Saturday, October 19th. <br><br>[color:blue] Casinos and Side Trips </font color=blue><br><br><br>It was early in the evenining, but at the bar of the atmosphere bound Lagoon lounge of the Mirage Hotel, it was permanently late at night. <br><br>In my peripheral vision i noticed a woman in a black dress walking over to the bar from one of the lounge tables, petite, mature, classy. She put her drink on the bar right next to mine and sat down. It was a deliberate, hip first, exposed and curved lower back, slide onto the bar seat. She crossed her legs, giving her beautiful smooth thigh an extra lift. She looked down at her drink with a confident, but somewhat sheepish smile. I recognized her. It was Jane Seymour. Man! did she still have it. She turned quickly with a serious countenance and looked at me, so close i could feel the quick breath from her nostrils. Then she paused and said "i've been watching you, i'm sick of Hollywood, i want to be with you now" <br><br>Then i woke up from the dream and it was Saturday morning in Vegas. <br><br>At 8am they were mowing the lawn around Terrible's pool area and low piped in music was playing from the speakers attached high in the palm trees above the pool. <br><br>I went down to Terrible's small market located just off the casino and next to the slot club desk area. Prices for liquor, beer, water, juice and especially cigaretts beat supermarket prices. <br>I bought a carton of Pall Mall filters for $34 (Basic cigaretts are $22 a carton; i'm pretty sure this beats even the price on the indian reservations. I went over to the other side of the casino to the sports book and bet the Monday Night Football game. Colts to beat the Steelers, no points. <br><br>Lake Las Vegas is south East of the strip and it's about a forty minute drive down I-215. Like just about everything in and around Vegas, Lake Las Vegas is very easy to get to. I-215 automatically turns into Lake Mead Drive and the entrance to the Lake Las Vegas properties is right off Lake Mead Drive. <br><br>There's a master plan for Lake Las Vegas. There are plans for five top of the line hotels. A Grand Hyatt has existed for a few years and a Ritz Carlton is now under construction. Celine Dion, who just signed a 40 million five year contract with Casars Palace, to perform in her own built for Celine Dion showroom, is building a house on one of the 1 to 2 million dollar lots that surround the Lake. There are two exclusive golf courses, one of which is designed by the great Jack Nicklaus. <br><br>The area is easy to tour. There's a main road that takes you throughout the properties, over hills with interesting vistas, by the Hyatt and golf course and returning you to the entrance once again. The housing area with the other golf course is private and closed to traffic. I visited the Hyatt and it's a property with immaculate grounds, hotel and pool area. The Lake itself is actually a watershed of Lake Mead but it was not nearly as big as i had imagined. <br><br>Green Valley Ranch Hotel and Casino is right off I-215 and i stopped in on the way back from Lake Las Vegas. This hotel is top of the line of the Station Casinos. It is a beautiful hotel with a European hotel/casino ambiance. The pool area is exceptional. I ate at one of outlets of the restaurant chain, Fatburgers, in the food court and played $5 a hand Pai Gow. Broke even. <br><br>The next stop was the Hardrock Hotel and Casino. The more i go to the Hardrock, the better i like it. I visited this hotel twice more during this trip, and may go into some detail later. $10 a hand Pai Gow, won $60, up $60 for the day. <br><br>I spent the rest of the night at the Orleans, can't stay away from this place. I had some chow mein and fried rice from their extensive chinese food menu in the coffee shop. The quality of the the food itself was good, but the chow mein didn't remotely resemble the chow mein of the Boston area. <br><br>At the Orleans i played Pai Gow and hung out at the lounge. The Greg Peterson Band was good, playing rock, disco, all kinds of music. Had a great time. Beer was $2 a bottle, 23oz. draft- $4 and $2 for refills. $5 a hand Pai Gow, lost $20, won $40 for the day<br>