This morning we packed up and reluctantly checked out of our hotel room. We loved Mandalay Bay with its spacious room; huge, comfy beds with crisp, clean sheets; large bathroom with two sinks, an enormous bathtub and piping hot shower; and ice cold air conditioning. We were sad to leave.
The tram connecting Mandalay Bay to Excalibur didn’t start running until 10am so we lugged all our stuff across the three casinos to our trailer parked in the oversize lot at Excalibur. It was far, our stuff was heavy, and it was very hot out already so it was a tough trek and we were pretty grumpy upon arrival.
After dropping off our stuff, we made our way to Planet Hollywood for Las Vegas’ cheapest breakfast with 99 cent Bloody Marys. We were hungry, hot, and the walk seemed to take forever which frankly didn’t improve our moods much. Luckily, breakfast was super speedy and cheap which was the first positive of the day.
Once our tummies had stopped rumbling we made our way to the MGM Grand to try out their swimming pool. It was less crowded than Mandalay Bay and their lazy river was longer with slower current and it connected to a waterfall pool which was really fun. We swam and floated in our inner tubes which cooled us down and improved everyone’s moods.
After a quick stop at Subway to feed the kids lunch, timing was tight and it was too far to walk in the heat so we made our way to Sphere in an Uber. We arrived just after the doors opened and found our seats for the matinee showing of the Wizard of Oz. This activity was for Seamus who has listened to the entire Oz series in audiobook format and is a verifiable expert on all things Oz, though he had never seen the movie. Sphere presented an immersive Oz experience where the original actors have been superimposed on all new backgrounds supplemented with atmospheric effects like rumbling chairs; wind, fog and flying leaves during the cyclone; falling apples when Dorothy gets to the forest; and fire torches when she speaks with the Wizard. It was wonderfully done. The boys were entranced. We caught some leaves and Alistair caught an apple which he gave (after some encouragement) to Seamus. It was a great experience.
For our final adventure in Las Vegas, we headed to Paris for a fancy supper. Mon Ami Gabi, my favourite restaurant there, had a summer prix fixe and reasonable kids menu with good options. We sat inside to benefit from the AC but close enough to the patio to watch the Bellagio fountain across the street show every half hour. Our waitress was attentive but not overbearing, the food was fantastic and oh-so tasty, the kids’ meals were generous, and the desserts were simply divine. At the end Seamus said he was so full he couldn’t eat another bite (shocking!) but wished that we could start the whole meal all over to experience it again. It was a most wonderful note on which to end the Vegas leg of our journey. Yum!
After returning to the truck, we fired up the AC and headed out of town with quick stops to purchase a pair of new hiking books for me (I wore mine out) and groceries (we ate up most things prior to arriving in Vegas). We then drove past the old Vegas strip and an hour out of town to get to our next campground in the Valley of Fire. We pulled up in the dark, hooked up to electricity and water, and set the AC on max. It was 44 degrees Celsius. Everyone was pretty tired so we drifted off to sleep one by one as the AC cooled the trailer down.
