Las Vegas

It was a day of contrasts. We departed Zion and descended several thousand feet into the flat desert until we arrived in Las Vegas. It was only 109 degrees F--apparently a cool down from the 117 of a few days ago. Our hotel was a block away from The Strip so we walked over to take it all in. The first casino we went in was the Flamingo. The kids wanted John to try a slot machine so they stood on the gray walkway (kids are only allowed to pass through the casino floor- not stop) while he gambled his dollar. He cashed out when he won 23 cents! Woo hoo! We walked through several hotel/casinos. Such opulence in some of them! The heat did us in so we went back to the hotel until evening. It was sensory overloading experience with the throngs of people, music, and lights! A highlight was seeing the famous fountains in front of the Belagio.  We had hoped to find an all you can eat buffet but our timing was off and we were looking too late in the evening. We capped the evening with a refreshing late night swim in the pool.