Minnesota and Arizona 2023:
Day 17 - Las Vegas

	Friday, June 23, 2023: We started the day with freeze-dried risotto with chicken, ...
	... and then packed up our gear, loaded the van, and left the hotel around 9:30 AM.
	That's Lake Havasu out there. Let's go take a closer look.
	London Bridge ahead!
	And we're on it! Did you notice the British flag on the left side of the road and the US flag on the right?
	The bridge was brought here to Arizona in pieces in 1968, reassembled over three years, and re-opened in 1971.
	The light fixtures are original as well.
	We headed out onto Pittsburg Point, the peninsula that sticks out into Lake Havasu.
	Hey! A lighthouse. This is a replica of the Point Gratiot Lighthouse in New York on Lake Erie.
	Another one. This one is a replica of the Split Rock Lighthouse in Minnesota on Lake Superior.
	And another one. This one is a replica of the Vermilion Lighthouse in Ohio on Lake Erie.
	There was a nice walk/bike path around the peninsula.
	We reached the end of the loop road around the peninsula, ...
	... and decided on the spur of the moment to head to the London Bridge Beach.
	We were glad we did! It was a really nice area, ...
	... with lots of watercraft for rent.
	Debbie took off her shoes and socks and waded out into her beloved Colorado River. It was so tempting to stay awhile and so some swimming, but we hadn't planned for it. Maybe next time.
	We headed back across the London Bridge.
	Check out these postcard-like murals along the wall leading away from the bridge.
	We realized that we'd been on the bridge, but didn't have a good shot of the entire bridge. We drove toward the visitor center, ...
	... but couldn't find a place to get a better photo than this.
	We stopped at Del Taco to get two Independence Poppers. Tom got the one with Sprite, and Debbie had one with lemonade.
	There was a gas station across the street named Terrible's. We'd never heard of this chain before, so of course we went there.
	We drove back north, crossing the Colorado River, driving briefly through California, ...
	... until we got to Nevada. We were in this same spot this time last year before our river trip with Jill and Jared.
	After having never seen Terrible's before this morning, we couldn't stop seeing them. We ducked inside to use the restroom, and got back on the road.
	Check out this cool dam railing, ...
	... and this cool dam construction art. Sorry.
	We stopped at Von's grocery store in Henderson, Nevada, to pick up some more Caffeine Free Diet Coke. We also ended up buying more regular Diet Coke and Peach Fresca. We declared it to be the best Fresca ever.
	As we headed toward the Las Vegas Strip, ...
	... our condo inspection was happening back in Mesa and Debbie was answering questions about what this was. For the record, we think this is a 90-year-old man's bright idea for adding an outlet to his bathroom.
	We hopped off the highway to pick up some McDonald's, ...
	... and then we headed into Las Vegas. There's the giant dome we had seen under construction last year.
	Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas! The small blue signs say that the perimeter lights around the sign are rainbow colors for Pride Month. Aww. Nicely done, Las Vegas.
	Wow. The Pinball Hall of Fame really upgraded their sign since the last time we were here. We pulled in to the parking lot, put in the sun shades, and headed in to get our pinball on.
	We stopped just inside the door, got $20 worth of quarters, divided them up, and started playing.
	You can't pass up a computerized sex test. Tom got innocent and kiss'n tell, and Debbie got voluptuous, wild, and affectionate. Yep. It checks out.
	Debbie's first play was on the Circus Voltaire machine by Bally, ...
	... and Tom headed to a Star Trek Voyager shoot 'em up game.
	Meanwhile, Debbie had moved on to this prize game where she won a tiny basketball toy.
	We played the Space Shuttle by Williams, ...
	... and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Bally.
	Here's a closeup of the backglass of Captain Fantastic for Debbie.
	Oh no. Whitewater by Williams, ...
	... was out of order. Debbie took a second to look for her favorite cosmetic features on this machine.
	First, there's was a Schilling on the mechanical design for Whitewater. Cool!
	Second, there was a graphic for Wet Willie's River Ranch. It's like this machine was designed for Debbie's family.
	The case was for Asteroids, but the game itself was Lunar Lander. That didn't stop Tom from playing it however.
	There was Twilight Zone by Bally, ...
	... and KISS, also by Bally, ...
	... and Lord of the Rings by Stern.
	Check out this whole row of old electro-mechanical pins.
	This cool old machine, Bally's Grand Tour, was tucked in the back. The backglass was beautiful and featured graphics of famous locations in Europe. Notice that the score only has three digits. Wow.
	There were a bunch of great ones that we might have played if they had been working, including this sky diving-themed one by Bally.
	Check out these two Williams machines that were side by side: Spanish Eyes and Grenada. They look like one of those "how many differences can you spot" games.
	Okay. It wasn't all pinball. There might have been some Galaga being played as well.
	Back to pinball. There was Genesis by Gottlieb, ...
	... and Roller Disco, also by Gottlieb, ...
	... and Buck Rogers, also by Gottlieb.
	It was very sad to see the ones that were dark which meant they were not working. This was Star Trek by Data East, ...
	... and Starship Troopers by Sega. We used to own both of these, so we were disappointed that we couldn't play them.
	Enough moping. We played Who Dunnit by Midway, ...
