mon-an easy downhill flight to vegas and a no hassle rental at thrifty. i'm there till they screw-up.breakfast at the silverton and down the road to laughlin to stay at the river palms.had a great dinner at the hickory pit restaurant up scale for 20 bucks or less and hit the sack early as we are headed to the grand on tues morn.up early and down the road east bound and up to the canyon.3.5 hours latter we are there.i must say this--I-40 interstate is the worst interstate i've ever driven on.me and the truckers doing 80 plus down that rough road.what a crap highway!well they don,t call it grand for nothing.the canyon is just that and i stood there in awe of it's vistas,i'ts humbling in it's granduer.mid sixties for a temp and clear blue skies what a day.but it's got to be gridlock in the summer time.to many people for me.back to laughlin and pick up a few bucks gambling and hit the sack early for it's off to the orleans on wednesday.more to follow

wed-down the road early with our usual stop at terribles for a snack and a smoke.the four lane highway sure makes this an easy run now.check-in at the orleans with a great room overlooking the pool,in the west tower.hit the machines and pull out a small profit,not great but a profit.dinner with jmt at the twin creeks steak house.great meal but jmt pointed out that thier salad had changed and was good but unremakable.i had a new york steak,jmt had the prime rib,the wife had a hunk of halibut which breaks my rule of,don't eat seafood in a steak house or don't eat steak in a seafood house,but she said it was very good,my steak was great and jmt said his prime rib was very good but didn't rave about it.a great meal for the price-thanks jmt,i owe ya.thurs-we make a run to pahrump to see what pahrump is all about.houses and whores and casinos,life is good!<G> just about beefed out so did an aladdin buffet for king crab,oysters and shrimp,very good as usual.fri- get away day for us.lunch at the orleans buffet,i still think this is the best value buffet in town,i know wendell agrees with me on this,and gas up the car(a 100 bucks of gas this trip) spend the day on the strip doing a casino crawl and end up at the mirage new cravings buffet for our get away meal.i don't know why this buffet gets a bum rap.there was never a line to get in and the food was of restaurant quality,but the seafood did suck.on the plus side,best prime rib i've ever had in vegas and best babyback ribs i've had in vegas,jmt take note here,and the salad bar will make any type salad you want and was very good.at 22.95 it may be a bit pricey and does not have the variety that the bell has but i can eat an awful lot of prime rib and ribs and salad.a small but tasty desert bar tops off the meal.my only complaint is they show items on the ad screens that they don't serve kinda false advertising.an uneventfull flight home which brings another vegas trip to a great/grand ending.closing thoughts to follow-

Hey DAG,

Is the Hickory Pit at the River Palms? I haven't been there for a couple years. Need to go back.

Are you saying 95 from Boulder City to Laughlin is 4 lanes now? What a difference that would make!

How was parking at the GC? I've heard it can be kind of tuff.

Did the Mirage buffet still have their coconut macaroons?

senator-the pit is at the edgewater and is a great upscale meal for cheap bucks.four lanes from boulder to terribles or railroad pass and some long passing lanes from there to the laughlin turn off,makes for a real easy drive.parking at the grand was no problem but has got to be a zoo in the summer, no macs but some great sugar free cheesecake

dag, it was great to see you and Linda again. Thanks for time out of your vacation for me. The prime rib I had at Twin Creeks was the best prime rib that I have had since I moved here, which is probably about 10 choices.

Was Parumph worth the drive? How was the scenery and roads?

How was that PT Cruiser for the driving you did? It should be a pretty comfortable on the highways. How was it in town?

As you might know, I'm not a big buffet fan. I'll try this one based on your reccomendation.<g> And your reputation will be on the line!!!

Those uneventful flights are some of the best.

See Ya Soon.

It sounds like you had a lot of variety on this trip. Was this your first trip to Grand Canyon?

The Mirage Buffet sounds like it's worth a trip to the strip, and a lot of prime rib-ribs-salad sounds like you're still on Atkins.

Twin Creeks sounded like a lot of fun, but where was Sonya?

final thoughts and answers-never a problem with alaska air other than a few late departures from vegas.pt crusier a great car to zip around town but NOT for a long haul!first trip to the canyon but never in the summer or when school is out,got to be an absolute zoo in the summer.jmt great to see you again,thanks,now i know every cow is not going to be the same but what i had at the buffet was outstanding and you will love the salad bar.parumph was a good day trip.terribles casinos only ones that were busy and we won there.not a winning trip but a long way from a bust,we did have our moments of glory.the canyon was the highlight of our trip but a tough day trip,420 miles round trip from laughlin but i'll do it again.and will eat again at twin creeks-great food,great company.see yawl in june!

DAG.
I didn't hear about the Margy report this trip?
I'm guessing this Atkins thing is taking its toll on those?

Thanks for the great report! Hope to see you in June!

DAG; Great trip and great report - I haven't made the Grand Canyon trip yet but it is on our "to do" list. I definately agree that the Orleans buffet is the best value (especially breakfast). I used to visit the Mirage buffet at least once every trip - do they still put out the "all you can eat" fresh shrimp at 3 p.m. every day? Great stuff!! Senator: You used to could buy "over the counter" Macaroons in the Mirage by the entrance to the swimming pools. For Macaroon fans, this has got to be the best coconut macaroons "in the nation". DAG: see you guys aoon.

Dag,

Great TR, sounds like you really made the rounds. Well, we might have to try the Mirage Buffet next time. Thanks again for the report.

i hope what i had at the mirage buffet was not just on a good cow day but i can understand why the old mirage buffet crowd would hate this place.the variety is no way near the old buffet and you sit in a very large,retro style room.but fact is the food we had was great and no lines.we were there from 5:30-7:00 and never a line so i don't know wendell if they put yesterdays shrimp out at 3:00but they have shrunk in size to regular sized shrimp and what i had were warm.

lee-no more margy report on atkins i have switched to a shot with a beer back.

You drinking Whiskey now? or Tequila?

Most of the Atkins people I know switched to just Whiskey and water. If I understand correctly beer is cheating?

At first it was fun to watch the beer drinkers drinking hard shots and finding out they have to drink slower, or be on the floor is short notice. LOL

Dag and Lee,
Whisky and a Beer...now we're talking!! Save those for me when we get out there again and we sure will have something to post about...that is if anyone can remember it

Tim

at least beer is good carbs