Robbing Vegas blind

Day two of Las Vegas was full of last minute attractions. We woke up early to hang out by the pool for a bit before our 11am checkout. We realized that we forgot to play the slot machines so after packing the car we threw $10 in one of the I Love Lucy machines.

Neither of us being big gamblers we didn’t stay there long and got up to find a different machine that was less confusing. We wandered away to a different area and noticed all the machines said 0 credits except one that said 67. Confused, we pressed the cash out button thinking 67 cents would come out but to our surprise a ticket balance of $67 showed.

Excited and sort of nervous we quickly left and cashed out our newly found mini-fortune. On top of the $40 and free Starbucks we got from doing a quick survey we left Vegas with a surplus of $100+ and a lot of great memories. Jules was looking forward to seeing the Welcome to Las Vegas sign so that was our next destination. 

After getting our cliché photos we were off to a tacky souvenir store to grab a few gifts. Before hitting the road we split a burger from In n’ Out Burger then hopped on the highway to get dinner at a 50s Restaurant across the California border. There were two right by eachother and we couldn’t choose just one so we ate at Penny’s Diner and had a milkshake at Peggy Sue’s Diner.  Penny’s had the best tacky 50s décor with pictures of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, James Dean and I Love Lucy all over the walls. The waitresses wore teal and pink outfits and they played ‘50s music. Needless to say, Jules didn’t want to leave.

From the diner, we just drove to Three Rivers a town close by to Sequoia National Park which is our next stop tomorrow to see General Sherman, the world’s largest tree and the rest of Giant Forest.

"It's one of the noble gases"

After a few hours of driving through Utah, Arizona and Nevada, we arrived in Las Vegas. It was a lot smaller than we imagined but a lot tackier than we anticipated. Our first stop was Silver and Gold Pawn Shop from the show Pawn Stars. It was so crowded but they had some cool, really overpriced things.

Then we checked into our hotel, MGM Grand and walked around to see what was around. Then we went to lunch at our first stop from our Diners Drive-ins and Dives list, Four Kegs and we had some Stromboli.

 At the Lion's Den in our hotel

Then we went back to our hotel to shower (after days!) and get ready to see Penn & Teller.

While on the shuttle ride over to Rio, our bus driver informed us that it had been confirmed that Osama Bin Laden was dead. 

We loved the Penn & Teller show! They did a lot of magic and only some preaching. After the show, we got to meet Penn and Teller! Larry was so excited he really couldn’t contain himself. (I on the other hand acted completely normal ;)

Best. Friends. FOREVER.

After the show, we stopped at a Dueling Piano bar in Harrah's. We meant to only stop in but ended up staying for hours. They managed to combine two of my favorite things: Pianos and patriotic songs. It didn't really feel right drinking imported beer and singing Proud to be an American but we had the best time. Osama Bin Laden found his way into almost every song and at the end of most songs, the entire bar screamed: “USA! USA! USA!”

Today we finally get to California!

(I couldn't choose one song!)