Touring America 2023

Today we went into town then off to the races. We wanted to see how Vegas had changed since the last time we were there. The Bellagio used to be one of the largest hotels on that side of the strip, now it's dwarfed by others. While some areas, notably Reno and Laughlin are crying for business, money is alive and well in Las Vegas. After cruising the strip, we had had enough for awhile, so we headed out to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Pacific Street Car Association was holding it's West Coast National Drag races, the US Legends cars were racing, and the road course was filled with late model stocks, open wheel cars and imports. Lots to do and see. Richard Petty, of course had his cars on the big track giving excitement to those willing to shell out 100 bucks for three laps of an adrenaline rush. The skies were blue and the weather was warm. With the slight breeze it was cool enough to be comfortable.

We started downtown as it seemed the most likely place to start. Lots of changes in the past 10 years or so. The main street is closed to traffic and is a walking promenade. IMHO, it is a vast improvement. Lots of strange people wandering about. Made me think of Saturday night walking down Hollywood Blvd.








The Mirage still stands above the crowd, in my opinion. We've stayed at the Luxor and Treasure Island in the past. While TI looks the same, the Luxor is now tucked in amongst some giants.

Of course, this is the Stratosphere. Originally this was the place to go if you wanted cheap entertainment and rooms in LV. They've expanded it and with the help of the media, made it a LV landmark.







 One of the nicer hotel hot spots on the strip is the Paris. Here's a picture of the Eiffel Tower, (replicated of course) We did not go into any of the hotels/casinos due to time constraints. We may go later this week and spend some time. The monorail is now $12/per person per day, so we may go that way to avoid all the traffic and parking.

Richard Petty enterprises runs a series of cars on the track daily. For $99 one can ride shotgun with a professional driver at speeds in excess of 170mph on the speedway's trioval. We didn't make the circuit as I had had enough excitement riding shotgun with Debi through the streets of downtown Las Vegas...:)... some drivers are crazy.





These open wheel cars were running on a road course at the Speedway. LVMS consists of a dirt track, the main track, a drag strip, several road courses and a smaller paved oval, all on the same tract of land. It was amazing to drive around to all of them. With the exception of the drag strip we had free access to all areas including the pit areas for the Sprint Cup Series.






We were really close to the action on this road course. Besides the open wheel cars, we saw Corvettes, Porsches, BMWs even a mini Cooper....after an exciting day, it's good to be home again...