Las Vegas, Nevada

Wow. Sin City. Get me out of here, quick.

Due to the fact that a block of time that was TBA as far as whether we had shows or not did not fill up with shows...we have a whopping 6 days off from performing. And it's all in Las Vegas, baby.

We arrived last night at around 8:30pm. The drive from Stockton was 530 miles, and it took all day. We drove into Vegas at night, with the full impact of the lights flashing around us. We are staying at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino right on the strip. The room is amazingly quiet (I slept until 11:30am this morning)...they must have soundproof windows or something.

We had a brief company meeting and then hit the strip to see what there was to see. Jordan and Ashley were heading out the next day to travel home to see loved ones, so they wanted a little tase before they left. We walked to the Bellagio, and Ashley and I tried on $12,000 diamonds at a jewelry store there (that was fun :)...then we headed to the casino. Jordan lost a little money on the roulette table (so confusing!), and Santi, Jordan and I played some 5 cent slots (I just like pushing the buttons). I lost $2 and decided gambling is not for me :). We walked around some more, and then I went to the CVS to buy some food...the food here is super expensive, think Disney land for adults. I bought a loaf of bread, some pretzels, and some ritz cracker sandwiches...welcome to the week of cheap carbs!

This morning I slept in, bought a $7 bagel and coffee at Starbucks, Moria and I bought hot pots at the Walgreens across the street so that we can make some $2 thai noodle dishes in our room, went to the fitness room, and played some guitar. . After I got showered and dressed, I headed down to the lobby to ask where the shoe shine guy was that I had heard about. Mr. Holiday Porter shined my boots and fixed up the scuff mark that I had created in San Francisco. It was my first show shine, and it was wonderful! Mr. Porter came to Vegas in 1953 for, as he put it, "adventure". Did you find adventure? I asked. I found adventure, after adventure, after adventure, he replied. He told me about how Paula Abdul was sitting at the slot machine right next to his shoe shine stand last week, cause American Idol auditions were in town...and the only way he recognized her was from the fact her picture was on the front page of the paper. He's had this shoe shine stand for 8 years. He gave me advice on how to keep my boots looking good. It was a great shoe shine.

Moria and I hit the strip and walked for 2 hours, not going into any of the hotels, but just walking. It's easy to walk away two hours. I got a lot of comments on my cowboy boots. They were definitely a hit.

This city is dirty. It's crowded. There is lust and greed everywhere. The glazed eyes of the slot machine monsters are scaring me. I'm ready to go hiking in Utah (I go this weekend with Moria and her mom). Oh, and we bought Cirque de Soleil tickets for next Tuesday :). It's so worth the money. Tomorrow there will be more adventure to come. I'm going to the 9am poker lesson (it's free) at the Paris hotel down the strip. I will find free fun.