We opted against poaching the Willow Wind RV Park and we met the owner in her office to remit payment. She gave us a deal and the code to the laundry room, which was much needed since our last washing in Colorado. The strange thing about this little Utah woman was the humming bird that lived on her right shoulder. It was a good looking bird though and little guy seemed happy living amongst her Minnie Mouse pink tee-shirt. During the spin cycle I put in a call to Stevie P to see how things were back east and he seems to be surviving alright.
At noon we hit the road right as the temperature really started to get stupid. In Overton, Nevada we got off the highway, expecting to swim at Emerald Bay on Lake Mead. Well, Emerald Bay has dried up and the shoreline is now about 5 miles away. We found this to be true about every place with "Bay" or "Beach" in its name. Finally we discovered a houseboat marina/resort where we debated swimming, that is until the catfish (numbering in the hundreds) stalked us along the dock with their big stupid mouths groping at the surface.
Finding Lake Mead to be the greatest disappointment of the past 4,000 miles, Liv made the executive decision to shack up in Las Vegas for the night while we ate humus at 115 degrees. I required a stop at the Hoover Dam, where we found free parking and walked across the massive structure. The construction on the new road crossing above the dam was impressive and should cut down on traffic considerably. The Hoover Dam was the saving grace of the last three hours of torturous heat but the dropped water level is a testament to the greed of Los Angles and the insanity of putting cities in the middle of a desert.
In Las Vegas, Liv got us the cheapest room on The Strip: $53.00 at Casino Royal. It's probably the crappiest hotel on The Strip, but it's location was central and the price perfect. We cleaned the grime of the day off before heading into Caesar's Palace to search out dinner. Finally by 10PM we exhausted all the classy choices and settled for the steakhouse attached to our hotel.
We walked the strip, seeing the checklist of casinos: Bellagio; New York, New York; The MGM Grand; Treasure Island, Herrah's; Excalibur, Ballys, Mandalay Bay; Paris, Las Vegas; and the Flamingo. The Bellagio was quite spectacular and we watched their fountains perform to the National Anthem at midnight.
By 2AM we had enough of the massive groups of Hispanic men passing out fliers for companionship along Las Vegas Boulevard and we decided to call it a night. The air conditioning sure beats the 128 degree reading the Wagon had around 2PM. 
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