Day Five...

Today was a lot more busy than yesterday. We spent a little time in the morning putting together an agenda of things to do and see, pretty much all free. While I was getting ready, Jimmie went over to the Gold Spike for a $2 beer.
We drove to Treasure Island and parked there. We were going to see the "Sirens of TI" show later on in the evening, then from there to the Rio... So, we parked at Treasure Island to begin walking up the Strip towards Caesar's Palace. The inside of Treasure Island is large and rather confusing to get around in. Finding the exit to the Strip was fun. Ask the staff - they know everything. From Treasure Island we went over to the Mirage. I can't remember much about the actual casino, but there was Siegfried and Roy stuff everywhere. There was a tiger habitat where there was a single white lion walking around. It looked fairly bored and kept trying to scratch itself under its chin by rubbing up against the wall. Not in some psychotic way (if you've been to some zoos, you know what I mean), it just looked like it really wanted someone to come in and scratch it. Then it would eat them. :) It was rather beautiful, but we didn't get a picture of it. By the time the camera had come out and powered up, it had moved up to a hidden spot, out of the public eye. That was ok. We were about to go somewhere awesome.
Caesar's Palace is amazing. Opulence pretty much describes it. I don't think there is an undecorated wall, ceiling, floor, etc., in that place. The Roman theme is very well done. Coming in from the walkway from the street, we were greeted by a huge fountain/statue of Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks), surrounded by other Roman gods. Of course, the best photo shot of it has to overlook the restaurant at its base. The ceiling was painted sky blue, with fluffy white clouds. The lighting and colors made it look like it really was the sky (except for the circular spots every so often). The Shops at the Forum are quite fashionable and quite pricey. Just watching some of the people walking around there was like watching a fashion show. I felt a little under-dressed with my Hawaiian shorts/shirt combo (which strangely worked very well at Treasure Island). For those of you that know Vancouver, think Robson Street, only fancier. We got many pictures of statues and the general decor around the hotel/casino. Seeing as we hadn't eaten all day, we checked out a food court in the Forum. The food was a tad over-priced for what it was (a burger), but tasty just the same. The staff there were quite helpful too. (My cashier - you paid as you left - was this gorgeous black girl that was *very* friendly. Yum!) We went into an art gallery in the Forum that had some beautiful paintings and sculptures. If I would have had a spare 10-15 grand I would have bought some. One. Most of one. As we were walking around to find the exit (an ongoing problem for us), we came across this huuuuuge slot machine and I was going to put some money in it and give it a pull. I couldn't though. This lady had already won an obscene amount of money on it and was waiting for an attendant to pay her out. The same thing happened at the other big-ass slot machine we saw at the exit, only to a different lady. Not as much money this time, but still enough that they were still playing.
We decided to head over to the Bellagio and check out the water fountain show. After Caesar's Palace, it seemed rather drab in comparison. We made our way out to the water fountain around 7:10pm, right after one show had ended. They were supposed to be going every 15 minutes, so we found a good spot and waited. And waited... and waited. While we were waiting, we talked to this couple from South Carolina. They had gone to see Celine Dion the night before. Don't know how the show was as they never made any mention of it beyond that they had seen it. The fountain show finally started and it was spectacular. They choreographed the moving water jets to music and had the water streaming up and around, waving all about. Quite pretty. During the uptempo parts of the songs, the center spouts would fire and at times, they could shoot the water up into the air some 250 feet. Quite impressive. It's a bit hard to describe. We ended up staying for a second show because we had been chatting with that couple after the first one had ended.
We hustled our butts over to the Mirage in order to catch the volcano eruption. The smell of chlorine in the air from the water falls in front of the Mirage was so strong that it was difficult for me to breathe (getting over a cold) and both of our eyes stung like the dickens. (What the hell are "the dickens" anyhow?) I checked the guide book and saw that the Sirens of TI show was going to start 10 minutes from then. That show is only every hour and a half whereas the volcano erupts every 15 minutes. We start walking towards Treasure Island and then we see the crowd of people milling about, waiting for the show. We push our way into the crowd, following a line of people that are doing the same. We end up getting pushed and shoved and manhandled (well, it was a woman, but she did grab Jimmie's unit). We were packed so tightly on that sidewalk area that it was like cows in a cattle truck headed for slaughter. We did get a fairly decent viewing spot though. At least Jimmie did. I had a sign that said "Wet Zone" blocking most of my view. The show was ok, but a little racy for the large amount of children in the audience. Heh. What am I saying? Kids can find porn just lying in the street (we added quite a few new cards today to our collection of porn). Even though the sun had long since gone down, the heat, while standing in the herd, was next to unbearable for me. Sweat was literally dripping down my back. That and my secret no-no place. We fought our way out of the crowd and up to the parking garage. Ok, let me clarify. We only had to fight our way out of the crowd. No fighting was done in the casino or the parking garage. Well, there was the constant struggle to keep walking when your feet don't want any more abuse, but no heated battles. We've been lucking out lately and getting fantastic parking spots, literally the stall right beside the elevator to the casino.
We checked the time and decided to head over to the Rio for their Masquerade in the Sky show. Due to traffic, we just barely make it there and parked (no luck this time) before it starts up. Hmmm... How can I describe it? In the vast lexicon of the English language, there must be some few words that can help me to describe the Masquerade Show in the Sky. Ahhh yes... Lame. The best part was when the showgirls came out at the end and danced around a bit. It was kind of fun to watch grown men and women fight over these cheap plastic bead necklaces that were being thrown by the performers in the floats. After all the floats had been put back to bed for the next performance, and the showgirls had taken their feathered asses (and heads) elsewhere, the bartenders at that big round bar put on a performance. Much much cooler than the other one that shall remain nameless from here on in. They did juggling of bottles of booze (4 bottles each), tricks with pouring, etc. Very entertaining. The digital camera's battery died while we were there. We took a lot of pictures since we came down, but nowhere near the lifespan of one of these batteries. Not only that, we haven't been using the flash much, or reviewing the pics. Going to have to go in to Staples and give them a piece of my mind when I get home (the battery that I bought was in a previously opened package). Jimmie wasn't feeling well when we left there, so we decided to come back to the hotel. Another long day ended.