saints in the city of sin

18 of them left Bakersfield one balmy morning for the state of Nevada. first and foremost in their minds was the cheap shopping at the factory outlets at Barstow before they would lay siege and attack the city that nightly throbbed with gamblers and merrymakers.

the caravan was composed of these two vans plus

Ariel's red Mazda 6

this hulking navy dude was captain of the ship

 and his dad was the skipper of the other van... at 75 mph this dude can still make guapo for the cam, but he is...

...oblivious to the fact of his missus' collage activity. the other dame is fast asleep while visions of factory outlet 

goods danced in her head.

 we went through some mountains with hundreds of bird-swatters

 first stop: Barstow's famed factory outlet

 "why only one... you should have bought 5"

we rendezvous with Sugar at the las vegas premium outlets
and she had some presents for us. thanks Sug.

Hilton Grand Vacation suites was their home for 3D/2N

elevator overload at Caesar's

they would rather pose than gamble

'

 "the night is young... and so are we"

iconic sculptures behind 

the next day it is hoover dam. shes got the hat, shades, sunscreen lotion, etc.

the hat is no match for the gusts of wind

posing wherever there is something worth taking

the best buffet in the nevada desert

miles and miles of delicious food. beer and wine 

is also unlimited

noah hit the jackpot when he tried his hand at the slot machine. the bet for this was 1$

this navy guy monument is everywhere and we had to give 
in to the urge to imitate them. Ben and Ethel are in a 
pose reminiscent of baptism by immersion.

noah almost got it except for the lips. actually noah started at the neck and was working his way up to the lips.

the selfie queen of las vegas - Yingying (a cousin), shows up with Macie at the hotel and we do what Ying is very good at - selfie.

another night out. this time we distanced ourselves from 

the kids and ventured from the southernmost part of 

the strip to the Fremont street experience north of the strip.

the next day was brunch at jollibee

before we hit the road for L.A.

another factory outlet - "fashion outlets of las vegas" at the nevada/california stateline. "oh no, where do we put all your bags?"

that same day we drove into south LA and checked in

at this inn for Aya's graduation which was the 

next day's activity