I finally remembered that Blogger will show the first picture in the blog. So now there's something other than typically the first meal I had!
Today we were planning on taking a trip up to Valley of Fire. Since I didn't rent a car from the airport, I rented one from The D. Not only did I save on much of the taxes and surcharges for renting from the airport, I also got a 10% discount.
The earliest I could pick up the car was at 8:00 AM, so a little before 8, Bob and I headed down to The D from Plaza. The morning walks down Fremont Street are much better than going at night, and we were there in no time.
There was a problem with the computer, so the check-in took a bit longer than I was anticipating, but we did get a nice Nissan Altima, plenty of room for the four of us. It even had a sun roof.
We drove back to Plaza and John was already having breakfast at the on-site McDonald's. I wanted something a bit more, so I suggested going to Binion's and use my comps. Joe and Bob agreed, and John hit the Plaza casino floor while we were having breakfast.
The "Gambler's Special" is apparently now known as "Gambler's Chip", which was still fine.
The breakfast formerly known as Gambler's Special. . .
Breakfast for three was $50.62, so I guess the days of cheap breakfasts are over. I think I had a 2-1 coupon I forgot though. I still had plenty of comps to pay for the meal.
I think we left around 11:00 AM, and arrived at Valley of Fire around noonish, well we arrived at the line to get into Valley of Fire at that time. . .
A wee bit of wait to get into the park. . .
We planned on doing a little hiking, so we were going up to White Domes loop. First, we made a photo stop at Beehives.
At Beehives. . .
We stopped at the visitor's center to get more water and souvenirs. We then drove up to White Domes.
At the parking area. . .
A look back at the pass we went through. . .
The remains of a movie set on White Domes Loop. From the 1966 movie, "The Professionals".
A thin pass we went through. . .
The home stretch. . .
I kinda forgot it was a loop, so when I saw a rood, I was a bit disappointed, since I thought we were "in the middle of nowhere" (but in a sense, we were), but at least we didn't have to hike the same way back!
We then headed to Fire Canyon and Silica Dome. I didn't know they filmed part of Star Trek: Generations here, and that this was also the place that Kirk died. I also heard that part of the bridge is still here on a path, so next time, I'll be sure to look for it.
Fire Canyon, and apparently my finger tip. . .
Silica Dome, and the resting place of James Tiberius Kirk. . .
We then headed to Mouse's Tank trail. We saw petroglyphs, which were cool. . .
Petroglyphs!
Petroglyphs!
Petroglyphs!
Petroglyphs!
Scenes along the way. . .
Scenes along the way. . .
We headed over to Elephant Rock, where the guys were underwhelmed and were in disagreement as to what was actually Elephant Rock.
We made a stop at one of the petrified logs.
It was petrifying!
We didn't stop at The Cabins, which look like something I'll want to check out on another trip.
We had a 7:15 PM dinner reservation at Oscar's with the potention of playing a 10:15 PM poker tournament at South Point, so we wanted to be rested and ready for these.
We left the park around 3ish, and after making a stop at Target to get distilled water (since Walgreen's was out on Thu, and I hadn't made time to check again since then), and an ATM stop for some people (including myself).
We got back to Plaza and went our separate ways until dinner. I got showered off and went down to try to "earn" my comped stay and generate future offers. My gambling so far had been awful, and today was no exception. Just pretty miserable overall. . .
We still had a little wait for our table at Oscar's. Even though we weren't by a window, it's still a pretty nice view.
Our view at Oscar's!
We started off with drinks, and I got a Sazerac!
The Sazerac!
Since it seems I always get lobster bisque, I felt this should be no different. . .
The lobster bisque!
The prime rib!
There were also some shared sides which I wasn't fast enough to get photos!
There was a shared dessert, which I did photograph, plus a capuccino.
Chocolate cake!
Cappuccino!
We ran up a decent bill and room charged it in hope of getting it comped, stay tuned on that. . . We also decided during dinner that we were going to pass on going to the poker tournamnet at South Point and just gamble at Plaza, although I think Joe went to play poker at Golden Nugget.
I did see a photo op on the way out of Oscar's. . .
I wish there would be more photos of nice gambling hits, but there weren't any, for me. My roomie, Bob, who I was teaching how to play video poker, had a decent session, and got a dealt straight flush.
Me taking a photo of Bob taking a photo of his big win! (I told him the strategy for this hand was to HOLD EVERYTHING!).
We played until a little before 2 am and then called it a night. . .
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