It was a hard shift indeed from Sacred Zion to Electric Vegas in just three hours. The temps here are more bananas than usual, even the locals are talking about how hot it is.

We made a pit stop before leaving Utah, The Virgin Trading Post, a neat little gift shop/ice cream store/petting zoo and we got some gifts and a few great photos.

Vegas was 117 outside, which is the exact same as the temp we avoided walking in Zyzzyx…and yet, we had plans that included a little walking here, and they would not be thwarted.

We drove into town playing Frank Sinatra and our first stop was to the famous Las Vegas sign.

Right across the street is The Pinball Hall of Fame, so we ducked in there to stretch our legs, use the facilities, and also didn’t mind at all putting some quarters in a few machines.

One thing I love is that The Pinball Hall of Fame is totally non profit, there’s no admission fee and all the money that goes into the machines they give to charity. It’s a great place to spend a couple hours.

Jen got a high score on The Hobbit. We found the Ripley’s machine we have at home and it was like seeing a celebrity but we can play it for free and wanted to drop our quarters in some other games. And we couldn’t resist a little air hockey challenge.

We saw Air Force One from the Pinball parking lot…apparently Kamala was in town with us.

Our room was ready at The Flamingo so we headed over there and, for the first time ever, our truck was too high to fit in the parking structure. So we had to park next door at The Cromwell and walk a little farther.

Actually, we got more steps in yesterday than we did any other day of this trip. 17,000!

Our room has a strip view of Caesar’s. The Flamingo is my fave. It’s one of the original casinos in town and it feels like old timey upgraded and that just feels right for how to experience Vegas.

Jen has been forthcoming about her feelings since the very beginning of our relationship: Vegas is the devil and she hates it.

And so, I took it as a challenge to visit this super fun place not only with a skeptic, but with a kiddo as well.

How to show them a good time and we all leave believing it’s so fun here that we might actually wanna come back?

Night 1: Dinner and a show. And not just any dinner, The Buffet at Wynn!

King crab legs, all kinds of seafood, sushi, pizza, dumplings, jalapeno cornbread, Mac and cheese, pork belly with grits…we tried to sample a little of everything, sharing bites at the table. Jen’s favorite was the Cajun Seafood boil, the kiddo loved the ahi, and I was a big fan of this mini tostada.

And omg they had these caramel-filled churros…just go for those, if nothing else. We made reservations beforehand and prepaid so we got priority seating, which was way better than the last time I went and had to wait 2.5 hours.

Then, we were stuffed and headed just around the corner to a show called Awakening.

This is a show that had a little magic, a little acrobatics, a fun storyline narrated by Anthony Hopkins, and absolutely amazing visuals and sound.

After the show, we took the long way back to The Flamingo, caught the Volcano at The Mirage and passed through The Forum at Caesars.

Day 2: Meow Wolf Omega Mart at Area 15.

There is no way to explain what this is…it’s an experience inside of a clever and creative multidimensional art space with secret doors and hidden tunnels, and also there’s a story underneath it that you kind of have to figure out and unfold through a series of scavenger hunt clues.

Little kids were running through the place like I used to run through Chuck E Cheese, and other folks were just walking through enjoying the visuals. We did the scavenger hunt, which took about 3 hours and required a $3 “employee” card we scanned at different locations to uncover the mysterious disappearance of Marin, one of the characters in a very intricate story involving grocery store corruption, inter-dimensional travel, and a source of magical powers.

I won’t give away too much of the magic…it was fun and a bit of a challenge, also it was indoors and air conditioned…which is the only way to be on a day when it’s in the 100s outside until further notice.

We tried the family pool when we got back, but it was packed with people. We took a little downtime before dinner tonight…we’re gonna watch the sunset from The Top of the World at The Stratosphere…that feels right.

Jen just told me she sees the Disneyland in Vegas now…when you’re with the right people, doing things that speak to your own brand of fun, everything just fits together like magic.