#65 Vegas Baby! What Badass Adventures happen in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Ollie and I hit Sin City. Talk about a culture shock from the previous 4 days of our vacation where everyone was calm, peaceful, and gentle, and the scenery was tranquil, soothing, and invigorating.

We suddenly were dropped into the hot (100+ degree), crowded, cranky, drunken, flashy, loud, and smelly world of Las Vegas.

Did that bother us????

Well, maybe yeah. But we have a freaking great time despite the fact that some random woman paddled Ollie in the butt, a guy showed us his nipple (it was tattooed with the Chicago Cubs logo and since Ollie was wearing his Cubs t-shirt, I guess he felt boundaries were unimportant), and our feet and calves hurt like never before. The ATV trip gave me a special souvenier (nice little burn-bruise combo), so my legs were aching. Oliver's calves were burning. And both of us had tired tootsies from walking 8 miles on the strip. And our lips were chapped so much they were bleeding -- we bought out the lip goo section of CVS.

We got to do so many fun things -- here's a list in chronical order for your reading and viewing pleasure:

Pawn Stars: If you haven't seen the show on History Channel, check it out. No...it didn't look like what is shown on TV. No...Chummley and the Pawn Stars guys were not in the store. Yes....we are glad we went.

The Pinball Hall of Fame. This is a warehouse full of a hundred pinball machines. We played for a few hours. I love me a good pinball game!

Nacho Daddy -- Finally! A restaurant that focuses on Nachos of all different kinds. Genius idea!! We got the fajita Nachos and the Thai Chicken ones. Total yum!

Walking the strip: Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Paris, New York/New York

Going to Area 15 -- how to describe this? It's a warehouse just off the strip that has multiple experiences -- virtual and real -- that are full of technicolor strangeness and unique opportunities to have non-drug related hallucinationatory experiences.

Meow Wolf -- Part of Area 15. It is like a giant Escape Room but in real life.

You start at this wackadoo grocery store that once you start looking closely, you see hysterical products and hidden surprises.

I adored the produce section:

Once you walk through the hidden door in the refrigerator, you find yourself in a gigantic world full of optical and sensory surprises.

You are given a challenge to find clues and solve them, so we ran up and down the three-story expereince looking to solve the puzzles. That's probably why Ollie's calves are sore!! I can't even begin to describe what this area is like, so pictures will have to do.

Different rooms to explore:

Solving the puzzles:

Finding hidden places and puzzles

Hockey: Watched Tampa Bay grab the win from Colorado in overtime. Yeah!!!

Mandalay Bay Aquarium. It was surprisingly great!

We saw Alligators and a kimodo dragon.

We saw lots of fish-types we've seen before:

A ton of really cool starfish (and they were being hand fed! Can you see the hand in one of the photos below?

A gnarly giant octopus.

A sweet Sawfish

And one I have never seen before -- it looks like a combo shark and manta ray and has some gnarly teeth/jaw bones. I didn't get a good picture tho, so you'll have to read about him through the ranger guide.

We got to touch stingrays in a touch tank. Surprisingly, they are very soft, squishy, and somewhat slimy. Didn't know that!

Mad Apple:

And our favorite -- we went to the brand new Cirque Du Soleil Mad Apple show. Described as "Celebrating the city that never sleeps, Mad Apple is a nonstop thrill ride from the moment you step into the theater. Mad Apple blurs the lines between circus, live entertainment, and New York nightlife culture." It was BADASS!!!!! I swear, I have NEVER laughed so hard at a comedy show than I did at the comedian performers they had at this show. The dancers and acrobatic acts were incredible. They even had a hand shadow performer that combined hysterical humor with unbelievable art. We had a great time!

And we ended our stay with a Milles Bornes championship.

Oh.....I had an amazing time with Oliver. I miss him already. I can't believe how lucky I am to have had this experience with him, and to have a son who is so loving, fun, and adventurous. Oliver -- you are my boi. I am incredibly proud of you and honored to have you as my son. I love you to bits!!!