Friday's Hunt, v 2.15

It's time for Friday's Hunt again! Except it's now Sunday!  That's because this week, I had a very busy week (again!) and I had to travel to Las Vegas for a work conference from Wednesday through Saturday.  I am tired and there is a lot on my "to do" list, so this will be relatively brief.

This week we have the usual 3 prompts:  Starts with O, Week's Favourite, and Eyes.

Starts with O
This week, O is for Opulence.  Las Vegas is all about opulence, excess, and extravagance.  I'm really not a fan of the place - at least not "the strip" as it is called, and the casino-based culture.  In some ways, it is an exciting place, with much to see and do, but it's all done in an "over-the-top" kind of way.  It is a kind of oasis of wealth and extremism in the midst of a parched land.  On the outskirts of the strip, on the way to the airport, you see a lot of poverty and run-down buildings and streets.  It's such a contrast to the glitter and glamour of the Vegas strip.

There's a lot of money grabbing going on as well.  For example, you can't get room service (at least, not at the Excalibur hotel) except between 6 am and 2 pm.  So, if you want supper in your room, you have to go out and find it and bring it back, which means you have to walk through vast, smoke-filled casino areas just to get to a place that sells food.  It's an obvious ploy to make people put money in the machines.  I have no interest in that, so I just found it annoying.  The check-in desk at the hotel is nowhere near the main entrance, so you have to walk through a vast cavern of clanging, ringing, chiming machines just to be able to check in.  Then you have to walk through another whole area of gambling just to get to the elevators.  It's insanity.

Here's another word that starts with O:  Overjoyed (to be home again!)

Week's Favourite(s)
One thing I did really enjoy about being in Las Vegas was the plant life that I saw.  I didn't have an opportunity to explore much, but instead of walking through the hotels all the time to go between my hotel and the conference hotel, I walked outside.  Seems that most people don't do that there! Anyway, the various hotels have some interesting landscaping (much of it done with astroturf because of the lack of water).  There were many plants that I would not normally get to see, especially not growing in "the wild" so to speak.  You can't grow barrel cactus outside in New Brunswick!

Here are some favourite shots from the plants I saw in Vegas - I cannot identify them for you because I have no idea what most of them are!

A palm species!

I think this is a rosemary species - it smelled like it!

A yucca perhaps, or an agave species?  I like the little barrel cactus in front!

Eyes
I had to go from my room in the Excalibur hotel to the conference in the Mandalay Bay hotel each day.  This took me past the Luxor hotel, which is a large pyramid-shaped building.  Out the front, it has a large sphinx statue, with very large blue eyes.  Here it is!