after my incident in the desert, i took a wrong turn (or, rather, missed the right turn) and ended up with a scenic drive down the strip in las vegas. not that i had any energy for it, but i took advantage of the situation by snapping photos when i was stopped. which was pretty often. traffic is pretty bad on the strip.

i didn’t start taking photos until i was way past the stratosphere, but i still had a glimpse in my side mirror.

anything i know about vegas, i learned from a movie.

i wonder how the osmonds feel about having their faces almost as tall as this building.

and, finally, i had returned to the security of a cell phone charger and a bed. later in the evening i joined coworkers at aureole before retiring for the evening.

we got to see someone – a “wine angel steward” – fetch a bottle of wine from about halfway up the column.

in the morning i joined a couple coworkers and rapid world cup fans down at the sports book. biggest. tv. ever.

he’s a german. totally awesome mullet. (and i think he was serious? i’m not, though.)

i went to happy hour at china grill a couple times. i was very pleased with their price for sushi.

elephants everywhere!

i also fell in love with the border grill. great chips and salsa and delicious margaritas! the ceviche was also really tasty after the day i spent walking the strip – really cooled me down.

oh, and the patio had a really great view over the pools.

how many photos is that so far? I guess let’s keep going, i’ve got a ridiculous amount more to share but the organization might be weird.

to do for next time: ride the roller coaster at new york new york.

another to do for someday: go to real new york.

i love a good lens flare!

mgm grand was the destination on the evening these photos were taken.

remember when david copperfield did those specials on tv before all sorts of other wacky magicians came along? i loved those shows, especially when you would get to “interact” with him during the card tricks made for viewers at home.

this photo was taken on my way back to mandalay bay. i skipped a whole bunch because the event at the mgm was the attendee appreciation party for cisco live, details of which i’m saving for another post. onward!

rumjungle. i shoulda gone back for more, but got distracted.

my coworkers and i made a special trip to paris.

we ate ridiculously well at mon ami gabi. steak roquefort: oh, my.

and, with the bellagio right across the street, we had to take in the fountains after dinner.

and now i need to take a break because i took about five million photos on my last day, which was entirely on my own. so! stay tuned.