Riding into Las Vegas was pretty uneventful, but still very windy. We had a hostel set up in between the iconic Fremont street and the main strip. The art district around us had some beautiful murals among graffiti that were part of an art event every year.
Signs were everywhere for strip clubs, adult stores, and wedding chapels. Driving some of the back streets showed us a dirtier side of Las Vegas. Looking back I wished I had stopped to grab a picture of a small river full of garbage. It was all over under the bridge we were riding over and was shocking for me to see. There were many homeless people just sitting among their belongings throughout other parts of the city as well, making me sad.
Fremont Street was full of street performers and casinos. One section has this large covering that turns into a light show every night. A few other places had stages with a DJ pumping up the crowd who were holding their half finished fishnet stocking beer cups.
And when the light show began the standing room only crowd was transfixed. I kept walking, pushing my way through.
Another section off Fremont street had a quaint, tasteful, and quieter container Park. There was a nice play area in the middle for kids, nice shops and restaurant made out of shipping containers, and other artists selling some of their nice artwork.
We ended up staying two night in Las Vegas to swing over to the Hoover Dam and take a peak at all the hubbub down near the fountains by Caesars Palace.
One thing I found particularly fascinating was the moving sidewalks outside! (They had escalators without any coverings!) How often do they have to service these? Is it bad when it rains? Never seen ones outside anywhere else…that’s for sure. They had copies of the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triumph. Others near all the people traffic had walking coolers full of beer for sale.
They had some beautiful flower displays inside one of the hotels that smelled and looked amazing.
Some of the fancy shops inside were selling Loui Vuitton bags. The small one I found with a visible price tag was over 4,000 dollars! The lady at the front had a glove on one hand and I didn’t dare touch the bag. : O. A restaurant on the way back had a talented pianist serenading the customers as they enjoyed their meal. 
We headed back to the hostel to head out to Las Vegas in the morning.
One of the guys staying at the hostel wanted to play a prank on his Mother for mothers day and convinced one of the other girls staying at the hostel to get fake married with him. (All to send the picture to his mom.) And just like that, I got to be part of an impromptu unofficial wedding in Vegas. 
Brian and I both posed for a picture imaging what it would be like to have extra money to gamble with. There are so many other uses for money, I can’t imagine how much I would have to have to press a button on machine to see about the low chances of winning more. 
It would be more re-assuring about possibly beating the odds if the casinos didn’t look like they made more money than they know what to do with in their extravagance and very apparent opulence.
And our next destination, coming right on up, is Los Angeles folks. I do so dearly hope you are enjoying the ride.
Josh Journeys 