Hampton Inn Las Vegas/Tropicana

Today was filled with desert--the Mojave!! We took highway 99 to 58 and passed the most amazing wind farms. I think they look imposing, like some kind of other-worldly army whose sole mission is to produce energy for the masses. But they have an elegance as well. Vegas appeared out of the heat the same as always--an apparition, or perhaps better said, an aberration. We checked into a third floor room at the Hampton Inn and Chris set up the computer and got to work. It was nice to be in one pl...

Chris had a lot of work to do after the long, holiday weekend, so I read the paper from front to back out by the pool, then ran across the street with him for an early "in n out burger" lunch. Afterward, I took the hotel shuttle over to the strip and walked up one side and down the other, reviewing all the hotels, shops, restaurants and construction projects. At Bellagio they had replaced the conservatory exhibit with a "fall fair" theme, complete with ferris wheel. As amazing and beautiful a...

After my long, hot walk of yesterday, I decided to take it easy and just lounge around the pool. When Chris was able to take a break we drove to a taco stand near the airport for breakfast/lunch. The woman there was from Guadalajara and was very eager to please, although she substituted red salsa for green, and steak for chicken. We just shrugged our shoulders and were happy to have anything at all.

We did some internet searching later in the day on where to eat, and ended up selecting...