Las Vegas, rose out of the desert like some sort of tacky, neon mirage. Gus took one look at the Strip and said, "That's Vegas? That's awesome, man!"
We stayed at the world-famous Circus Circus. Here's the thing, with all my love for my cousin Joanne not withstanding, I freakin' hate clowns. They creep the bejebus outta me. And at Circus Circus, you cannot swing a dead cat without hitting an image of a clown somewhere...everywhere, actually. (Thank God I didn't see any wandering the casino...)
And man, Vegas is hot. It's Africa hot. Zion felt chilly compared to Vegas. Every day we were there the thermometer tipped 105 (40 C). So right after lunch, we made a bee-line for the pool. In an ironic twist, unlike the Bumbleberry Inn, Circus Circus heats their pool. Actually, it was perfect, and we had a lot of fun.
But there's more to Vegas than heated pools. And our first night we drove a couple blocks from Circus Circus to Treasure Island to catch the Cirque du Soleil show: Mystere. If you've never seen a Cirque show, you don't know what you're missing. It was phenomenal, and the boys were spellbound.
After the circus, we decided to check out the Strip. Fun fact: giant hotels look much closer than they actually are! What visually appeared to be just a couple of block stroll to the Bellagio, ended up being a hike and a half. The boys were tired, the sidewalks were packed, and as each person dropped another Girls! Girls! Girls! card on the ground, I barked at Gus, "Eyes up!"
But the trek was worth it: the boys loved the dancing waters.
The next day - after a dip in the pool - we hit Circus Circus' Adventure Dome: an actual theme park right inside the hotel!
On our last day in Vegas, we visited a couple of museums: The Children's Museum and the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.
The Natural History Museum had a very nice Egyptian exhibit.
In one room, we walked through a maze, created too give you a sense that you were discovering King Tut's tomb. To give the visitor a more authentic experience, the lights were turned down low, very low - we only had flashlights to guide us. Adding to the creepy atmosphere, the room's permanent exhibit of large animals - bears, big cats, ungulates - was pushed to the sides; a stray beam of light might shine back through glass eyes. At the end of that exhibit, the museum played the Boris Karloff movie, The Mummy. Niko, already spooked by experience, sat quietly watching the film, when Gus creeped up behind him....
Big brothers, watcha gonna do?
In the morning we geared up for the long drive home. Vacation was over.
But what happened to Wildcat Willie from the Bumbleberry Inn in Springdale?
You'll have to wait for the last installment of Who's Your Daddy: Vacation Edition!
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