Sugaree: Reno to Las Vegas

Getting the kids up this morning was a major ordeal, but they finally complied and we left without great incident. The drive from Reno to Las Vegas was nice, and way more beautiful than I had imagined, as we meandered along the mountains and valleys past the various bordellos like the Wild Cat Brothel in Mina and the Alien Cathouse in Amargosa Valley around to the Chicken Ranch in Pahrump. The terrain changed significantly as we moved Southeast, but most of the time we were in the high desert. We were excited to finally see Las Vegas come into our sights, as we were ready to celebrate Dylan's 19th birthday.

The fountains at Bellagio were nothing short of spectacular, as they went off with great power and gusto. This is Las Vegas at it's best, with lights, sound, water and technological genius all at once. We celebrated Dylan's birthday at Mon Ami, a French restaurant right across the street from Bellagio, so we could see the fountains and all the activity as people strolled by. You can really feel the excitement of the city in Las Vegas, and I'm glad we changed our course to include it. To think that our other option was Winnemucca...yikes...sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, which was fun. It's a huge casino, and they had Dylan and Cassidy in one tower and Kelly and I in another tower on the opposite side of the place. They both overlooked Rehab, the wild scene down at the pool. Fortunately for us, we checked in late in the afternoon, so most of the drunks at the pool had moved on. Dylan and Cassidy did see a guy in a casino pass out and fall down, and then just laid there laughing and smoking a cigarette until security escorted him quickly to his demise.