In April 1998 I made my first trip to Las Vegas. It was the first time I flew on a commercial jet (MD-80). It was also the first time I ever left the Midwest. It was a fun trip, but I do remember it as being a trip of elevators. Every time we went to our room it was 20 floors up. We rode the elevator at the Stratosphere up and down twice. We rode in several small elevators at the dam. As is typical for Vegas, we also walked MILES. And we got to watch the implosion of the old Aladdin Hotel on April 27, 1998 from the parking garage at TI.

Treasure Island Hotel & Casino
We stayed at the Treasure Island Hotel. We were in a room on the 20th floor overlooking the pirate show and The Strip. I liked the Treasure Island, but not so much their casino.
The view from our room.		This has changed dramatically since The Venetian and The Palazzo were built.
The old Bucaneer Bay Show out front of the TI hotel.	I liked this show, but after seeing it a couple times from the street and with our room overlooking it, I could practically recite the script by the time we left!	The Brittania "sails" in.
Words were exchanged...	Threats were made...	Shots rang out...
A battle ensued...	Explosions happened...	NOT THE RUM!!!
Seriously, the talent of the actors and the pyrotechnicians was pretty cool.	The crowd that gathered for each performance made it difficult to get in & out of our hotel though.

The Stratosphere
The first thing we did after dropping our luggage off at TI when we arrived was to walk down The Strip all the way north to The Stratosphere hotel. It was a long walk, and since we were up late the night before and had very little sleep we were beat. The view was incredible though!  And we did take a trolley bus back.
The Stratosphere was only 2 years old when we visited.	The view of The Strip from the observation deck. The tower stands 1,149 feet high, making it the tallest freestanding observation tower in the U.S.
	McCarren International Airport in the distance.	We returned at night and arrived in time to watch the sun go down and the lights of Las Vegas take over. Very cool!

Hoover Dam
We rented a car for a couple days and drove down to Hoover Dam one of those days. We took the "Hard Hat" Tour, which was a couple hours long and we got to see the inner workings of the dam and powerplant. After 9/11 they discontinued this tour, so I am glad I got to do it when I did. It was very interesting and amazing to see up close!
The first photos are from the top of the dam. This one I believe is inside the visitor center.	This view has also changed dramatically since they built a bridge and moved the highway off the dam.	Walking across the dam. I can say I've been in Nevada and Arizona.
It's a long way down!
Standing on the other end.
The Colorado River below the dam.	Standing on the north side of the dam looking across to the Nevada side.	Lake Mead. If you've seen any recent pictures, the water is a LOT lower now. Here it was approx. 1,215 feet.  It is now around 1,120 feet.
The hard hat tour meant we had to walk through narrow tunnels inside the dam. Here we are walking to the dam face to look out a vent.	The view out the vent. It is approximately 3/4 of the way up the dam face.	The turbine shafts are huge!
This is actually a stairway going down. We didn't get to go there!	The top of the turbine shafts.	Look at the label on the left - 115,000 horsepower!
Here we are now down at the base.	It is hard to imagine all the water that is behind that dam!

Red Rock Canyon
Since we had the car we also decided to drive west out of Vegas to Red Rock Canyon. It is about 20 miles west, and is a world apart from the Vegas Strip. Red Rock Canyon features a 13 mile loop scenic drive through the canyon. There are several spots to park and take pictures and hikes. Because of the elevation change, the temperature drop is amazing.

Fremont Street
That night we took the car and drove to downtown Las Vegas to see the Fremont Street Experience. It was an interesting light show over the street, and it was neat to tour the casinos of "old" Las Vegas. But I wasn't impressed and have never been back downtown.
The famous Golden Nugget. It doesn't get any more authentic Vegas than that!	The light show.