UMTravels

I finally found the pictures of the condo unit (2-bedroom, 2-bath):

And here is the place we moved into at Bally’s on The Strip. But did I take any interior shots….no, damn. This was the view though at sunset with the wheel front and center, so who cares what the room looked like, though it was nice, unfortunately $225 nice since it was the first day of the Electric Daisy Carnival, more on that later:

Out of the condo at noon after snagging another $125 AMEX reward card for saying no a dozen (or three dozen) times, and off to Bally’s on The Strip for us – and luckily we were able to check in early! Here is a shot of Rache and I on the casino floor headed to the room:

Since breakfast was a while ago – it was time to find food. And that food would be Truffle Mac and Cheese at Off The Strip (on an “alley” leading to The High Roller).

Though you can barely see it, there is a Manhattan behind it, and Rache’s beer as well – we both had the Truffle Mac and Cheese for lunch – Rache did the smart thing and only ate half of his – I foolish ate the whole thing (which, while good) sat like a lump in my stomach with 100 degree temperatures outside.

Tourist item for today is The High Roller at the Linq Hotel. That is The High Roller in the photo above. The interesting thing about this one is that four of the cars have open bars (a more expensive ticket, but I had a two for one TravelZoo coupon).

And the stunning views:

At a pit stop after the ride – we stumbled across this mural in the bar. Yes, there is a bar at the attraction – in case you wanted a drink for the ride.

What trip would be complete without some random “about town” shots:

For my buddy Mr. Whippet – also known as LastBuffalo – one of the slot machines in Bally’s.

So – more about this Electric Daisy Carnival – one of the local DJ schools for high-school students had their kids set up in booths all over town welcoming folks to the carnival – this one sponsored by Red Bull:

This is a chunk from Rache’s email blast about his trip – he did the research so I don’t have to:

So, Markie and I are really lucky to have a room this evening on The Strip. Because this long weekend is the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), one of the biggest electronic dance music festivals in the world. The flagship is held here in Las Vegas. In 2015, it drew more than 400,000 people over the 3-day event. Helicopter rides from The Strip to the venue and back go for $800. A reporter on a local news/talk show this morning said that he witnessed a party finishing up at 5:00. He inferred that the theme of that party was beach or swimming because of the attire of the folks emerging from the party site. Anyway, Markie and I are going to be on The Strip tonight so we’ll see what comes of that.

As it turns out, my longtime friend OffWhite was in town with his BurningMan posse with their flame throwing octopus:

Thanks Off for letting me use your pictures.

One of the possible plans was to go see Wayne Newton – maybe just to see how tight that facial skin has been stretched over the years. He has a new show, Wayne Newton Up Close and Personal which, of course, he since Danka Shen and the other great hits from his 120-year-long career. Mostly he sits on a couch with his guitar singing and interacting with the audience. I heard a rumor that he lip-syncs some of the songs – who does he think he is, Milli Vanilli?

Instead, earlier in the day I’d gotten a text from NorthShoreJeremy who I met last month on, you guessed it, the North Shore of Hawaii. He came over and hung out and drank with us for a couple of hours. It was nice getting to know him better:

It was an early to bed evening for the both of us – stimulation overload is part of the cause, and early flight in the morning the other cause. I’ll close with the shot of Rache and I’s morning request communications system:

Until my next adventure….

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