1. Embassy Suites Hotel Las Vegas, Las Vegas, February 7-11, 2005
2. Embassy Suites on Swenson.
3. The view inside complete with swans named Elvis & Priscilla and free breakfast!
4. Heather Britt surrounded by Elvis's.
5. Embassy Suites from a helicopter on our way to the Grand Canyon.
6. Would you trust a helicopter pilot wearing a "TWISTED" cap? Meet Captain Bob, the pilot for our Sunday adventure.
7. Greg Slingerland, Joachim Pomy & Heather. Why are they smiling with Capt Bob on the stick?
8. Roger Britt & Carol Waddell (from Britain) up front. They aren't smiling.
9. Just to the east of downtown is Lake Las Vegas where Celine Dion and other stars live.
10. Hoover Dam & Lake Mead on the way to the Grand Canyon.
11. An arch-gravity structure rising 726 feet above bedrock, Hoover is still the Western Hemisphere's highest concrete dam.
12. It is 660 feet thick at its base, 45 feet thick at its crest & stretches 1,244 feet across the Black Canyon.
13. Construction of Hoover Dam began in 1931.
14. The concrete was poured continuously until 1935, when the dam was completed two years ahead of schedule.
15. Some of the 550 miles of shoreline around Lake Mead.
16. We entered the West Rim of the Canyon, which are Native American Hualapai lands.
17. The Grand Canyon cuts steeply through an arid plateau region. The river is about 4000 ft below the rim in this area.
18. Then we landed & took a pontoon boat cruise up & down the Colorado River for about a 1/2 mile.
19. Our two guides, Carol, Roger & Heather.
20. Greg & Joachim relaxing.
21. This part of the tour included a picnic lunch & champagne. Of course, Joachim got the honors.
22. Cheers!
23. The group shot: Greg, Roger, Heather & Joachim.
24. Heather is ready to return, but Capt Bob is smiling. What surprise awaits? The gas cap was missing, so off to the gas station we go.
25. There are 9 layers of rock. The bottom layers, Precambrian schists & gneisses, are half a billion to a billion years old.
26. We made a brief stop at the gas station on top of the plateau. The Redwall was glowing as the sun got lower.
27. Heather & Roger after a tough day of sightseeing.
28. Joanne McMillen entertains Nadine Abbott as she prepares for their "surprise" helicopter ride over the strip on Tuesday evening.
29. The ride was colorful, short & exciting. It goes from the airport down the east side of the strip, around the Stratosphere & back.
30. It was Joanne's first copter ride & she got the good seat. Too much vibration for night shots, so checkout the NiteFlite link.
31. Sunday night, Roger & Heather enjoyed Jubilee! at Bally's (blue hotel beside Paris), a timeshare presentation freebie.
32. After the flight we dined at Mon Ami Gabi under the Eiffel Tower: Joachim, Nadine, Roger, Stephanie Montgomery, Joanne & Greg.
33. The view down the Strip from the Eiffel Tower. Mandalay Bay is at the end of the Strip.
34. The view up the Strip from Eiffel Tower. Caesar's Palace & Flamingo across the street. Mirage & Treasure Island further north.
35. From atop the Eiffel Tower, the Bellagio Fountain looks even better.
36. The reverse shot, from behind the Bellagio Fountain looking up at the Eiffel Tower at night.
37. The Bellagio, Bally's (our Embassy shuttle bus stop), Paris Hilton & the Aladdin/Desert Passage from the helicopter.
38. Starting at the south end of the Strip with Mandalay Bay we'll head north on foot & in the air. Here we visited Shark Reef.
39. The Luxor elevators go up the corners - weird! Carrying on with the shark theme, we saw the 3D IMAX movie on sharks.
40. There is a free monorail between Mandalay Bay, the Luxor & Excalibur. This is the monorail station & the entrance to the Luxor.
41. Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, Tropicana (right foreground), MGM & the Monte Carlo (top right).
42. The Excalibur looks better at night.
43. Excalibur, New York New York, Tropicana, MGM & the Monte Carlo. The free acrobatic show at the Tropicana was pretty good.
44. New York New York is impressive from the outside, but what are the rooms like?
45. Scott Rolenson finally found full time employment.
46. The Strip.
47. MGM, is the world's largest hotel with over 5000 rooms. It is the last monorail stop, so we came often, but we only "did" the lions.
48. Joanne & Roger went to see Lance Burton do his magic at the Monte Carlo on Wednesday evening. He was great.
49. Stephanie, Scott & Greg posing in front of the Bellagio, but where are the fountains?
50. Roger & Heather went to "O" at the Bellagio on Sat night. Note skylights, bottom right; its a garden that changes with the season.
51. It was the Chinese New Year & the year of the Rooster, so guess the theme of the gardens. Impressive.
52. The Flamingo had nice outdoor garden area. Roger & Heather found the Kodak spot on their way to the Hilton timeshare torture.
53. Of course the garden featured flamingos, but it also included lesser known animals like the South African penguin.
54. Surprise, its Chinese New Years at Caesars Palace as well. Another huge hotel complex.
55. We particularly liked the 180 degree escalators in the Forum Shops area. There is the Trojan horse at FAO Schwarz.
56. Heather & Roger visted the Mirage on Saturday. The waterfall is 54 ft high & it circulates 119,000 gallons of water/minute.
57. Here is a shot of the Dolphin Habitat at the back the Mirage. It is home to a family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.
58. Guests see the dolphins in a naturalistic environment, exhibiting natural behaviors. That means no tricks at 1 PM!
59. Royal White Tigers, Magical White Lions, panthers, leopards, & a four ton Thai ceremonial elephant named Gildah live here.
60. The volcano opened in 1989. It spews smoke & fire 100 ft, transforming the waterfall into spectacular streams of molten lava. Its true!
61.The Venetian is the largest suite hotel in the world. Out front is the 315-foot high Campanile Bell Tower.
62. The most photographed floor in the world, the Grand Colonnade features a unique marble floor that appears 3-D.
63. That's worth a second look.
64. The detail everywhere is impressive.
65. St. Mark's Square's, the gondolas & the Grand Canal Shoppes, been there, seen that.
66. Roger & Heather were there for sure, but where was Greg? Q: Why is there a white gondola with gold leaf?
67. Is he live or Memorex? The juxtaposition with the mannequins is, ah, artistic, eh? A Venetian Living Statue.
68. The new Wynn hotel at the top, then the Stardust & Circus Circus. Gee we missed the Frontier - too bad!
69. The Hilton is at the North end of the Strip & is also at the start of the monorail line (for now).
70. Stratosphere Tower is 1,149 feet high. A new ride, Insanity, was being installed on the black arm while we were there.
71. Fremont Street Experience: 2.1 million bulbs, 7.8 megawatts max, 31 computers, 540,000 watts of sound. We missed it - next time : )
72. This is an older sat shot, there is a golf course instead of the Wynn. Look down the flight line, the Embassy is across from the track.