Las Vegas

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On our way to Las Vegas from Orange County, we stopped for gas at a strip outlet mall still inside California, and decided to check out a couple of stores while also looking for Internet connection. We stayed for about an hour and found a connection, allowing us to a book a 5 star hotel over Hotwire for a good deal in Vegas. Once booked, we found out we would be staying at the Trump Hotel and decided to drive straight there to get settled.

*Upon arriving, we were thrilled to see our suite, a condo with its own kitchen and even a tv in the mirror bathroom. We decided to order some Thai food and stay in, only leaving for about an hour to view some of the sites on the strip, but realizing once we got outside that it was too hot to function even at 23:00. Can did manage to lose $50 in that period of time, believing he saw the color red on a certain roulette table and putting it all down in one spin.

*Another benefi of the hotel was the late 4pm checkout. We hung out in the room the next morning until about 14:00, deciding to stay in Vegas another night. After checking out fashion mall, we booked another hotel, Bally's, directly on the strip while roaming the Apple store, checked in, and then drove outside the strip to meet a friend of Katy's, Dave, for coffee. It was nice to get away from all the excitement and see the more residential part of Vegas, though the strip we drove to was still quite commercial. After catching up with Dave for a bit and making plans for later, we drove in search of a couple stores, and decided to stop at an all you can eat sushi bar, treating ourselves to numerous rolls, before going back to Bally's to settle in. The room was still a good bargain for the price (thats Vegas for you), but clearly not as nice as our last room, forcing us to get out and see the sites. By the time we got back from dinner, Dave was out of work and offered to meet us to show us around the posher hotels of the area. We walked around Bellagio and Caesar's Palace before letting Dave scoot home and get to bed. Then we checked out the Paris Hotel right near out place, catching the water show in front of the Bellagio on the way. After getting a bunch of photos in, we checked out Planet Hollywood, as we heard it was a younger, hip crowd and then went back to Bally's where Can lost another $50, slower this time playing 3 card poker. We realized more cash is needed to win big, after he was only able to make $15 on a triple 6 due to shortness of cash. We decided to call it a night so we could get up early and head out to the Grand Canyon.

*The next morning we drove in search of the cheap gas pumps we had seen on our drive the day before, stopping in front of the Little White Wedding Chapel for a quick photo and then back to the other side of the strip to get the necessary Welcome to Las Vegas photographs.

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