Q: How much will a trip to Vegas Cost?

We probably get this question more than any other.  It is also the hardest to answer.  If you normally stay in a Motel 6 when you travel – there is a Vegas vacation for you.  If you normally travel in a private jet with a staff of a dozen – there is a Vegas vacation for you. 

The key is to have a budget.  Book your transportation and room.  Book your anchor events (major must see shows or dinners out.)  Have a separate DAILY budget for food/drink and gambling.    Then discipline yourself to not spend tomorrow’s budget today – and don’t spend the food budget on gambling and you will be fine.  (There is nothing worse than being broke with two days to go.)

Q: Can you go into hotels - other than the one you are staying in?

Absolutely – even the 5-Star resorts want you to visit – even if you are staying at an off-strip discount hotel.  In other resort cities there is a guard at the door who will determine if you belong there.  Not Vegas – it is perhaps the most “open” resort city in the world in this regard.  There are a few amenities that are sometimes limited to registered hotel guests (pools etc.) But shopping, casinos, restaurants, activities, and shows are open to everyone.

In Vegas – the guard isn’t at the front door.  The guard will typically be checking room keys at the entrance to the Hotel tower elevator so that random people are not wondering around by the rooms.

Q: Should I bring my kids?

YES! (with one very important caveat.)

Is it possible to create an incredible family vacation in Vegas? Absolutely yes!  There are water parks, amusement parks, shows, restaurants and events that will amaze your little crumb crunchers and be the basis for legendary “what I did last summer” school papers.

However – if you are planning an adult drinking and gambling vacation don’t assume that there is anything in Vegas that will serve as a babysitter.  There isn’t.

So bring your kids on a Vegas family vacation.  Leave them home for the Vegas adult party weekend.  You know the difference when you are planning the trip.

Q: How do I get the best comps?

If you are playing (or otherwise spending) to pursue comps – you will always come up on the short end of the deal.  Comps are almost always designed to return a small component of your losses to you.  It is almost always less expensive to simply buy something (a room, a meal or a show ticket) – as opposed to trying to do what is necessary to be comped that same thing. 

Now… if you are trying to get the maximum comp value for gambling you were already going to do that is something else entirely – but playing to pursue comps is always a loosing proposition. 

Q: Do I need to rent a car?

For a first trip (if you are staying center strip) probably not.  I know of many people who rented a car, drove to their hotel and didn’t get their car out of parking until time to go back to the airport.  There will be a world of things to do only steps from your hotel room!  Cabs are relatively plentiful (to get back and forth to Fremont or to a restaurant.)  Despite being a party town – Vegas takes DUI VERY seriously.  You will go to jail. 

You might want a car on a second or subsequent trip if you are taking a deeper dive into what Vegas has to offer (Red Rock Scenic Loop, Ghost Towns, Valley of Fire etc.)

Q: How hot does it get in Vegas?

My lovely bride and I often end our evenings with a little walk around the neighborhood. A couple of evenings ago we were in the middle of our walk. It was just after sundown. It was warm – but not at all unpleasant. It just occurred to me to wonder what the temperature was. Jill looked at her phone. It was 104 degrees Fahrenheit. We stopped in the middle of our walk just to pay attention to our circumstances. Neither of us seemed to be sweating. It was not at all uncomfortable. It was strange – because we remembered other circumstances in other cities (Houston and St. Louis among them) where anything north of 90 was absolutely miserable.

The old cliché is true – a “Dry Heat” is completely different. Now make no mistake – 104 or even 110 is hot. Perhaps even dangerously hot. Your dog will die if you leave him in the car and you will be in danger if you do not drink enough water. Your steering wheel will be too hot to touch when you leave it in the Target parking lot. But folks - those temperatures are not nearly as “unpleasant” as far lower temps in more humid locations.

Evaporation cooling works MUCH better in low humidity. You will be chilly stepping out of a pool – even if it is 105! “Shade” seems to work better in low humidity as well. It seems 20 degrees cooler under an awning. (I remember some 80% humidity days elsewhere when you couldn’t tell the difference between sun and shade.) But perhaps most importantly – the general feeling of “stickiness” that defines summer in most southern cities is completely absent here.

So folks – anything north of 100 is hot. I do not mean to minimize that. But if you are from Houston or Atlanta or Miami or New Orleans – Vegas has absolutely NOTHING on what you deal with every year – no matter what the thermometer says. So come and visit the Neon City for a weekend this summer. You have been training for this your whole life!

Q: How do you guys do this?

This question has less to do with Vegas – and more to do with how we put “G & Jillie Rocks Las Vegas” together.  A lot of people have asked about the mechanics of recording, editing, and hosting.  If you are not interested in “behind the scenes at GJRLV” – then feel free to ignore this.

Absolutely every piece of video is shot with an iPhone 12.  We are unlikely to ever use a dedicated video camera – almost on principle.  We are trying to demonstrate that one can produce a pretty high-quality video end product without spending a bunch of money. This is a much less expensive hobby than it was when I started doing hobby level video production in Europe in the mid-80s. Spending a bunch of money on cameras and software will not necessarily create a better product.

We have a pretty high-end desk top computer we use for post production - bur it really isn’t necessary. We got pretty good results on a <$500 Target Lap top before we did a computer upgrade.

Editing Software is MOAVI – less than $100.

I have a Storyblocks account for Royalty Free Music and for the occasional “Drone” video clip to start a segment.  Royalty free background music is very important – especially in Vegas.  If you pick up as little as a few seconds of ambient copyrighted music playing in a hotel lobby somewhere - your whole video can be pulled down by You Tube.  You have to use music you have permission to use.  Storyblocks is an easy way to do that.

We just upgraded to a “Blue” mike (<$100) that I use for voice over narration.

We host finished videos on YouTube (on The Five Simple Choices Channel).

We use this website (www.gjrlv.com) as something of a GUI (graphical user interphase) over the top of our YouTube channel.  We have a lot more control over driving traffic to a web site – and it is much easier to tell someone we meet in the street to go to gjrlv.com (rather than trying to get them to find our YouTube channel.)

We have a supporting Facebook and Twitter page.

And we don’t do business cards.  If we meet someone and we want to tell them about this project – we give them a G & Jillie Rock Las Vegas commemorative Poker Chip.  If you see us on the street in Vegas – ask for one!