Melissa had never been to Las Vegas, and I haven’t been in over 20 years, so that was our first adventure in this area.
Our first stop was SpeedVegas, where we had a score to settle on the go-kart track. We’d been having fun trash talking each other about it, and even had a friendly wager on the outcome of the race. The loser would buy us both ice cream. I haven’t been on a go-kart since Bushnell, Florida almost three years ago. But I used to race a lot, and I’m happy to say I’ve still got it. I took second place in the race, and drove the ninth fastest lap so far that week. Melissa bought the ice cream. Though in fairness, her kart had some serious problems and was much slower than mine. The helmet cameras proved that it was the kart, not her ability. While I did expect to pass her, I didn’t expect to pass her twice and put her a lap down. We definitely need a rematch at some point in the future in equally matched karts.
After lunch at In-N-Out Burger (another first for her), she took us to the famous Las Vegas sign, which I’d never been to before, either. This was the beginning of the thick crowds and lines to get anywhere and see anything.
Fortunately, a professional photographer grabbed us from the back of the line, brought us right up to the sign with him, and did a spur-of-the-moment photo shoot with us. Of course he was doing this for tips, but it was well worth it to skip the line and get much better pictures than our average selfies.
It occurred to me after the fact that these look a lot like Las Vegas wedding pictures. They are not.
We drove down the Las Vegas Strip, parked at the MGM Grand, and struck out on foot. I haven’t been to Vegas since 2000, and a lot has changed. Classics like the Luxor, MGM Grand, New York New York, Paris, the Bellagio, and Caesar’s Palace are still here, but more than half of the Strip looks completely different than my last visit.
I don’t know if it’s busier than the last time I was there, or just me no longer being used to big crowds since COVID and sticking to less populated areas as I travel. Either way, the crowds began stressing me out more and more as the day went on. I did not enjoy my visit to the Strip the way I did my previous ones. I spent most of my time watching out for oblivious people nearly walking into me and getting away from people trying to sell me stuff rather than enjoying the experience.
That said, I did enjoy the Stranger Things store we stumbled across. Melissa introduced me to the show during the nasty weather we recently sat through in Pahrump, and we binged our way through season one. I couldn’t resist the photo opportunity from a set recreation of this season. I’m sure I’ll pick up all the other references I saw throughout the store as we keep watching it.
And then the Demogorgon got me.
Smokey Da Van 