Day seven

Today was a day of rest. Since I figured that the BMW shop would take at least a full day to do the required maintenance, I booked two nights in Vegas. Turns out that I only needed one. But since I'm here, I might as well enjoy myself! But business before pleasure. I still needed to go and ride in California. So I did.

I took a walk down the strip. Well...not really DOWN the strip. You can almost get from one end of the strip to the other without going outside these days. Connected AIR CONDITIONED walkways connecting casino to monorail to shopping centers. It was nice to be out of the 104 degree heat, but you don't get to see very much.

I did go to M& M world and bought Patricia some chocolates. But like Forrest Gump....I ate some. Well...I ate 'em all! At $11 per pound, those are some expensive M&Ms. I could have gone to the Sam's Club by the BMW shop and got a 5 pound bag for less than that! But I guess it's the "experience" that makes the candy you get at M&M world seem to taste better.

Las Vegas is a people watchers dream. I stopped at the Nevada/California boarder this morning on the way back to Vegas for breakfast. It just seems to me that there are stereotypical "types" of people that frequent the different gambling establishments in Nevada. For example: In Jackpot, there were a bunch of single senior citizens. You know the type...I saw one lady put her leftover eggs from breakfast into a To-Go container, and not 5 minutes later I saw her put a $50 bill into a nickle slot machine.

On the California border, I stopped at McDonalds for a quick cup of coffee and an egg McMuffin. There were several people there in line, most of them gave me the impression that they were "redneck" families with children. Why a Mom, Dad and 4 daughters under the age of 9 were standing in line at McDonnalds at 6 am was a mystery to me. I didn't get the details of the conversation, but I heard a few words and phrases. Things like, "How much did you lose?" and "That money was supposed to be for"......something I didn't hear. This was at 6 am local time.

Here in the casinos on the Strip, there are all kinds. The younger crowd gathers late at night to go to the clubs. They're all dressed to kill. The old folks sit at their favorite slots. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. It's harder to tell since they stopped paying out jackpots in coins. Everything is on printed slips that you take to a cashier now. I saw one gentleman lose $50k playing the $500 slots last night. I wish I had that kind of disposable income.

So tonight, I'm going to see Penn & Teller at the Rio. I got online and bought my ticket. They have a seating chart of the available seats, and I found one seat at Row A seat 1. I don't know if that will be a good thing or not, time will tell. The show starts at 9 Vegas time, which is midnight Michigan time. I'll make sure to let you all know how it was when I update tomorrow night.

Mileage for today: 93
Mileage for trip: 3473