C.E.S. 2011

[DorothyMacaw]

Hi

I am off to Las Vegas next week to attend C.E.S. I expect to have one day or possibly a day and another half day free. I was thinking of driving up to the Valley of Fire or perhaps driving down and paying homage to the temple of slots N.L.G.

Any suggestions on places to detour to one the way or in the area of these two places? Also anything new in Las Vesgas on the 'must do' list besides leaping off the Stratosphere tower ?

- Thank you - Dorothy

[jay]

Valley of fire is pretty baren this time of year.  Best to experience in July at 103 degree heat (no I am not kidding).

If you head out to NLG you can hit the Hoover Dam. There is a Dam tour you can take. 
Joey and family are well worth meeting. If you have a wish list you might want to call Joey and see if he can assemble a reasonably priced care package.

You can also head out to the Grand Canyon. There is the skywalk that you can visit. Its within 2hrs of Vegas.
Its not cheap. $44 to get on the indian lands - includes a shuttle bus to take you to about 4 or 5 attractions as you must park your vehicle and can't drive it around.
The skywalk is then about another $35 to walk on. So if you want to get to the sky walk its about $79/head.

[KirkLasVegas]

Valley of fire is pretty baren this time of year.  Best to experience in July at 103 degree heat (no I am not kidding).

If you head out to NLG you can hit the Hoover Dam. There is a Dam tour you can take. 
Joey and family are well worth meeting. If you have a wish list you might want to call Joey and see if he can assemble a reasonably priced care package.

You can also head out to the Grand Canyon. There is the skywalk that you can visit. Its within 2hrs of Vegas.
Its not cheap. $44 to get on the indian lands - includes a shuttle bus to take you to about 4 or 5 attractions as you must park your vehicle and can't drive it around.
The skywalk is then about another $35 to walk on. So if you want to get to the sky walk its about $79/head.

Dont bother with the Grand Canyon. I fly out there a lot (for work), it's a waste of money in my opinion.It will be cold as hell and windy out there.
Not much to do and everything is $$$$.
Look up the "Pinball Hall of Fame" while you are out here..a lot of classic pinball machines, all are playable.
Las Vegas has changed a LOT, several new venues worth walking thru, Cosmopolitan,Aria,Encore, The M Resort are just a few.
South Point has a indoor arena, Red Rock is pretty nice, Aliante Station in the north is OK, nothing special.
Just my 2¢......

Kirk

[jdkmunch]

Did they open up the star trek experience yet?

[jay]

I managed a night at the golden nugget down town and had a good steak in their restauant. Not cheap. But most excellent food and service.
Prior to the Nugget revamp I would have Never (Ever) considered staying downtown. It was pretty cool. The rooms were as high tech as the new Aria.
I didn't blow as much money as the BJ tables are all 3:2 not 6:5, lots of cheap food, It would be my prediction that this area is in for a major rennasance.

Normally I would not rent a car but if you are staying at the nugget and then spending any significant time on the strip the taxi trips get a bit pricy.
Funny how perception works. I don't worry about sitting down at a $25/hand table but don't like to spend $30 for a taxi ride across town.

You can take the the duce (#2 bus) but you won't find me on that at 3.00am......

In short if you haven't gone downtown its worth doing so. I wasn't impressed with the M - casino.

[knagl]

Did they open up the star trek experience yet?

Nope, it has not reopened.  It was supposed to reopen in the Neonopolis building downtown, but at this point I wouldn't hold my breath.

[DorothyMacaw]

Back home

Too much to do. Too little time.

I only got to the Valley of Fire State Park this trip. I did program the Pinball Hall of Fame into my GPS - but CES was just too big to get away for as much as I had in past years.

Next year I'll come home a day later.

 - Dorothy

[brichter]

I had a choice between CES (which would have had folks from work in attendance), or the Mid-America Motorcycle auction. Maybe I'll get to CES next year... 

[StatFreak]

I had a choice between CES (which would have had folks from work in attendance), or the Mid-America Motorcycle auction. Maybe I'll get to CES next year...  

...Getting along that well with our co-workers, are we?         

[brichter]

I get along fine with them, but let's just say that seeing them on my vacation would be a bit of a downer...

The purpose of a vacation is to forget about work as much as possible.