Vegas, baby!

---

Well, I finally got to bed at about 4:30 am, still up on money overall. We woke up around 10:00 something...not sure exactly, because I didn't check the time, and almost all Vegas hotels smartly have blackout curtains. Serena was desperately craving bacon, so we went to the IHOP down the street, but there was literally a line out the door. I wasn't about waiting in line for mediocre pancakes, nor were Laura and Amit, so we went back to our hotel and had food at the diner downstairs.

After breakfast, we went upstairs to the Radius Pool, an outdoor pool on the 25th floor. Great views of the city, and, of course, outdoors is awesome. They had a bar for drinks - unfortunately, the only places you get free drinks in the city are in the casinos themselves - floaties, balls to play with, and lots of chairs. We spent several hours up there, until a lightning storm nearby forced them to clear the pool. But until then, tossing balls around, trying to climb on a floating whale, and just enjoying the water and weather, was lovely.

After getting kicked out of the pool, we went downstairs and showered the chlorine out, then walked to the strip again. I have a friend I met at my fraternity conference who lives in Las Vegas, so we arranged to meet up briefly after her shift as a "lifeguard" at the Bellagio pool (she is a real lifeguard, it's just that the pool is about 5 feet deep at its deepest, and she's literally never had to do anything in it). While waiting for her, I taught Serena how to play roulette. Neither of us got lucky on the one bet we put down, but oh well.

When I finally met up with my friend, we just went and got ice cream and talked for a bit more than an hour. We hadn't seen each other in a month, and don't know when we'll see her again, so we just wanted to catch up. She eventually had to leave for a dance class, though, so I went and found Serena again, who was with Laura and Amit. They split off to go enjoy the fountains, while Serena and I went and found electronic blackjack. I don't know why, but the electronics seem to do better for me, as I ended up up again.

At 8:30, we went back to our hotel, as we had bought tickets to see Pin Up: a burlesque show that had good reviews, and we figured when in Vegas, right? That show lasted until about 11:00, after which we got pizza and then back to the casino one last time. It was not my night, and I ended up net 0 for my time in Las Vegas - still a win, in my opinion. Tomorrow, we head out to something completely different...stay tuned!

---