Dead City and Sin City

Apparently continental breakfasts are the delight and highlight of 7 and 9 year olds.  Eggs, pancakes, sausage, yogurt, fruit juice dispensers.....how can one rush through such bountiful delights?  Somehow we managed and were soon zipping down the interstate at a wonderful 75 mph.  How come Nevadans are considered capable of such high speeds but Northwesterners aren't?  We passed a Washingtonian and realized why....

The day flew by even though it was a nine hour trip.  We stopped at Rhyolite, a ghost town and once 3rd largest city in Nevada, for a brief yet moderately entertaining moment.  I kept my eyes open for rattlesnakes as we schlepped down this path and that, looking at a house made up solely of glass bottles and mud, peering into an old jailhouse, and listening to Anneke drag her feet and whine about how it was "soooo hot here." 

The kids in front of Tom Kelly's Bottle House

Well, kid, we did leave 60 degree weather for about 95, so yeah, it feels a tad warm.  As she nursed her water bottle, the rest of us poked around, wind whipping us into a hot sweaty mess.  It didn't take too much time to be surprised that this once-booming town was now what it is.  We did what everyone before us had done...left.

The Cook Bank...or what was.

As we rocketed down the highway at lightening-for-us-Pacfic-Northwesterners-speed, we noticed an alarming amount of "gentleman's ranches" Nevada-style.  I hoped my 9 year old son wouldn't get too curious and ask what the "Bunnyranch" was...or worse yet, have my 7 year old daughter beg to visit one.  "No, Sweetie, it really isn't a petting zoo."  Umm...not THAT kind of petting zoo.

We drove past Area 51 which was  so much more cleaner-looking (albeit still sketchy) than some other establishments.

We managed to pass unscathed, only to hit what everyone knows is Sin City.  Who brings their kids here?!?!  Mike and Rachel do.  Yup.  Brave?  Stupid?  For the first 10 minutes of being there I thought we were quite possibly the only ones with children.  Nope.  Phew.  At least we were smart enough to get a hotel off the Strip.  However, both children, little faces pressed up against the windows of the car, declared Vegas to be beautiful.  Anneke especially seemed enamored with the glitz and "shimmery" buildings...and the pair of Wonderwomen sashaying down the street.  "Hey honey, aren't you just the cutest thing" one said to her.  She gave a shy little wave and turned away, looking at me with raised eyebrows and a slightly scornful look.  If she had said, "Really, who wears stuff like that when it's not Halloween?"  I wouldn't have been surprised.

A taste of Sin City's visual delights, New York, New York (behind us, not us!).

We popped into the M&M store with plans to treat the kids to all sorts of food dyes via their M&M of choice.  As I studied the nutrition facts on the white ones, (yes, I am a complete nutrition geek), everyone around me filled cellophane bags of round candies and employees sweeping up mounds of dropped goodies.  "How in tarnation does every single one of these colors have red dye #40?"" I muttered to myself as I made my way down the wall.  I set aside my usual strict mom (and un-fun) standards and let the kids pick out their treat.  Even Mike picked out a bag of navy and maroon peanut M&Ms.  Sigh.

So many choices!

This is before she even had a tasty morsel!

The boys hamming it up with Red.

I would like to say I don't particularly shield my children from what's going on in the world.  They hear about tornadoes, earthquake, floods, and other random Acts of God.  We talk about problems other people face, homelessness, keeping our world healthy by recycling, etc.  But so help me if I have to let them see pictures of half-naked women...and that is no easy task as one walks down the Strip.  No sir.  Fancy footwork and witty distractions is what it takes to avoid any possible earlier-than necessary peep shows.  Phew.  "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" took on a whole new meaning to me, now that I've actually been there.  Gonna go back without the kids?  Yup.  And enjoy the glitz and "shimmery-ness" without the Mom-goggles on.

 We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel's pool.  Thank goodness for hotel treadmills.  Working up a sweat was necessary to endure the pool's freezing cold temps...and sitting for much of the day.  Here's to hoping for no clots.