Thinking About a Roadtrip to Las Vegas

That would be me in the picture, sliding into the pool at the Excalibur Casino Hotel in Las Vegas.

Right now I've got myself a strong hankering for a Las Vegas visit. It's been a few years since I've last Roadtripped to my favorite town in Nevada.

A few new casinos have opened that I've not had the pleasure of visiting. I saw The Venetian and Paris under construction, with the Eiffel Tower towering above the strip. I've seen The Wynn from the air when I've landed in Vegas to switch planes on the way to other destinations.

It is sort of a form of torture to land in Las Vegas, with Luxor and Excalibur and The MGM and New York New York clearly in view from the airport windows, and not get to leave the airport, but instead wait an hour to get on another plane.

I have not been to Las Vegas since a monorail was added to the strip. Does the monorail still exist that ran from behind MGM to a casino the name of which I'm not remembering. Was it The Riviera?

The new Hoover Dam Bridge is due to open this coming November. I'm curious to see that bridge. I liked the drive across Hoover Dam. I assume that will no longer be a route choice when the new bridge opens.

One of the pleasures of being in Las Vegas during the HEAT of summer is driving out to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Particularly Lake Mead. A late night swim in the warm clear water is a real good thing.

Staying at the Las Vegas KOA, 6 Motel, Excalibur, Luxor, Treasure Island & New York New York

I've stayed in the Luxor in Las Vegas once. Near the end of a long road trip that went through Moab, hiked the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park, continued on to Durango, taking the Million Dollar Highway from Silverton, then Taos and south to Alamogordo and White Sands National Monument, Yuma and Algondones in Mexico and then Vegas.

I've stayed all over the place in Las Vegas. My very first time in Vegas I camped at a KOA. That sounds pathetic now. The next time I stayed at the Vegas 6 Motel. Equally pathetic and, I think the biggest 6 Motel in the world. It was awful.

After the 6 Motel stay in Vegas, which was New Year's Eve week, hence the unavailability, spur of the moment, of a nicer place to say, the next time to Vegas was near the end of another long Roadtrip, that being my first Lake Powell Houseboating trip, staying at Excalibur.

I like the Excalibur pool.

The next trip to Las Vegas was over Thanksgiving in 1996, staying at Treasure Island. I liked staying at Treasure Island, except my room was about 12 stories above the Treasure Island pirate show, which is a bit on the noisy side, what with cannons and guns booming.

The next time to Vegas was with my nephews, we stayed at Excalibur. I think I already mentioned I like the Excalibur pool.

My most recent time in Vegas I stayed at New York New York. I liked it. But it was in early January, so the pool was not relevant.

Staying in the Luxor pyramid was the most challenging hotel stay I've ever had. I was on, I think, the 8th floor. There are "inclinators" at each corner of the pyramid. When you exit the "inclinator" it is confusing to find your room. Go left? Go right? In the room the outer wall is steeply sloped, due to that pyramid thing. I'd stay in Luxor again. I enjoy the feeling of being lost.