This past weekend was the more or less annual gathering of my siblings and myself. We started doing this in 2020 as an extension of our weekly group FB video chats. This year my brother who lives in Las Vegas hosted.
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I was the last to arrive, coming in on Saturday morning.
Flying in, with the Sphere in the upper center
Throughout the whole five days I was there, temperatures were around 108 during the day. However, it was always windy, and the low humidity meant I was actually quite comfortable in the shade. That first evening that I was there, we all went to see Fremont Street. It was still relatively early, so the street performers were rather tame, as well as the tourists who were there. Then my brother drove us down the strip from the Stratosphere past the famous sign. And there’s ALWAYS a crowd in line to get a selfie in front of the sign.
But that symbol of rampant consumerism and indulgence (Only in the USA) didn’t “do it” for me. The next day (Sunday), our outing was to Red Rock Canyon. THAT was glorious. I mean, LOOK AT IT.
High Point Overlook
While at the visitor’s center, I sat for a breather while my sister and her husband read everything that was there. And I saw this little guy under a rock peeking out:
Bebbeh snek. We checked at the Lake Mead visitor center and it’s probably a gopher snake.
He was absolutely still, and when I called my brother and sister over to see, he slipped back into his hidey hole. This is the kind of snek that the pootie people will love.
On Monday, we went to see Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. You could really see how far the levels have dropped. Even though in the past couple of years, the level has risen by like seven feet, it still needs like sixty feet to return to original levels.
Then we got to the dam. The roads’ edges are perilously close to cliffs and long drops. My vertigo was NOT having fun. And the visitor’s center at the Dam was closed for remodel. So my brothers and sister walked across the dam, while I had some water, shade, and no panic attacks. We then drove across the dam to another overlook. In this picture, notice how far away from the ledge I am, and my “holding holding back the panic attack” stance.
As close as I came to that wall. No way I was looking down.
That evening was our “go out to a nice place” night. We went to a place that my brother hadn’t been: Lotus of Siam, a James Beard Award winning Northern Thai restaurant. Reasonably priced, good service, and incredible food. And a LOT of vegan choices for my brother. If you like Thai food, and you are in Vegas, THIS is the place to go.
The final day I was there, we went to see what the fuss about the casino hotels was about. My sister in law hadn’t seen the Bellagio Conservatory’s summer display yet, so that’s where we went. It was nice. On the way, my brother convinced us to go to a show. He has local tickets—for one yearly subscription, you get free tickets to various shows whenever they’re available with no limit on the number of shows. Not the headliners, but a ton of others. So he used those and paid for one more at a local discount, and we went to see a Bee Gees tribute band from Australia. They were VERY good. It’s one of the most popular shows in town. AND he got free parking. How? The show was at the Excalibur, and that’s right across the street from T-Mobile Arena, the home of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. Guess who they were playing? Yup, the largest crowd in the arena’s history came to see Caitlin Clark. So they waved us out without paying because they wanted to empty the lot before the game ended.
Then I came home on the Third.
So that was my trip to Fabulous Las Vegas.
And now, on to Tops!
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TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday July 5, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Sadly, the picture quilt is still borked. Hoping the IT team gets to the fixing sooner rather than later.