We awoke even later today, around 9:30am. After slowly getting dressed and organzied, we headed out in search of a Dennys for a cheaper breakfast. We found one, ate, then Chris parted from Kelly and I and headed back to the hotel. Kelly and I headed down the strip as Kelly was eager to see the white snow tigers at the Mirage.

We shopped for a while, to please Kelly of course, then made our way past Treasure Island and on to the Mirage. There was only one tiger, but Kelly enjoyed it none-the-less. We grabbed some ice cream in waffle cones, then picked up some tickets for Cirque Du Soleil’s Mystére which was playing at 10:30pm. We relaxed by the pool some more and in the room, grabbed some pizza for dinner, then headed over to Treasure Island for our show. We hit the hot tub, but that didn’t last long.

So now you are all caught up to where we are. I don’t know when the next additions to all of this will be, but I hope you are enjoying it all so far. Until next time.

Woke up today around 9am. A little later than planned, but that’s ok. We have plenty of walking planned for the day. The first thing we did was head to the breakfast buffet. This will be buffet number two, so we’ll see how well we do.

Breakfast was ok, nothing special. We made sure to grab lots of fruit and healthy eats to get us through the day. We headed on down the strip from our room at the Frontier, starting on the left side so we could head into hotels we hadn’t been inside yet. Our mission… to book it to the M&M Factory store. A huge four-story store devoted completely to M&Ms. We passed some hotels with the plan to hit them on the way back. We also stopped at Tix4Tonight, which is a place to get show tickets for that day at half price. Nothing we wanted to see was showing, so we continued on.

We finally made it to the M&M store, browsed around, watched a short 3-D movie, then moved on. As usual, it was incredibily hot, with thousands of people roaming the streets. We spent most of the next couple of hours going from one hotel to the next, checking out their spectacular front entrances and displays.

By this time, we were growing hungry again. So what did we do? We hit a buffet of course. This time, we hit an all-you-can-eat sushi and seafood buffet. Mmm… while Kelly munched on some little things, Chris and I began our battle with the dunguness crab. We had everything from sashimi and sushi rolls, to lobster tails, oysters, clams, scallops, and of course, plent of shrimp and crab. We feasted for the third time, finishing with some crepes, then headed back down the strip toward our hotel.

There really isn’t much to note for today. We made sure to hit the pool, and after I fell asleep for a brief moment and fried my chest and stomach, we relaxed for a while. Later in the evening, we made sure to check out the volcano at the Mirage, then came back to the Frontier for some gambling and drinks, then off to bed.

Vegas baby, Vegas!

We take off at 8:45 in the morning and out into the 22 degree morning. Exactly one hour later, the temp is almost 30 degrees. At 9:20am, we passed a road called, get this… Zzyzx Road. Yep, you read correctly. How it’s pronounced is completely unknown to us.

After passing Devil’s Playground (a dry lake), we hit the Nevada border at Primm. With large shopping establishments and a rollercoaster, the excitement of Vegas is really coming down hard now. We top up the gas, grab a bag full of brochures, books and maps, and quickly head out.

I’m not exactly sure what time we hit Las Vegas, as I was navigating with three seperate maps. With Chris driving, we started the hunt for a hotel room. We hit a few hotels and I would run in and check the prices. $79/night was the cheapest we found, so instead of grabbing one, we decided to hit the strip. Sure enough, on the sign of the Frontier Hotel & Casino, we saw our blessing. Rooms for $44/night.

We parked and a couple of hours later, had a cheap room on the strip in a huge hotel for three nights. By the way, the temperature here is currently 37 degrees, or, 98 ferenheit (sp?).

After hauliung our crap to the room (which only had a pull-out sofa bed. Which, by the way, we didn’t care, because we were camping in a hotel room on the Vegas strip) we headed to the pool for an hour of tanning, swim, and pure relaxation.

After the pool, we browsed brochures in the room to see what kind of shows we might like to check out. Later, we hit the strip. OH MAN did we hit the strip. We first headed to the Stratosphere Hotel where Chris and I went up the tower and rode on two of the wild rides located at the top of the tower. Kelly felt she would lose more than her lunch, so she opted to stay at the bottom and shop. Wow. You have to experience these rides. You are literally on top of Las Vegasm peering down with nothing between you and the strip below. Needless to say, Chris and I enjoyed them very much.

