My flights were straight forward and uneventful. Security in KC added little additional time. I had allowed an hour for the security checkpoint in Las Vegas for the retur, but it took 45 minutes. 

My $39 room at the Riviera was fine: nice size, freshly cleaned carpet, large bath tub. I didn't care for the layout or feel of the Riviera and made no wagers there, though I only gambled $15 all weekend. 

I had planned to take advantage of a special at the Stratosphere (refund of 110% of net loses during the first 30 minutes, up to $150), but it had just been discontinued. 

The rental car worked out well. Parking at the casinos was convenient and I visited a couple of things away from the Strip: Ethel M's Chocolate Factory & Albion Book Company. 

The Chocolate factory and adjoining desert garden wasn't that impressive. The most interesting part was their organic waste water treatment system:-) 

The bookstore was very good. I wish it was closer to KC. They had a large selection of first editions, autographed books, many Gnome Press, etc. I limited my purchases to two hardcover firsts: The Unreasoning Mack by Philip José Farmer and As Dream and Shadow a signed collection of poems by Emil Petaja. Illustrated by Hannes Bok. 

The only thing I intended to do, but missed was the Fremont Street Experience. I started down once, but construction made it hard to get around in that direction, and time was running short. 

Highlights were the Pirate ship battle at Treasure Island and Mystere by Cirque du Soleil. Both were very impressive. Mystere is a major production with lots of odd acrobatics and music. I also saw Midnight Fantasy at the Luxor, but could have skipped that one. 

I also saw Showgirls of Magic and Midnight Fantasy. The Showgirls of Magic was the most fun of those shows. Very pretty girls in a small setting. The magic tricks were mediocre, but I guess that is like the singing dog, the trick is that it sings at all. The was also a comedian, a midget and a huge female impersonator. Late in the show, the impersonator came back as Cher, when the midget joined him as Sony & Cher, it was hilarious. 

Another good free show was the Birdman of Las Vegas next to one of the bars in the Tropicana. The brief show was pretty good, It started with some talking birds, then moved on to a few tricks. One bird was very trusting and let the Birdman juggle it. The show moved on to bigger birds a large eagle from South America and a huge Andean condor. 

I had sushi twice, the second time being at Sushi House Manda. All you can eat. It was so good, that if I had stayed another evening, I would have gone again. I got there early and for the first 30 minutes had one of the chefs to myself. My favorite items were the special scallops (Cooked Scallops with Yum-Yum sauce, Eel sauce, & Hot Sauce), Salmon Skin Roll (Toasted Salmon Skin and Smelt Egg), Firecracker (Chopped Tuna and Hot Sauce in handroll), and Lorie Roll (Crab, Shrimp, Yum-Yum Sauce and Cream Cheese). 

I'm getting hungry as I type this. The prices are out of date but their web site is http://sushihouse.com/  I highly recommend it. 

I also tried two of the Buffets. The MGM Grand Buffet had good reviews, but was very disappointing: poor service, relatively small selection, toughest roast beef that I have ever had. 

The Buffet at the Bellagio was very impressive. I particularly enjoyed the smoked sturgeon and the salmon. 

Sunday, before leaving town, I saw the free shows in Caesar's Palace and the Fountain at the Bellagio. The Fountain is also very good, but they do only one song per show (every half hour), which didn't seem quite enough. After the first show, I crossed the street to Paris and saw the next show from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was packed on that side and the cage has only a few small opening for pictures, so I wasn't able to get the kind of shots that I hoped for.