So after the Gun Store I drove over to the Atomic Testing Museum.

This place was very cool. IT took me about 2.5 hours to go through the entire thing and many of the exhibits were very informative. They had mock-ups of shells from both Atomic Annie and A Davie Crockett.

I also learned more of what JFK called for when he called for the USA to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth. That was point 1 of his vision for space. The very next point was accelerating development of a nuclear rocket.

(chemical rockets are very limited. If you really want to scoot around our solar system, nuclear is the way to go.)

It’s a shame all anyone remembers is the decade to get to the moon.

I was at the writers group meeting. I will post tomorrow.

I am back from Las Vegas. Very tired, will post pics and commentary later.

(yeah, there was no way I could avoid that pun.)

I’m back from the Sheena Easton concert. It was worth the 5 hour drive in my opinion, and mine is the only that matters on the subject.  I will post more when I get home and try to find decent photo to upload. Short treatment.

She still has her voice.

She still has her impish sense of humor.

She had fun and was very interactive with the audience.

I’m quite happy I made this trip.

Before the show, I was bored to tears because I had arrived too early. So even after gorging myself at the buffet, (ahh that was good Prime Rib.) I had too  much time to kill. I bought chips and joined a blackjack game. (I was not going to finger fate in the eye again with craps and I can count to 21.) Same routine as before, any winnings I set aside and when the stake was gone I was done. That carried me through until the Showroom opened up. Final tally at blackjack — won $10.

Total gambling winnings/losses — $63. Way ahead of the odds for this old boy.

Pictures will have to wait until I get home and upload them to my much faster desk top. (Mainly pics from the gun range as neither the Museum nor the Exhibit I went to allow photography.)

Started off the morning with a steak-n-eggs breakfast, one of my favorites. The table next to me was occupied by an elderly engineer with plenty of stories to share.  I never got his name, but his lively personality and good tales helped pass the time while I waited for my breakfast.

I showed up at The Gun Store just before they opened. After a few minutes I was inside and dithering over which package to chose for my gun shoot. The Coalition Package’ had more modern weapons, but cost more. The “WWII Package” cost less but had less relevance to anything I might be writing soon. Money won and I went with the “WWII” set of guns, a m1911 for a pistol, a MP40, and a Tomspon sub-machine gun for my fully automatic.

T shot them in that order. I’m a lousy pistol shot, many rounds missed the OBL target I selected. Oh the bastard would have ended up dead anyway, provided he just stood there and let me shoot. The MP40 was fun, but I like the Thompson the best. I had the best aim and the best control with that sweet little Tommy Gun.

After that was the Atomic testing Museum. That took about 2.5 hours and I throughly enjoyed it. I’ll more to say in the days to come.

Then, because I had hours yet to kill, I went to the Luxor on the strip and took in the exhibit “Bodies’. A display of dissected human bodies. Very informative and interesting, just not as much as the Atomic Testing.

Now I am getting ready for dinner at the South Point Hotel and Casino followed by the Sheena Easton show.

Well, Samba’s, the Brazilian Steak house was wonderful. This place is located int the Mirage. I drove there instead of taking a taxi to the strip. That was the right call. Evenat 7 opm the traffic was heavy and slow. A taxi would have been expensiive. The GPS system got me t0 The Mirage just fine, but it did not lead me directly to the parking structure. That took some doing as it was not plainly obvious which way to go for what I wanted. On the plus side parking was free.

Samba’s is located in the Casino itself, that was a it of a minus. Despite a fairly robust air flow system a hint of smoke still drifted into the dining area from the Casino floor. Also you simply could not escape the flashing light and bells. That said, I loved the dinner. I had a goodly amount of the free meats, and I found them all tasty. I nearly waddled when I departed.

Geek note: the hostesses that guide you to your table are decked out in red, long-sleeved one-piece miniskirts and I could think of was original series Star Trek. If you are in Vegas and love meat drop by this place.

Afterwards I drove back to my hotel Downtown — I did not cruise the strip and I saw No Elvi Fish — I called my sweetie-wife and let my massive dinner settle.

I had though I would stay in the rest of the night, but instead after I could walk comfortably again, I walked two blocks to the Fremont Street Experience. It was touristy trap kind of things, they even had a zip-line set-up that ran the length of tthe area so that every few minuets another groups of tourists passed overhead like special forces infiltrating a terrorist base. I was tempted but did not do it myself.

Instead I returned to my room, watched a bit of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl, then turned in for the night.

The Casinos, rather than floor of fun and exciement strike me as rather sad. Here at the El Cotrez it is mainly locals gambling. The Tables are cheaper an the strip. Lonely people mainly game alone. The Slot Machine players are the saddest. I see them just pressed the buttons mechanically. Lost in an electronic glammer, not evey reacting to wins or losses, just pressing the buttons over and over..

My sweetie-wife has left for work after dropping me off at the car rental location. I now have a white toyota Corolla to load-up and drive to vegas baby.

If I have access I will continue posting if not, see you Sunday or Monday.