We checked into the Tropicana, figuring that the money we would save by avoiding the more salubrious hotels would be better spent on some good food and in the gambling dens. A good decision. Our room was clean, spacious and in a killer location on the Strip, and we had a great time over the next few days. As you do in Las Vegas, we saw Elvis Presley in concert at the Sahara. Elvis looks a lot trimmer and surprisingly even a bit younger than the last time I saw him more than thirty years ago. We pigged out at the Bellagio Buffet, making more than one trip to the enormous pile of crab legs and claws on the buffet table. The food here was fantastic, and we quickly countered the nutritional deficits of the previous couple of nights on the way to Vegas. Then it was time to make some serious money at the gaming tables, but when our accumulated losses reached a staggering US$12.50, we called a halt and strolled back down the Strip to the Tropicana. It would have been fun to stay a few more days in Vegas. But we had plans. The Grand Canyon beckoned.
