West Coast Trip - Day 6

Got mostly packed up the night before... so we were ready to go do the Hollywood sign hike in the morning. We first went to a spot right under Ron Howard's house... a rather large estate.  Great view of the sign, but too far away for any real good pix.  So we drove around for a while and headed toward the spot we were told to go to for a 45 min hike to the sign.... around the corner of Dorenda and Rockcliff Dr.  Lots of windy roads going uphill.  We got to the exact spot and the gates said hiking was prohibited... it was chained shut with signs saying there was a fine...etc.  Bummer.  We drove around looking for another spot for pix with the sign.... and just happened to drive up on the same exact spot I was at with Jason Berg 20 years earlier... when Madonna lived in a house right next to scenic overlook.  That was pretty cool.  It was then off to The Tonight Show... with a quick stop at In & Out Burger.... never ate at one of those.... pretty good burger!  We also found Nickelodeon Studios... and had to get a pic of that for Mel's kids.  We got to the tonight show at about 2:15... and were given ticket #s 270 and 271. The studio holds 387 or something like that.... so we thought we were in good shape.  However....after 100 minute wait, we were 2 of the final 4 people allowed in.  We were split up too.  I sat in the 2nd row stage right and go to shake hands with Leno at the start... I was the first one to do it when he came out.  And Mel just happened to be sitting among the family of 2 of the guests who had a very moving story to tell about a father who got run off of a cliff and rolled down 400 feet in his car and was trapped for 7 days. The family turned into a bunch of investigators and eventually found him.... very cool story!!  Mel got on TV twice.... once at the beginning and once at the end of the segment when they showed the family before going to commercial.  We went right to Vegas after that and went right to Freemont Street. Got there exactly at 10pm... literally walked under the canopy and 1 minute later the music & light show started at the top of the hour.  We did the zip line down Freemont Street.... awesome!  Spent $27 on 2 pictures that they took.... then went into the Golden Nugget.  Mel lost a quick $100 at the black jack table....and I won a quick $40 playing some new Texas Hold 'em Bonus table game where you play the dealer and get to bet on your starting hand for a bonus.... ie 5 to 1 odds if you get Ace Queen unsuited.... 30 to 1 if you get AA.... 20 to 1 for Ace King suited....etc.   Drove to the Mirage after that with a quick stop at the Pawn Stars store for a picture.... Ken the security guard was outside letting us know that the showroom was closed for the night.... nice dude.  then a quick picture with the "welcome to Vegas" sign.... and we checked in. It was midnight... and we went right down to the casino.  Mel played black jack and I went to the poker room.  Sat with $100, left with $300 4 hours later.  Had it all in with a nut flush draw vs AQ and hit my flush.  Some local pro got 1 outed.... two flopped flushes, nut flush vs 3rd nut... only out was the 8 of diamonds... and POOF, 8d on the river... $1000 pot.   Played til 4am and went to bed.... long day.