By the time we got to the MGM Grand at the opposite end of the strip, we had walked over four and a half hours. So tired, but the city is just waking up. Oh, I almost forgot. We had dinner at a buffet. And if you don’t know what the buffets are like in Vegas, you’re missing out. All buffets are all-you-can-eat, and there are many different types depending on the hotel. We ate at the Stardust… wait, let me rephrase that one… We went stared gluttony in the face and packed ourselves. Holy crap did we pack ourselves. With more than one heaping plate of food, plus two home-made sundays for dessert, we were slow going.

Anyway, our feet are now sore and it’s almost 1:30 in the morning. I’ve attempted to take many photos, so I’ll see how they turned out tomorrow. Until then, it’s time to crash. Only two more days to go here in Vegas, so we need our rest.

Leaving Big Sur we headed on down the coast in search of Hearst Castle. We’ve had multiple people inform us about it and encouraged us to check it out, so we did.

Before we got to the castle, however, we stopped at a Vista Point (a point of interest or a stop with a coastal view, for those who are unaware. There are many along the highway.) This view was different from the rest though. This view was jam packed with Elephant Seals. We had passed a spot that had seals to view a few days back, but it would’ve costed us each $8.00 to view them. Here, they were free.

They are very interesting animals. I had never watched a seal before, all blubbery and funny looking. Kelly wasn’t impressed by the smell, but their actions made for some interesting sights. Ever wonder what an Elephant Seal sounds like? Well I’ll tell you, it’s identical to the sound of someone hitting a tennis ball with a tennis raquet.

So after some laughs with the seals, as they were quit funny in their movements, we continued the search for Hearst Castle. Finally, at 11:00am, we came to a sign. It was quit foggy at this time, so the sign was all we could see. We went in, bought our tickets, and jumped onto one of the tour buses.

Now, I had never in my life heard of Hearst Castle before. Well let me tell you, it is definitely worth checking out. Basically, a man who became rich by starting publishing companies in the early 1900’s wanted to bring together different pieces of architecture that he had seen from around the world. It’s an amazing paradise in the sky that back then, took around 29 years to build. The shear size of everything, including the outdoor Neptune pool and the indoor pool which was covered with blue and gold mosaic tiles (which took 3.5 years to construct), had us in awe. Back in the early 20’s, William R. Hearst had a zoo with exotic animals and entertained many famous people including Charlie Chapman.

Anyway, thats enough about the castle. We definitely encourage you to check it out if you are in the area. We have a new task set and on our mind now… Vegas baby, Vegas.

Our plan is to make to just outside Las Vegas today, so we could zip in and scoop up a hotel room as people were checking out.

The scenery changed dramatically today, going from coastal fogs and 16 degree temperatures on the Pacific, to clear skies, desert, and 30 degree temps inland. Chris took over driving at a rest area, and we have agreed that he is the most agressive driver of the three. He always seems angry at other drivers, cursing as he constantly searches for the opportune moment to pass. I sat in the back and let Kelly enjoy the view from the front seat. And by view, I mean the bumper of the car directly in front of us.

By the way, the iPod is no longer on shuffle mode. We hit over 400 songs before Kelly went and “accidentally” reset it. Thats okay though, now we’ll pick and choose.

6:45pm and we get a campsite at a KOA on Old Ghost Town Road in Yermo, California. Oh and, we’ve officially passed the 3000 mile mark. Since it’s hot now, we head to the pool for a swim, then it’s lights out for the night. Tomorrow, it’s Vegas.

Today we left San Rafael. After having our morning jam (and peanut butter for some) sandwiches on some fresh sourdough bread that Kelly picked up the day before, we packed up the tent and headed out. The campsites were busy now, so it was a good thing we were leaving.

We drove down the highway and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, the headed through downtown San Francisco, checking out Chinatown and Lumbard Street, the spiral street. Once we got to the south end of the city, it was clear that the tourism didn’t stretch that far. All doors had gates over them and the people were a little sketchy.

Anyway, San Fran was awesome, but we were now moving on. Our original plan was to continue down Interstate 1, but it was closed, so we had to stay on the main highway to San Jose. We stopped in Palo Alto for lunch and some internet time. This is one beautiful place. I could definitely spend some quality time here. Palo Alto, if you didn’t know, is home to Stanford University. We kept an eye open for the famous “thinker” statue, but we never did see it.

At around 3pm we passed by Santa Cruz and made our way to Big Sur where we camped for the night in a very busy campground. Weekends are crazy for camping, but we managed to get some laundry done this time around, which was nice. We also did up burgers on the fire instead of frying them. SO much better.