Friday, October 18th.<br><br>[color:blue] Casinos and Side Trips </font color=blue><br><br><br>It may be a city ordinance in Vegas, that if you mention the heat you have to say, "but, it's a dry heat". That would be a seasonal situation in any case, because the weather is really spectacular for nine months of the year; the exception being the last half of June through the first half of September. Temperatures can consistently reach 110 during July and August and it dosen't "cool off" 20 degrees until about 3am to 5 am. It's usual to be walking around in 93 degree heat at midnight. <br><br>With the exception of a rare overcast day on Wednesday, every day of the trip was 78 to 81 dgrees with intense sunshine and night temperatures in the mid to upper 50's. <br><br>Friday morning was typical of the Las Vegas Valley and like only a handful of days on the East Coast. It was sunny, dry and warm. The kind of day when your car, that you haven't washed in three weeks, is sparkling in the morning sun and a warm breeze reminds you that it's great to be outside. <br><br>Thursday morning, on the way to Terrible's coffee shop i walked through Terrible's pool area The coffee shop is very good, rotisserie chicken turning through glass oven doors, quite, upstairs along with the buffet, away fron the "ching -ching- clank" of the casino. Three eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast and a pot of coffee on the table and good service for $6.50 <br><br>It was a good day to get out into the desert. <br><br>Traveling West on Charleston Blvd, the bigger the mountains get, the closer you're getting to Red Rock Canyon. The montains are always in clear view, a backdrop for the Buger King, McDonalds urban everywhere scene. This begins the twenty minute drive away from the, not so great, Stratosphere Hotel area of the North Strip. <br><br>The city grit turns to suburban housing. Desert stucco, brown red roofs, adobe architecture, it all looks nice. With a common building design and material, it's difficult to tell the affluent from the dumps. The landscaping is a giveaway. The farther out, the nicer the grounds, the more it costs. <br><br>All at once, you're not gazing at the ring of mountains, you're in it. I don't know what part of the Sowthwest Tuco dragged Clint through, in "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" and i don't think Clint appreciated the spectacular beauty of this place like i did in an Intrepid with the ballads of 104.3 FM, but if they went by here, i bet Red Rock Canyon was his favorite place, dragged through. <br><br>I drove through Red Rock Canyon three times that morning. From the Charleston Blvd. approach, it's downhill. Going back in opposite direction, i had one of those sinking feelings you get when you seem to be losing engine power on a desert mountain pass, with no one around but you and whatever spec in the scenery may or may not be a living object. At the same time, i realized, my ears were popping like a Led Zepplin refrain. The rise in elevation was rapid, but the road didn't appear steep by any means, very deceiving. <br><br>The third pass, down hill, leads to Blue Diamond Road and right back to the Strip, South of Mandalay Bay. It's a loop. I started out going West on Charleston Blvd. and returned going East on Blue Diamond Road. For a great map, get AAA's "Las Vegas Vicinity Guide Map" It's a fold out map, but easy to handle; all the casinos including off strip casinos are on the map, highly recommended. <br><br>It takes about twenty minutes driving time down Blue Diamond Road to get to the strip. <br><br>I stopped at the Klondike Casino near the Blue Diamond Road/Strip intersection area for some always present bottled water, went back to the room and watched an hour of CNN. I left the room, stopped by the casino, played $20 worth of VP. and headed over to the Palms. Lost $20, down $20 for the day. <br><br>With the addition of the Palms Hotel and Casino, the area just east of the Strip, on East Flamingo is becoming very popular. The owner of the new Palms Casino has continued the tradition, started at his former Fiesta Casino, of full pay Video Poker. This attracts locals and serious VP players. The Palms seems to be succeeding in attracting gamblers and the night club/ celebrity crowd at the same time. The Rio and the Gold Coast are right across the street. <br><br>I spent the late afternoon and Friday night at The Palms and the Rio. I parked in the Palms garage. <br><br>The Palms has, probably, after the Barbary Coast, the easiest parking garage to use in Vegas. I had an enjoyable time at The Palms, not all of which was spent playing Pai Gow. $10 a hand, lost $15, down $35 for the day. <br><br>The Rio is an exciting place, it's supposed to be. There's always a party atmosphere, with not only the usual gamblers and club/shows/restaurant crowds, but a steady stream of people there to see "The Masquerade Village Show In The Sky" This show is free, it kinda has to be. There's a track that runs along the high ceiling throughout the "Village" area of the casino. Big floats are fitted to the track and the floats with singers/dancers on them, move overhead around the casino, throwing beads ect. to the crowds below. There's also a two story stage in the middle of it all, with more singers/dancers. Watching it is like everybody being upclose and in the middle of a review show. The crowd becomes part of the act. You can watch this from anywhere, the bars, upstairs which is open to the casino and level to the passing floats, standing, playing at the tables, whatever, it's going on all around. <br><br>Had a great day and spent a great night at the Rio. I think i'll add at this point, i couldn't believe the run of bad luck at the tables, it didn't change Pai Gow, $10 a hand, lost $100, lost $135 for the day<br>