Polar Opposites ~ Freemont Street & Habitat Build

April 9 ~ 13

Freemont Street is where Vegas really began.  Home to some of  the original casinos like the Golden Nugget, the area is now an attraction unto itself with its Viva Visa canopy and light show(vegasexperience.com). It is very cool and well worth the trip north of the Strip.  The screen arches 90 feet above the street, stretches 1500 feet and contains 12.5 milliion LED lights.  It is very psychedelic!

The 8pm show featured the long version of American Pie and was fabulous.

Shows run hourly....we caught the 9 o'clock Doors tribute.  Didn't think it was as good.

Should have stuck around for the 10 pm show featuring Queen...but Rick was fading.  Had dinner before the shows at the Grotto in the Golden Nugget (goldennugget.com)...don't bother.  Did win a tiny bit at their slots....keep trying to bring our total losing number down!

Habitat For Humanity Build

The reason we're hanging out in Vegas for so long is the Habitat for Humanity Build at the National Association of Broadcasters convention.  A home is being built in the parking lot of the Convention Center with the help of convention attendees.  Rick is a Team Leader which means he will take a bunch of volunteers and help them through framing out this three bedroom home.  Over three days, with four shifts a day, the house will be built and at the end of the week, dismantled in large pieces to be put together again on a lot to be occupied by a working Las Vegas family. 

Rick spent hours pouring over the plans, helping with changes and modeling computer drawings so volunteers could get the idea of what they would ultimately accomplish.  It started with a bare parking lot.

Volunteers came, most with no experience in this sort of thing, and were taught by the Team Leaders how to measure, hammer, lift and tote....and a house began to take shape.

Volunteers sign the walls as they complete their shifts and leave a message for all conventioneers to see.

I was signed up to help as an "organizer"...didn't work out too well....too many volunteers and not enough to do...was just in the way.  Went to the NAB show for awhile...then wandered over to the next door Hilton Casino.  Came away with another $75.74 in winnings.....our total losses aren't looking too bad now!