Circus Circus (52/73)

Once all of our things were put away in our hotel room and the camper was locked up for the night, we headed out to the street to find dinner. It was about 8 o’clock at night so we had missed the buffet that Grandma wanted to go to. Therefore, our goal was to find some fast food on the strip. I could not believe all the lights. It was beautiful. Especially since, it was getting dusky outside. The streets were all a glow. We must have walked for half an hour before we noticed that we had not found any dinner yet. Grandma suggested that we turn back and walk back towards the motel and stop into the McDonald’s across from where we were staying. We agreed.

Once we reached our motel, it was pretty much dark out but you could not really notice because it was so bright everywhere. Even our motel parking lot was all lit up. The oval pool was surrounded by large lights every couple of feet. It reflected on the water and made it glow. I could not wait to go for a swim in the pool. It was a very nice pool. Grandma Lois and my Mother were planning to hit the casinos and told us kids that we would have to stay in the hotel room and watch TV until bed. We were all very disappointed that we could not go with them but we knew that we were not old enough to be in the casino. However, I had a plan. The pool was open until 11 pm so I thought that after the adults left the motel room I would convince my cousins to come to the pool with me.

Once we were alone in the room I asked Dallas and Devon if they wanted to go to the pool. Dallas said yes immediately. She was always up for an adventure. Devon on the other hand was worried that we would be caught and then get into trouble for leaving the room. It took a little convincing but eventually Dallas and I were able to get him to agree to come to the pool with us. The three of us left the hotel room like a group of stealth undercover agents. All of us carefully making our way across the parking lot to the pool. Once we made it pass the fence into the pool area, we no longer feared being caught. We were elated at the fact that we were the only ones in the pool area. We had this gorgeous illuminated body of water all to ourselves. After a couple of hours of swimming, we decided it was time to head back to the room for the night.

Once we were back in the room it did not take long before we all were fast asleep. The swim really tuckered us out. I briefly woke up at about 4 am when Grandma and my Mother finally returned to the room but then I quickly drifted back off to sleep. When morning came Dallas, Devon and I were ready to go explore the city. Unfortunately, the adults were still a little tired from being out so late. So it took them a bit to get motivated. After Grandma Lois and my Mother were ready to go, they sat the three of us down to talk to us. Grandma reached into her purse and pulled out a large roll of cash. As she did, all of our eyes lit up. We could not understand where she had gotten it. Once we asked she explained how the night before she had won a quad on one of the slot machines in the casino. Devon immediately asked ‘where is the quad?’ Grandma Lois laughed and responded by saying that she decided to take a cash payout instead because we could not fit the quad in the camper. It would have been difficult for us to take it with us on the remainder of our trip. Devon was disappointed. He wanted the quad so he could ride it around back at the farm.

Once we left the motel, we headed down to Circus Circus. We were finally going to see the casino Grandma had told us so much about. I could not wait. Every time she went to Vegas, she would bring me back a clown figurine from that hotel. I must have had about half a dozen of them by now. I could not believe my eyes as we walked through the casino to the main circus ring. Along the way, we saw three flying acrobats doings twists and tricks right above where people were playing black jack. The was even 2 woman up above the slot machines doing stunts on miniature tables. It was an amazing site to see. Once we reached the main ring, we headed up into the bleachers to grab a seat. We had arrived just in time for the show.