Speeding ticket on the way to the airport and burning smell in the plane on the way home but in between all was good.

Day 1
We left Washington DC at 6 am and landed in Vegas at 10:15 am local time. Since we had a car, we decided to park at Bally's and eat and see the strip. We ate at Sidewalk cafe in Bally's and overpaid for average food - this will be a common them for the week! After eating we walked to Venetian and ran into the "kick me in the nuts for $20" guy hanging out on the pedestrian bridge between Bally's and Bills. My wife was taking his picture and he posed then asked for a tip for the picture but we had already walked away. He then started yelling calling us m f'ing freeloaders. I wanted to say here's your tip "get a f'ing job" but I thought better and kept walking. We spent the next several hours around the V and then my wife took a nap after we checked in.

Great let's play some poker. This was a Tuesday during the day but Bally's was fairly nitty compared to what i remember. I started off OK and won a few pots but the game was tight and I should have found something else to do. After being up about $50 I played T8clubs from button raised preflop, flop 269 with two clubs I bet , turn T I bet, river was 7 clubs(I do not have straight flush) caller raises river with A3 clubs. I add on $100 and flop set of JJ against a flopped straight and I lose the minimum as he doesn't bet his hand until the board is reading 7 to J straight and I fold to his river bet. A few hands later I am down to $50 and run AQ into 99 and leave down $250. That evening wife and I run about $60 through slots with no hits.

Day 2
We go to Luxor to Titantic and Bodies exhibit - both are cool but a bit much back to back. Lunch is at the Rainforest cafe at MGM which is really overpriced for the quality of food but the atmosphere is awesome. Got the kids stuff in the gift shop. That evening we went to The Joint at Hard Rock to see the Def Leopard concert. OMG are drinks expensive when you're not gambling. $24 + tip for two mixed drinks. Concert was OK as that was my wife's favorite band growing up. A bunch of old people there including the performers lol.

Day 3
Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon here we come. My previous trips have been solo and didn't really want to do this by myself but there is something about Hoover Dam that I think is incredible and a must see. We get there and are pretty cheap asses and so don't pay for the tour. We walked across and took some pictures - boy is the water level low. On the way to the skywalk at Grand Canyon we stop to use the restroom and meet this lady who tells us about a back road away from the reservation for free if all we want is a view. We decide to do this(again with the cheap ass thing) and it was a drive - maybe 20 miles past Meadville(?) you turn right on "airstrip road". Now about a mile out this road we are second guessing this decision and my wife likens it to a Stephen King plot where the lady's store won't even exist on our way back. The road was about 2 miles of dirt and ended at an old parking lot about 500 feet from the edge of the canyon.

We get back and wife takes another nap which means more poker. However, I yo yo up and down for two hours and cash out even.

Day 4
We drove to Mandalay Bay to go to the shark reef and this was the biggest waste of money of the week. Unless you have never seen an aquarium this was about as impressive as a fish hatchery. This fish tanks at the Rain Forest cafe were better. We then drove downtown with plans of visiting the Pawn Shop and but the line was huge and we settled for the Mob Museum. This turned out to be one of the best things we did. That evening we saw Whoopi Goldberg at TI and she was funny as expected. On the way back to the monorail through Harrah's we each played $20 on slots and won $130.

Overall, I lost $250 at poker and we won about $50 at slots. I placed I $5 parlay on the Yankees, Reds, and Cubs that didn't win. I had planned to bet more sports but the location of Bally's sportsbook and being more on a vacation I never went out of my way to place bets. Good thing since I was going to put $50 on Syracuse at 7/2 the last day I was there. My wife is loved Vegas which was great considering how risk averse she normally is with money. I think it is the adult freedom - or maybe its the porn slappers lol.

(I will submit a room review of Bally's next)