08OCT07 - Las Vegas, NV (need for speed part deux!)

Woke up this morning to the sound of fighter jets, just like in Fallon. Turns out Nellis AFB is the Air Force version of the Navy’s Top Gun school in Fallon. So once again we were treated to aerial display of dogfighting tactics. In addition, Nellis is the home of the Air Force’s aerial display team the Thunderbirds. So we were also treated to a private show of their aerial maneuvers as they practiced for an upcoming air show.

http://www.nellis.af.mil/

That afternoon we headed to the local Pro Bass Outdoor World to pickup some items needed for the RV. For those not familiar with Pro Bass stores, they are gigantic stores that carry almost anything you can think of for hunting, fishing, camping and boating. The outside of the store looks like a huge lodge constructed of logs, and the inside of the store has hundreds of stuffed game animals from all over the world on the walls. In the center of the store is usually a big fresh water aquarium that contains fish species from surroundings lakes and streams; and sometimes fishing demonstrations are conducted using the aquarium. But what was very different about this Pro Bass was what appeared to be another big aquarium at the very back of the store with salt water tropical fish. It was only after we had wandered back to view the tank did we realize it was not in the store, but in a casino attached directly to the Pro Bass store! Only in Vegas?

After dinner we headed to the one of the “new” mega casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard (or as the locals call the street – The Strip) – New York, New York. We are not sure why, but we must have looked like easy marks because we were immediately hit up to sit thru a presentation on a time share vacation condo. We have refused all these offers in the past, but when Dan saw one of the “gifts” was tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s show Mystere, he immediately said yes! We have paid to see three of their shows in the past and have become big fans. So tomorrow we will endure our first time share sale’s job to score free tickets. It is hard to explain exactly what a Cirque show is, but it is sort of a combination of circus, broadway show, opera, and rock concert. If interested, you can sometimes catch portions of their shows on the Bravo cable channel or check out:

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/