	... and Wipe Out by Gottlieb.
	Check out this jukebox!
	It has Scritti Politti and Madonna!
	And back to pinball. This was Charlie's Angels by Gottlieb.
	Hey Kids! Play with Peppy the music clown! Debbie declared this to be an incredibly creepy dancing clown. And she has video proof.
	And more pinball. While Tom was playing The Hobbit by Jersey Jack, ...
	... Debbie was playing Deadpool by Stern.
	Tom even got a high score!
	Here's Debbie playing Star Wars by Stern, ...
	... and here's Game of Thrones, also by Stern.
	Debbie declared that she really wanted these beautiful old wooden cabinets, but alas, there wasn't any room left in the van. Oh, and they weren't actually for sale.
	The best game we played was this ancient baseball game. You flipped a lever and launched a ball into the air, and it came down in one of nine slots that either advanced your runners or got you an out. You played until there were three outs. It was that simple, yet highly addictive. We spent all of our remaining quarters on this.
	It wasn't until we were getting ready to leave that we looked up and saw the giant pinball decorations around the building. There was this ball track above a group of pinball machines near the center of the room, ...
	... and this giant flipper that doubled as a cocktail table in an aisle. Cool!
	Goodbye, Pinball Hall of Fame. Until next time.
	We decided to drive up the Strip to see what had changed since the last time we were here. These giant pillars were under construction on a vacant lot not far from the Pinball Hall of Fame. What will they be? Only time will tell.
	The Luxor was still there, ...
	... and the Tropicana looked so shiny from a distance, ...
	... but up close, ewwww, those windows.
	We realized that we've never stayed at the New York, New York. Maybe someday.
	Here's the majestic lion in front of the MGM Grand.
	There was now a Raising Cane's Chicken on the Strip. Oooh. A pride flag. Well done, Vegas.
	The M&M Store was still there, ...
	... as was Coca Cola World.
	Has there always been a Hard Rock there?
	How many slot machines do you think are in this Target?
	Whoever thought to put the walkways across the Strip were geniuses. That's the Cosmopolitan, on the left, ...
	... and Planet Hollywood on the right.
	The faux Eiffel Tower and hot air balloon at Paris still looked good.
	Has that flower always been at the Flamingo? Tom has stayed here at least twice and swears he's never seen it before.
	Oooh. Donny Osmond is playing at Harrah's.
	That has to be one of the coolest McDonald's buildings that we've seen. It fits right in with the Las Vegas Strip.
	Even Denny's gets in on the giant things act with their gigantic fork.
	Here's the Venetian, ...
	... and here's Palazzo, which we'd never seen before.
	How great is it that the extension to the Wynn is callled Encore? We hope they tipped their marketing team when they brought that to the meeting.
	Our tour of the Strip stopped when we reached the left turn to the Fashion Show Mall, ...
	... where we parked in the garage and crossed the skybridge, ...
	... into air-conditioned retail comfort.
	Check out the adult swing sets!
	You knew this is why we were here, right? Of course we went to the LEGO Store in Las Vegas!
	These treasures were sitting out on the counter in front of the Pick & Build wall. Luke and Leia hair!
	One small Pick & Build cup refill later, and we were headed back out, ...
	... and checked out the hotels at the north end of the Strip. This big red beauty is Resorts World Las Vegas, which is three hotels in one: Hilton, Crockfords, and Conrad.
	Here's the Strat Hotel, ...
	... and here's Circa Resort and Casino, which is on Fremont Street at the northernmost end of the Strip.
	Ah. That was exhausting. Is it time for Winchell's yet?
	Of course it is. Their racks looked pretty bare at 4 PM, ...
	... but we managed to find seven, count 'em, seven donuts that looked good. The young dude working behind the counter calculated that if a dozen is fourteen donuts, than a half dozen should be seven, right? Maybe he gets to go home early if they are completely out of donuts, or maybe we had just been served by the Winchell's Employee of the Year.
	We left the twinkle and glamour of Las Vegas behind, ...
	... and followed the same route that the river trip buses take, ...
	... seeing all of the familiar sights until we reached ...
	... Mesquite, Nevada, right on the Nevada-Utah border.
	We had a room booked at the Mojave Edge Hotel, ...
	... which turned out to be a huge apartment! There was a living room, ...
	... huge bathroom, ...
	... and a bedroom with a king bed.
	We brought in our gear, unpacked our swimsuits, and headed right out to the pool. There were two pools and a hot tub to choose from, ...
	... and we picked the smaller pool that was still in the sun. The water was cool and refreshing, and we enjoyed having it all to ourselves.
	By 6:30 PM, we were hungry, so we got back in the van, ...
	... and drove to our very last Del Taco of the trip.
	We drove back to the hotel on a road that looked like it had been built just before we got there. The entire area looked brand new.
	Not one, but two dead end notices. All that was missing between the two signs was another sign indicating how to pronounce "dead end" and this could be a dictionary entry.
	Back at the hotel, we went back to our room and were enjoying our dinner when we got news that our buyer had accepted the inspection. Ten days after arriving at the condo, we had cleared all of the hurdles to selling it. We both breathed a big sigh of relief at having that weight off our shoulders. Next stop: closing. Day 18 >