I think I had better do the Las Vegas report in pieces. First up: Circus Circus, our home base.
There are several quality RV parks in or near Las Vegas, but the KOA park at Circus Circus is the only one right on The Strip. We really didn’t expect to spend a lot of time in the park, so its reputation as an urban parking lot really didn’t deter us. As it turns out, we got a very nice spot next to a large grassy plot with trees – our own private park. And the park has a swimming pool that is nearly as nice as the one at the hotel, so I would have to say that the park turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Patience at her private park
The park even had some palm trees and beautiful sunsets.
Sunset at Circus Circus
Since Las Vegas was our first stay of more than 3 days since Livingston, we took the opportunity to receive some mail and packages. We got restocked on the dog’s medicine and Jett’s coffee pods. Open Range sent us a replacement cable for the broken slide. And we got our accumulated regular mail, consisting of magazines and bills.
The hotel was also “better than expected.” The original plan is that Jett’s sister, Sybil, would stay at Circus Circus because Travelocity offered a package which gave her a room for 4 nights for only $160 over the cost of the airfare. A hotel room for $40 a night on The Strip? Sold!
But Jett’s son, Devin, who has traveled to Las Vegas a lot on business, said Circus Circus was a “fleabag.” He pulled some strings and scored a room at the MGM Grand for Sybil. The Circus Circus reservation couldn’t be canceled as it was included in the package, so when Sybil arrived on Tuesday she had to check into two hotels. Besides, we thought it would be nice to have a hotel room to use as a vacation from the RV. As it turns out, we used the room just one night. But I will say that the room was very nice and the bed was very comfortable. I have seen some fleabags (I’m thinking of the Rodeway Inn in Madison, WI) and Circus Circus is emphatically not one. It is not as nice as the MGM Grand, for sure, but well worth $40 a night.
Circus Circus has an indoor amusement park and free circus acts for entertainment, making it a good choice as a family hotel. And, like every other hotel on The Strip, it has a large casino and many shopping and dining options.
I had forgotten how large these Vegas casinos are. Though the RV park is directly adjacent to the hotel, the walk from our site to Las Vegas Blvd (aka The Strip) was probably close to half a mile. It seems silly to take a car from one place to another within the boundaries of a hotel, but we did it several times. Especially when it turned cold.
And it did turn cold. It was near 90 degrees when we arrived on Tuesday, but had fallen into the 70s by Thursday. Today (Saturday) the high was in the low 50s and there are frost warnings tonight.
Brrrrr.