Day 2

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Continuing the trend of oversleeping, Mick and I woke up at 8:45 when continental breakfast at the hotel ended at 9. We jumped up and threw on clothes and rushed down to the dining area. We threw down the traditional cold cereal, toast and yogurt down and went back to the room to get ready for the day. We packed up the car for Vegas, checked out of the hotel and decided to go to a really cool place in Williams called Bearizona. It's a small wild life Drive-Thru park where you can see all sorts of animals, including bison, wolves, big horn sheep and even bears! 

We had fun looking at all the animals, especially the bears. They were not at all interested in the cars, which was both fortunate and unfortunate. Could have made for some very interesting stories if they had tampered with the cars. Then we headed on over to the walking area where we got to see baby bears wrestling with each other and checked out the petting zoo. Mick possesses a strange power- he seems to be a magnet for animals and children. Children take a while to get over the shock of his hair, but they do warm up. Animals, on the other hand, immediately gravitate towards him, as was displayed by the goats at the petting zoo. It was actually pretty creepy. We'd pet the goats and walk away to look at another animal, then we'd turn around and they'd be standing there, waiting for us to pet them. They did like me as well, but apparently, Mick is where it's at. I want pet goats.

We hit the road and stopped in Williams for gas and lunch (I was frugal this trip and packed sandwich bits to prepare on the road). Then we headed up to Vegas. Mick wanted to see the Hoover Dam, but they've changed things since I was last there. You can no longer drive over the dam. You have to drive over a new, massive bridge, then exit the highway to get to it. We weren't interested in doing a tour or anything, Mick just wanted to see it so he could crack jokes like this. And, yes, as soon as we left he kept bragging that he was on the Beavis and Butthead Road Trip. Sigh. Anyways, we parked and hiked up a little hill where you can access the pedestrian part of the new bridge and saw the dam.
Mick also posed for a snapshot in recognition of the third US state he has visited.
Time to finish the last home stretch.... we made it to Vegas! We stayed at the Luxor, which was right up my alley, since I'm obsessed with anything to do with Egypt. And, apart from the terrifyingly rickety and wobbly elevators, we can't find anything to complain about for the entire stay. Our room was nice and had a great view of the Mandalay. We cleaned up and got ready for dinner. I had wanted to take Mick to the Mandalay so we could eat at a really cool restaurant called The Rum Jungle, but it apparently closed. So we ate at Shanghai Lilly's and feasted on ridiculously priced rice and noodles. After that we pretty much just wandered up and down the strip, checking out the M&M store and the Bellagio fountains. I had decided to wear a pair of really cute gladiatorish sandals that weren't exactly uncomfortable... they just didn't offer any support. So, with feet on fire, we hopped on a bus and went back to the Luxor.