the best part of this vacation.
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Okay, I've talked enough. Here are mish mash photos from Las Vegas:



















$ 12 for a side of potatoes???!
This is the menu of a very fancy restaurant in a very fancy hotel :)

Hand blown glass on the lobby ceiling of that very fancy hotel





And off the lobby, a larger than life Autumn display of a magical forest...












The music started and the water danced
This was amazing!!! JB and I are unknowingly walking over the Bellagio bridge and from nowhere the water shot up and the music began, all in unison. Have you ever seen anything like this, because it was like watching a ballet. Totally amazingly beautiful.
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One more day to go. Tomorrow: a train ride on one of only two remaining locomotives in North America on the Verde Canyon Railroad.
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Gratefully, a good week. A very good week.
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Love
kj

15 comments:

  1. "We plan but don't plan". Yes, this is the way I think one must plan.

    Photos are great, and I hope you enjoy well. By the way, how much you won in casino?

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  2. oh lovely, glad you are having a good time and glad you won money. I love the thrill of slots but they make me so nervous!!

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  3. Buzz and Barb did the pink jeep sunset ride and the train ride you'll be doing today. They loved both!

    Did Dale Chihuly do the blown glass installaton at the B??? That place looks amazing. I had a very wealthy friend who stayed there often. Must be nice!

    I'm so glad you two are having a wonderful time! The fountains and music went off just for you ;)

    I was reading the potato menu. They come with a little somethin' somethin' I see. They're not your average potatoes! Probably worth the 12 bucks.

    Yippee zippeeee!! A win at the slots!! I like hearing that.

    Enjoy your last day there. Catch you on this end soon!


    xoxoxo
    lo♥♥

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  4. the water spurts and music. wow. it is quite a town I guess. Full of glitz. glad you won some money and had fun.

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  5. Las Vegas is not my sort of place though that 550 profit sounds nice :-), I am glad you had fun though and the not planning thing is the best. I hope you took as many photos of the Grand Canyon, that is more my style.Have a wonderful last vacation day! xoxo

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  6. Great photos! I know that the Vega$ part was something you really looked forward to.... the glitz, the glam, (the potatoes) ha-ha! Lo, I think Chihuly DID make that glass "ceiling" at Bellagio....isn't it amazing?
    and..dancing, musical fountains....
    although I have never (YES, NEVER) been to Vega$, I have seen them "perform" in a few films....

    It is a whole other world...and the contrasts between it and the canyons, deserts and mesas is enlightening and even inspiring....

    And....last, how fun to win $$$$$....and bring some of it home!

    Looking forward to seeing more photos soon!

    Love you, "KJB",

    ♥ Robin ♥

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  7. So glad to see and hear you are having such a good time! Las Vegas is a great place for so many people, and you did it! you won!!
    My favorite place about Vegas is Red Rock Canyon, no where near the strip.
    enjoy today! the train sounds fun!

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  8. Fantastic Photo's Kj And I'm so glad you are having such a wonderful time!

    I have a love/hate relationship with Las Vegas... but when I'm there it's mostly love... except for the noise!

    Wow a profit off the slots!!! Go spend it on something for you and JB!

    Love and hugs~Pattee

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  9. shubhajit, i won $ 550. in hundred dollar bills. i've counted them a dozen times! :)

    mim, the slots make me excited: the thrill of it all!

    lo, yes, chihuly, i need to attribute more often. i slack off and i shouldn't. the train ride today was just amazing, one of a kind. loved every minute of the four hours of moving slow into the canyons.

    suki, in a new age kind of neon way, las vegas is like new york or paris: one of a kind. it's real and not real at the same time. lori is right: it's not for everyone. but man is it colorful!

    annie, the grand canyon west was a disappointing bust, but the canyons and desert here and around sedona are so beautiful. i will probably be posting more photos that you will even want to see! :)

    robin, meet you in las vegas! :)♥

    lori, the train was great fun: we were in a stainless steel car from the 1930's and for four hours the train meanandered slowly into and through the canyons--such beauty. no bald eagles but i did see a red tail hawk and once inhabited caves from 900-1400. and the streams and peaks and cottonwood trees and canyons and mountains......♥

    pattee, i am putting my money into a money sleeve that sits i keep in the middle of a book on my office bookshelf and it will be my slush fund :)

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  10. Wow, what a great vacation you are having. I am feeling sorry for myself for not having any at all this year. :(
    Vegas....hmmm. When you a Reno girl you tend to have a wee bit of a different feeling about LV than most anyone else. I haven't been there since the Bellagio was built and I must admit that it looks spectacular (that ceiling!)
    Can't believe your luck at the slots! Congratulations and you deserved it.

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  11. When you mentioned Vegas I thought about you and slot machines!
    I still remembered that! Glad you won!
    Love that glass ceiling! Gorgeous!!!!

    ♥♥♥
    >M<

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  12. That lobby ceiling looks like it is filled with different coloured jelly fish! How amazing. And, $12 for a side of spuds? Even more amazing.

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  13. I love the jellyfish glass.

    $12 seems like a lot, but if was packed with lobster that kind of changes the equation a bit. But I'd probably have it as an entree.

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  14. Love the hand blown glass - and good to know lady luck smiled on you Kj*!*

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  15. What a great vacation - and to come away with extra money too - has to be good! I love your photo of the glass - amazing installation.x

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