Day Eighteen - In and About Las Vegas

Note to self (and anyone reading this, of course): Las Vegas is not Mom's kind of town. Maybe if we had a wheel chair for her, it would have worked, but we didn't, so it wasn't. And I will be the first to admit that I let her push me right to the limit of my patience.

I had a great day planned. Get up and go a pharmacy to get mom some hydrogen peroxide for her tongue, then purchase tickets to "0," (after selling our kidneys and left arms), then a day exploring the strip, eventually see the show. Right. I should have known better. How long have I known my mom? (51 years) How long have I been living with her? (1 year, 2 months, 5 days (but who's counting)) How long have we been on this trip? (Forever...) Sigh.

We did indeed get up and out to our first stop - I decided to go to a Target (Target for the French speaking) for the pharmacy visit. Just in case mom or I thought of anything else we might need. Neither of us did. The pharmacist had never heard of Mary Gerhart's wonder poultice "Antiphlogistine." Has anyone heard of this stuff? Mary swears by it...Well, I will have to keep asking around...We bought some generic anti-bacterial stuff instead. Hope it helps mom's owies! And some h2o2.

It was lunch time. There were a couple of places in the same mall as Target, but I noticed that the food court there had Pizza Hut Pizza! I like the occasional personal pan pepperoni pizza. There were also little flatbread sandwiches which sounded not only edible but good: chicken, spinach and artichoke. So we decided to stay there and have our lunch. Yum!

Next stop, Bellagio. I have been to Las Vegas probably six times. Maybe more. Reno maybe four times. (Just saying...) Every time before this, I have mostly walked everywhere, with some public transportation thrown in. Which is one of the reasons I like Las Vegas. I get a lot of exercise walking everywhere - for hours! So I haven't done much driving there. It has always looked a little scary - since most of the drivers are either crazy taxi/limo drivers or people from out of town (like me) who really don't know where they are going or what they are doing. Eeek! But with my mom (walks three steps and says "How far do we have to go?!") driving was the only plan.

Yay GPS! It took me to the parking entrance for the Bellagio - which is a bit of a nightmare, but we survived it (twice). The walk from the parking garage to the ticket counter for "O" was torture for us both. Three steps "how much further?" Three steps "I can't make it!" Three steps "Just leave me here!" Three steps "I can't breathe." Three steps - well, you get the picture. I just don't think about how far a walk is when I am by myself. Truly, the walk from the garage to the ticket counter was probably 100 yards. And I didn't think it would ever end. But it did.

There were few people in line to buy tickets, so I held out hope that we would be able to spend an exorbitant amount of money. Turns out that after 14 years, they still sell out almost every show - Tuesday through Sunday, 2 shows a day for most of the year. Wow! The nice young woman from China who helped us, gave us a few dollars off each ticket because we couldn't sit together. That was sweet.

We spent a few minutes looking at a sculptor's exhibit of his Cirque inspired pieces. I might have even taken a picture of one. After that, I took mom to see the Chihuly glass ceiling in the lobby and then to the little nature conservatory there. We also got a little taste of the dancing fountains. After that, we were going to head to see some other things on the strip, but there was going to be too much walking for that to work out. I tried to get a wheel chair at the Bellagio, but they only had one's available for hotel guests.

So, plan "B" - try driving everywhere. Sadly, this didn't work out very well either. Still a lot of walking involved. Oh, I forgot to mention that we tried our hand at gambling! Mom won $.17 cents on one machine. I won $3.75 on another. And lost a dollar in a third. Not bad, all together, though. Coming out ahead is often a good thing...

We headed to Treasure Island where they have a show - but it turned out they only perform in the evenings. Sigh. Lots of walking for nothing. Poop! We took a little break at Gilley's which turned out to be a country bar. The bar stools were horse saddles. Glarp! I had a beer, (Shiner Bock) and mom had some soda water. I decided to try one more casino before giving up entirely (I don't really like giving up...). We headed to Circus Circus.

I like Circus. And I like Circus Circus. I thought I had been there more often than I have. It is the Reno one that I have been to at least three times. Oh well. Again, a long walk and mom was miserable. We finally made it to the midway and watched one circus act - a juggler! I want his light enhanced clubs! He was decent. I prefer duos or trios of jugglers. But it was still fun. And we got to sit! The walk back was endless seeming, but we eventually made it. Phew!

Next stop, rest at the motel. I was exhausted from trying not to be angry at my mom (I didn't succeed all that well, though). I tried to relax and chill out and plan the rest of the evening. We had gotten tickets to the late performance of "O" - starting at ten. So we had plenty of time for dinner. I didn't want to drag mom to another brewpub, so I searched google for restaurants off the strip. Lots came up, but the one I chose was called "Off the Strip."

It was way further off the strip than I thought! In a little mall in a subdivision about 10 miles from the strip in fact. Nice place and glad we went there. Our server, Megan, was on her second career, having given up performing and gone into food service. She was very sweet. Mom and I shared a dinner salad and a yummy entree of Scampi Stuffed Chicken over pasta in a nice sort of thai sauce. I think mom enjoyed it almost as much as I did. And to top it off, since it was our first visit, we got a free sliver of cheese cake! Next time, only the cheese cake! I also had a Blackout Stout from Indian Wells that was decent. I always am curious about beer that has very little information on its label...

We got back to the Bellagio and took the death march back to the theatre. Against the flow of traffic. We got there after the first show had let out, so a whole tide of people work walking out. We stopped a few times and eventually found seats not far from the entrance to the theatre. I was hoping the lines would thin enough that we could waltz in. But I got impatient, so we did have to "queue" for a while...and we walked right onto our level! No stairs, no elevator, escalator or anything! Phew! Well, a few stairs up to the seats, but mom managed those readily. I gave mom the better seat, of course - five yours up on the aisle. My seat was as far to house left as possible. Oh well. One day I will see the show from the center. Still, my seat was comfortable, lots of leg room and a nice Russian couple beside me as seat mates.

The show was amazing and exhausting - wonderful and quirky. I really do think it is the epitome of what the Cirque set out to do. Pure Circus, Cirque style. I love the live music, the awesome costumes, amazing acts, great characters. Just wonderful stuff! I look forward to a third viewing one day. From the center of the audience. And mom liked it too!

Long day, but we survived. Barely!

O

Mom posing in white!

The saddle seats at Gilleys.

Yum, cheesecake!