![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/GondolasInVenetian.jpg\" "\\"GondolasInVenetian\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nOr you could saunter over to the Wynn and pay $483,000 for this 2,900-plus diamond encrusted Rolex.<\/p>\n
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All those diamonds made it hard to read the time. My $15 Rolex even has backlighting. Susan assured me the Rolex had nothing to do with reading the time. \u00a0It was all about image. My image continues to \u00a0suffer. I resisted the temptation. They told me they recently sold one.<\/p>\n
I did want to buy this pink jacket:<\/p>\n
Until I found out that it cost $2,195 at a shop inside the Wynn.<\/p>\n Our waiter told us that Vegas was “recession-proof,” since it had three magical ingredients — gambling, alcohol and prostitution. Susan said that was BS. Vegas had been transformed into an entertainment and shopping destination. If I hadn’t figured that out, she said, check out the shops — Prada, Cartier, Armani, Dior, Channel, Tiffany, Steuben, etc.<\/p>\n How about a metal, decorative leopard?<\/p>\n Only $9,999 inside Wynn.<\/p>\n Vegas has also become an eating destination. Every upscale hotel is bristling with famous chef restaurants. The portions are huge.<\/p>\n Everyone was stuffing themselves. There were lines everywhere, especially to get into Wynn’s luncheon buffet.<\/p>\n The point of the last few days was to visit Zion and Bryce.<\/p>\n This is not my Bryce photo. I cadged it out of a nice park ranger called Ron Warner who \u00a0took \u00a0the photo that morning and was using it as his screensaver. Bryce has had record snow this year — about 11 1\/2 feet. I got up at dawn one morning to watch the sun turn the canyon into bright orange. The sun came up orange for a minute or two, then slide behind a dark storm cloud. I froze my ears while waiting at Bryce Point (my favorite viewpoint).<\/p>\n Bryce Canyon was named after a local settler called Ebenezer Bryce. He once said about the canyon, “It’s a helluva place to lose a cow.”<\/p>\n Travel is fun. A few things we learned:<\/p>\n 1. All hotels will drop their prices by 10% to 15% if you mention on the phone with them you’re a member of AAA. No one ever asked to see our AAA card. We actually have one.<\/p>\n 2. If you’re between 62 and death, the National Park Service will sell you a lifetime Pass to all our national parks. The pass is $10 — and is the greatest deal ever. The National Park Service does a superb job. They may be the only part of our government still working.<\/p>\n 3. The west is home to people who’ve fled the pressures of the east to seek alternative lifestyles. They’re park rangers. They’re running restaurants, bed and breakfasts, dude ranches and gift shops. \u00a0They’re suntanned, healthy and relaxed. Ron Warner is an ultra-marathoner who loves running through Bryce and taking photos of his favorite place.<\/p>\n The west is bursting with creativity. There’s the replica of St Marks Square with its gigantic indoor ceiling that always has blue skies:<\/p>\n There’s the photography of Peter Lik.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n