The final post for my 2013 Las Vegas trip will be dedicated to my favorite part of the city, the unique nightlights covering the city that truly never sleeps!

In fact, when the sun goes down, the party is just getting started. There was one evening when we got back to the hotel after dinner and it was about 10 or 11PM and there was a long line of people checking into the hotel. I couldn’t believe how many people were waiting to check in on a Friday evening.

We started from Harrah’s which is slightly towards the northern end of the middle of the strip and walked north to the Venetian, Pilazzo, Wynn, and Encore hotels and then turned back south towards TI, Mirage, Caesar’s Palace, Bellagio, and Cosmopolitan (where we decided to call it a night at 3 something in the morning). On our way back, we stopped at the Bellagio’s fountain hoping to see one of their hourly water shows but apparently it was too late. There were a bunch of others waiting around expecting a show to start but we were all sadly disappointed. Apparently, it ends at midnight. :\

We walked through each of the hotels and casinos admiring all the lavish decor, fancily-dressed people, and high rollers at casinos like Wynn, Venetian, Bellagio, Caesar’s, and Cosmopolitan.
Most nights in vegas, we stayed out and up past midnight, well usual past my bedtime for those that know me. On our last night, by the time we got back to our hotel, it was about 3:30AM and we were exhausted. Despite not having the sun up, the streets still seemed to be baking in the lingering heat. The city was still busier than ever with people walking about and hitting the clubs. Being up late at night with all the other nigh owls, you can really feel the excitement and energy of the city. Everyone seemed to be having a good time living it up in Sin City.
The week we visited, the Electronic Daisy Carnival (EDC), one of the largest electronic music festivals in North America was playing so a lot of the big name DJs (Some of my favorites) were playing at the local hotels and clubs well into the night.
Coming back home after Vegas, I just wanted to go back. The city was so much fun. The entertainment and larger than life spectacles are just unreal. Back home, everything just seemed so drab, dull, and not quite as exciting.

• Top of the World at Stratosphere for dinner at sunset
• Ping Pang Pong inside Gold Coast Casino for dim sum lunch
• California Pizza Kitchen inside Mirage for dinner
• Café inside Paris for lunch

Red Rock Canyon is about 30 minutes to the west of the city and is very easy to find. The cost is $7 a vehicle for the day and you could easily spend an entire day taking it all in. As you drive throughout the route, the scenery changes and the canyon mountains seem to grow out of the red earth.

The canyon was formed about 600 millions of years ago. The basin was underwater and according to the park ranger, this was the Pacific Ocean and beachfront property!

The dam holds back Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States in maximum water capacity and serves all of the electricity in the local valley area and beyond (including a large part of Southern California). Unfortunately due to the more than a decade of draughts, the lake has dropped over 100 feet and is sitting critically low. From the overlook, it was quite evident how much Lake Mead had shrunken.

We didn’t go for a tour because they were $11 or $30 a person depending on which you took (the dam and/or power plant), but we were able to drive across, park, and walk around. If you drive to the Arizona side and park mid way up and walk back to Nevada, you can park for free and save about $10 and see more of the dam :D.

Across the way from the Hoover Dam, is the relatively new Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge that was opened in 2010 for traffic and security concerns. This way, all passing traffic would not need to drive across the dam (a security nightmare I can imagine in this day in age). This too is equally as marvelous in its design and ability to span such a distance and bear the weight of US 93.

Other posts to view

• Hoover Dam day trip
• Red Rock Canyon
• Food in Las Vegas
• Nighttime on the Strip

Las Vegas just has so many things to do. Being in the city, especially walking around at night, is just overwhelming to the senses. All of the bright flashing lights and people happily cheering in the casinos really puts you in another world. And then there’s the two extremes of the glitzy wealth and homeless poverty.

As soon as we left and got back home, I missed it already. At home, everything was quiet and getting back to reality took a bit of adjustment. Everything seemed a bit dull compared to the larger than life casinos and experiences Vegas has to offer. It made for some great memories and even more fantastic pictures.