LAS VEGAS, NV ROAD TRIP

Rocky at The Painted Desert

Petroglyph on Display

Panorama Featuring Johnny B

Rocky's New Car

Very Cool Petroglyphs Here

Click to Enlarge For Petroglyphs

Rock on Planet Earth

Rocky, Petrified Forest National Park

Modern Day Dinosaur

Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Wood

Petrified Logs

Dino Bones

Johnny B and Petrified Wood

$5,000 Worth of Petrified Wood

Baby Dino

These Dinosaurs Charged Our Car

Hoover Dam

Rocky and Girder From 9/11

Atomic Energy Museum

Johnny B and Piece of Berlin Wall

Atomic Energy Museum

El Cortez Hotel and Casino

El Cortez Parking Garage

The Fremont Street Experience Screen

The Fremont Street Experience

Old Downtown Las Vegas

Paris

Planet Hollywood

This is really $1,000,000

Johnny B and Teller

Rocky and Teller

Johnny B and Penn

Rocky and Penn

Johnny B and Robbie Sanders, Planet Hollywood

Rocky, Robbie and Johnny B

Russian Boy and Comedy Kitty

The Letter B and Four Musicians

Best Beatles Cover Show Ever!

Johnny B With Hot Chicks and The Fab Four

July 30 to August 11, 2010. Rocky and I hit the road on Friday, July 30. We drove the two hours to Albuquerque where we stayed at the Extended Stay Hotel (where we always stay when we have VA appointments two days in a row). On Saturday morning, we headed west on I-40. We visited The Petrified Forest National Park in Holbrook, Arizona. Awesome! Petrified trees in the park date back more then 200 million years. The park itself had been plundered up until the early 20^th Century but lots of very cool trees remain.

We arrived at The El Cortez Hotel and Casino in Old Downtown Las Vegas on Sunday. Six nights there cost $120 total- that’s with tax and an upgrade to a tower room! The El Cortez just underwent a billion dollar upgrade and we were very satisfied with the room for the money. I got to know the drink girls very quickly while I pulled away at the penny slots.

On Tuesday, we went to see Penn and Teller at The Rio. We decided to do the crab leg buffet before the show but we didn’t realize that we would be in line for an hour and twenty minutes. By the time we got seated, we only had about ten minutes to scarf down a dozen or two crab legs. We were ten minutes late to the show and since we had third row seats, our arrival didn’t go unnoticed by Penn. Even so, we got autographs and pictures after the show.

On Thursday, we went to see “V” The Ultimate Variety Show at Planet Hollywood. I got dragged onto the stage with three other guys and two, yes two thick rubber masks were pulled over my head. Claustrophobia hit me hard but that was just the beginning. The performer began pulling strings at the back of the outer mask which moved a pair of lips up and down as I waved my index fingers like the conductor of an orchestra. I thought I was going to suffocate. There was little relief when the outer mask was removed because that’s when balloons were shoved into our mouths. The first of us to blow up three balloons, sitting on and breaking them one by one, would be declared the winner. I came in last. But it all worked out because I got tickets to a Motown Show. The Motown show had the week off so I was able to trade the tickets for $150 off The BeatleShow Tribute we had planned for Sunday.

Robbie Sanders flew in on Friday, August 6 and we picked him up at the airport. He checked into The Sahara Hotel and Casino. We spent one more night at The El Cortez before moving to The Sahara.

When we checked into The Sahara on Saturday, we realized very quickly that it was a hole. One of the parking garage elevators was broken (for the duration of our stay and I’m sure a lot longer) and the elevator that barely worked was among the slowest, dirtiest and tore up that I’d ever been in. There was this thick black smoke cloud of death that emanated from a huge vent that exhaled directly onto the walkway leading to and from the parking garage. When we saw it, it was clear that anyone on the walkway during the venting was in serious danger of choking. The main lobby carpet was filthy and the nearby bathroom stunk. Even the drinking fountain there was out of order. And this is all in the first few minutes after arriving! We booked the final leg of our stay there because this is where Elvis and The Beatles stayed. Never again.

On Sunday, Rocky, Robbie and I did the lobster buffet at the Rio and then went back to Planet Hollywood to see two shows in a row. The first show was Comedy Pet Theater. Lots of kitties and puppies, a few ferrets and a bird entertained us along with the Russians who were instructing them. After a short intermission, The BeatleShow Tribute began. The Fab Four cover band was awesome. Near the end of the show, one of them held up a signed tambourine and asked who wanted it. I raised my hand. The next thing you know, I’m being dragged back up on stage. I played tambourine for “Got To Get You Into My Life” and got to keep the tambourine. I kept pretty good time if I do say so myself. I also got a signed picture of me onstage. Pictures aren’t allowed at any of the shows so my photo was the only one during that particular performance.

On Wednesday, we drove Robbie to the airport and then headed back toward Hoover Dam. We were pretty tired from all the activity so we got a motel after only two hours on the road. We drove all the way back to truth or Consequences, NM the next day. The Arizona stretch of I-40 is actually pretty cool so the drive was at least scenic. It was nice to hit the road after a few years of sitting still but it was even nicer to get home.