I arrived at the Venetian on Monday, the 15th of December. I flight out was a little longer than usual. But when I arrived at the baggage carousel I only waited a couple minutes for my bag. Much better than usual. I rode the shuttle bus to my hotel. Did not take too long, as the Venetian was the first stop.

My room was alert when I checked in a little after 11:30am. So it was nice so unpack and rest a bit before heading down to the fun. Went to the Venetian restaurant area for the rapid foods. Had a "Johnny Rocket" burger and fries. It is a good place for a rapid meal to eat there or take away. I thought the pizza place was too expensive, $4.99 for one slice of pepperoni pizza, and not a enormous slice.

It rained all day, so I only played at the Venetian and Palazzo casinos. Not much luck on the slots. Tuesday I went to the Fashion show Mall and walked and walked some more. It is such a enormous shopping mall!! Did not purchase anything, was looking for the Apple store, but never found it. So I went to the Apple store at the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace. I bought an Apple Ipod Touch to take on the trip with me. Just needed a little advice about WiFi and how to set up some services. I listened to songs on the Touch on both flights, good sound with the Bose earphones.

Not much luck on the slots Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Did not get very many bonus games at all. But did have some luck again playing video poker. At the Palazzo playing triple double bonus poker. I was dealt a pair of threes and kept them. Then hit the discount button and the magic words appeared, call the attendant!! I picked up the other two thees and four for the kicker card for a $2,000 win!! Was quite a astonishment on hit in a pair of threes!!

Thursday i went to see the Beatles Love show again at the Mirage. This time with a half price ticket at the 10pm show. A little different than the last time I saw the show. but I still think they should remove the "Blackbird" song, not funny, and many more songs that are much better.

The new and improved volcano at the Mirage. Ho hum, not much different. Not worth the millions they spent on it. Did not care for the dance beat music with it. Much prefer the the jungle sounds and volcano rumble of the old volcano. Don't waste your time making a special walk down just to view it.

And of course, I was there doing the big Vegas snow storm! I was just out walking about, so was not a bother to me. Was different seeing the snow falling on the bright neon lights of the strip. But you could only see about half mile during the early evening when the snow was falling heavy. Here is a link to use if you want to view some photos and video of the snowstorm: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/snow/2008/


It was a good trip, nice being away from work!!

Merry Christmas and good luck to everyone!!!!

Back from my latest Vegas vacation. I was there over the July 4th weekend, staying at the Mirage Hotel. I did not take any photos this time. The Mirage is currently in the process of renovating their rooms. I was in a tower deluxe room on the 26th floor. But the room had not been renovated yet. One of the secure features of the tower deluxe rooms is your room key is needed for the elevator to operate. The room was very nice, but in need of some repair and upgrade. The Mirage was trying to have all the rooms done by August. Not sure if they will make it by then.

Of course it was very hot. But that is what you expect in the middle of summer. Just stay out of the sun and it is not too bad. Cool drinks and air conditioning work quite well to make you forget the scorching heat.

This was my first time staying at the Mirage, been in the casino many times. Never had awesome luck at the casino, but I do like the variety of slots and many table games. Did have some good luck on this trip. The "White Lilly" and dollar version of "Deal or No Deal" were fun to play and did hit for some modest gains. Always much more enjoyable playing the slots when you get to play the bonus games. I prefer the new dollar version of "Deal or No Deal" to the penny and nickle slots. The bonus circular is much more like the tv show. The "White Lilly" is a penny slot. I had good luck with frequent hits for thousands of credits and the bonus spins a few times. On one spin I hit for 32,400 credits!! That is the best one spin I have had on a penny slot!!

I also had some luck on another penny slot called " Lil Ladybug". Had some hits there for thousands of credits. But only made the bonus circular once. Did well at Caesars Palace on the dollar slots and at MGM on their dollar slots. But with all this good luck I still came home a loser. But I had more than half the money I took in my pocket. Being there for six days, I think it was not too bad.

I had my usual meals at the Bellagio and Mirage buffets. My two favorite buffets. I had a few meal at the "Caribe Cafe", the Mirage 24 hour coffee shop. The food was good, I really liked the soups for a rapid light meal. Service was good, never seemed too busy. A new restaurant, the "BLT Burger" at the Mirage opened July 1. Burgers, fries and shakes are the main dishes here. But I tried the chili, was very good. and the chocolate milkshake was very good. It cost about $15 for the burger, fries and drink. It was very busy at dinner and night. It was a good place and fun atmosphere for a casual meal.

With the price of gas, I think paying $6 for the airport shuttle bus is the way too go. The taxis will charge at minimum three times that for a strip hotel. And depending on the traffic and driver, can be more. You might take a few more minutes to arrive at your hotel, but your saving money and not wasting it as soon as you arrive.

As always, it was a fun vacation, and always alert to go back!! Good luck too everyone!!!!

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