Guest blog from Lyn Mandigo

Lyn visited us for a few days and we decided to let her blog about Sunday in Vegas. When she decides to write about it you can read it right here in this space:

Today started out pretty slow because of all the fun we had the night before. As the rv started to heat up from the strong Nevada sun, Dave, Mike and I decided that we should go lounge by the pool for a while, leaving Kyle to sleep off his late night. We spent a few hours poolside trying to get rid of our headaches and get back our energy so we could venure out of the Oasis rv park to the Vegas strip. After the pool, we showered, ate lunch, put on our flamingo shirts and headed for the air conditioning and fountain drinks in the resort lobby to call a cab around 3:30pm. The cab dropped us off at Mandalay Bay, our friend Mark's recommended starting point for exploring the strip. We had decided to check out some of the sites and wait a while before we started gambling. So we explored Mandalay Bay and then headed over to the Luxor, the pyramid with the egyptian decor, and then went to Excaliber, the castle with medevil decor. From there, we went to New York, New York, "the greatest city in Las Vegas" which is complete with a statue of liberty and it's own old fashioned cart rollercoaster that costs $14 per rider. All of these hotels and casinos were truly amazing. They are so festively decorated according to their individual themes. You could spend hours just taking it all in. After New York, New York, we ventured down the strip some more and found a place to buy discount tickets to the shows. When we didn't see any for shows that we would be interested in seeing, we decided to check out one of the all you can eat buffets in a hotel. Due to price and location, we decided on the Monte Carlo buffet. When we entered, Kyle said he recognized it and thought he had been there before. The food was really good. We each got multiple plates full of entree items, and then shared an assortment of the dessert offerings. We left feeling satisfied and ready to walk the strip some more.

Our next stop was the Bellagio. The inside foyer was gorgeous. It had glass art work on the ceilings, an inside garden with beautiful flowers and neat water spouts, a garden train, and even a miniture mount rushmore. We also found the chocolate water fountain, which was amazing. It had dark, light and white chocolate cascading from the mirrored ceiling onto molded glass containers that directed the streams down an intertwined path to their containers full of chocolate at the bottom. Of course since we were all so full, we didn't find this appetizing, but just cool to watch. After looking at the inside of the Bellagio, it was close to 8pm and getting dark so we decided to stop outside to watch the famous Bellagio water fountain show, which was incredible and my favorite part of Vegas. The water sprays out of the fountains to the beat of the song that is playing out of the speakers on the Bellagio bridge for a good 10 minutes or so.

After the Bellagio, we checked out Caesar's palace and Harrah's and then decided to do some gambling at the Flamingo. I think the idea was that our shirts would bring us luck or at least perks there, but it doesn't seem like either was the case. Mike and I took a break from walking/standing and found some penny slot machines while Dave and Kyle went off in search of a $5 craps table. After losing $2 at our penny slot machine- which didn't take long with $.25 bets- Mike and I went to find the other two in our quadruplet and bought in to the $10 craps table they had found. Craps provided a good amount of entertainment. I think Kyle had the best streak rolling the dice, but then the table started to go downhill so we left. Mike and Dave went to find a blackjack table and Kyle and I watched. I am sure all of us were glad to be off of our feet for a few minutes after walking around so much.

After the Flamingo, we went to check out the Venetian and then called it a night. We waited in the cab line at Treasure Island to head back to the Oasis around 11pm. We were all tired and had a long day of traveling ahead of us. I guess the rest of the strip and Vegas will have to wait for a later day...

Memorable Flamingo shirt comments:
"Hey, are you guys together?"
"I know, they are all on the same bowling team"
"You guys must shop at the same store"
"I want a onesie in that print"