Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 43

The Sioux City Journal, Sunday, January 10, 1988 7 Las Vegas is hub of glamour, glitz, scenery, fun i r- nr PsfW) Children can carry on their own pandemonium in Discovery: The Children's Museum (admission charged, group tours available) where press-button exhibits for kids are aimed at stimulating curiosity and interest in the arts and sciences. Hope springs eternal. For those who prefer vicarious mayhem, there are major sports promotions particularly championship boxing matches. Tournaments for everything involving hostility toward a bail, including cricket, as well as off-road races, fishing tourneys, major rodeos and college sports at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. The campus is worth a visit to see its giant upside-down black flashlight sculpture.

Controversial? You bet. For the historically minded, there is everything from a full-size duplicate, in Caesars Palace, of Michelangelo's "David" carved out of marble from the same Italian quarry as the original, to one of the largest dinosaur collections in the wmaam iiiiii AwftaaaMa A child enjoys a bit of fun in an arcade in Las Vegas, Nev. By Betty Peach Copley News Service Most people have gambling in mind when they think of Las Vegas. That gaudy, glamorous, glitzy, hyper-glandular part of Las Vegas known as "The Strip" (Las Vegas Boulevard south of Sahara Avenue), where nothing indoors ever stops and nothing outdoors ever starts, is just a tiny piece of fascinating southern Nevada, but it's all that most of the 15 million people who visited the place last year ever saw. Scrape off the superficial tinsel and glitter the blazing lights, the Hollywood stars from super-novae to black holes, the stylish casinos with wall-to-wall kismet, the stretched limousines, all in the shinings and you find basic tinsel and glitter.

There is a mammoth complex of super-glitz, Circus Circus, designed around the concept that the family that gambols together gambles together. It proves the admonition that nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public, but who cares? Fun's fun. When you tire of casino glitz and glitter, or lose all your money (remember, the house always wins eventually), try Las Vegas for a gaggle of delightful reasons. You can lodge and eat modestly and gawk immodestly along the twinkle Strip, and then explore the other activities of Las Vegas and its gargantuan back yard the great Mojave Desert and the lakes of the Colorado River. You will find fun activities on land, water, air, and even snow: a historical perspective of this awesome land; and the mind-boggling beauty of nature undressed.

In town are the memorabilia collections of the once rich and famous who got their comeuppance by dying without taking it with them, just as the rest of us will: The Imperial Palace Auto Collection (admission charged), specializing in infamy, with the Mercedes Parade Car owned by Adolf Hitler, plus nostalgia tuggers like a 1954 Tucker. Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not Od-ditorium (admission charged), an extraordinarily weird collection of zany, disgusting, ingenious and idiotic attic stuffers, helps you feel that you're not so weird after all. The Liberace Museum (tax-deductible donations accepted), a potpourri of antique and classic cars and pianos, including ones owned by Frederic Chopin and George Gershwin, and incredible costumes and props used by the well-loved "Mr. Showmanship." There are also lots of hands-on, do-it-yourself activities for the action-oriented, in addition to slot machines which exercise only limited muscles. Year-round golf (12 courses), tennis (200 courts), bicycling, horseback riding, archery, hunting and other physical aggressions can be pursued to exhaustion.

Even snow skiing at Lee Canyon, about a 45-minute drive from the Strip. Wet 'n' Wild, an immense water park on Las Vegas Boulevard South, has seemingly miles of twisting tubes and near slides through which you can hurtle, if your liver is firmly in place. Slides shows can entertain By Ann and Carl Purcell Copley News Service The main reason we all take pictures on vacation is to share them with other people. One of the best ways, and also one of the worst, is to share your picture in a slide show. We all have been subjected to tedious, boring slide shows depicting our friends and relatives cavorting around Europe or on Caribbean beaches.

Photo enthusiasts can take heart, because it is possible to produce slide shows from your vacation color pictures that will have your friends cheering in the aisles. There are a few guidelines for both simple and more sophisticated slide shows that will hold the attention of your audience and keep them entertained. We first should concern ourselves with the projector. Probably 90 percent of the am- ateur and audiovisual market has been cornered by Kodak -with its highly dependable Kodak Carousel. This projector utilizes a circular, horizontal tray that rotates like a merry- go-round, dropping each slide into the projector slot by gravi-ty feed.

Two other companies making slide projectors are Leitz and Elmo. We personally I use Carousel projectors and chose models with the auto- focus feature and curved-field zoom lenses, which work very Iwell with cardboard mounted slides. The zoom lenses allow I you to adjust your projector to screen distance according to size of the room and the number of people in your au-'. dience. Slide shows can be produced on several levels of sophistica-; tion.

The simplest form is live narration with one tray of 80 slides and a remote extension cord. Some trays will hold 140 Slides, but the slots are very narrow and may jam if the slide mounts are even slightly bent. The two most important things to remember are to keep your slide show short (under 15 minutes), and to limit the screen time for each slide to an average of five seconds. Nothing is more tedious than to have a slide held on the screen for more than a minute while the narrator digresses on some unrelated subject. The one 80-slide-tray show with the five-second-per-slide average comes out to about seven minutes.

The next step up is to utilize two projectors and a dissolve unit, dissolving from one image to the other on a single screen. This makes a very pleasing transition. What types of slides do you select for a slide show? Obviously they should be well-composed pictures, preferably with bright colors. For a travel show it is important to establish a sense of place. How do you let your viewers know that the sidewalk cafe is in France? The green umbrellas advertise "Perrier" and the bread basket is filled with those distinctive loaves, not to mention the gentleman wearine a beret.

us, immediately loped over to the car and stuck its head through the window, nibbling at my blouse. So much for wild. From all the major Las Vegas hotels, bus tours leave frequently for everywhere, including local shopping and sight-seeing, famous-homes gawking, nightclubs and stage shows, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Death Valley and Utah's national parks. Boat excursions ply the lakes, and planes and helicopters will swoop you over the grand sights. Among those major hotels, each stuffed with an astonishing array of noise-making games of chance, intimate cocktail lounge entertainment, and big room extravaganzas, is one which pegs its patronage on family fun.

Circus Circus is Disneyland with avarice for grownups as well as kiddies. Oh, not carnal lusts. Absolutely not! None of that sleazy stuff with double double entendres and four-letter words. Just good old family-style lust, rated PG. From lollipop temptations for toddlers to an incandescent sea of gambling delights that glaze Mommy's and Daddy's eyes.

And I'm talking family, from 3-week-olds to great-grand people. Strollers are furnished by the hotel, and youngsters are not allowed in the casino or bars. The kids are so blase they don't even bother to ogle their parents at play. Around the mezzanine is a com- plete selection of carnival midway booths where you can throw, shoot, roll, toss and blow your way toward a limitless zoo of stuffed fuzzy creatures. I tried to lob baseballs into a milk can to win a five-foot Wil E.

Coyote, but my nerves were shattered from an ignominious defeat by an arm-wrestling machine. About every half-hour between 11:30 a.m. and midnight, a brief circus act is performed for the free entertainment of those who can tear themselves away from the spinning lemons and shuffling cards. Trapeze artists fly through the air over the clanking slot machines and aerial carousel ponies carry balloon-tossing buckarooettes dressed in basic working-cowhand skin-tight turquoise leotards and white Stetsons. The nadir is as boxing match between a midget pardon, little person and a kangaroo.

I won't spoil it by telling you who wins. The Circus Circus buffet, probably the largest of the popular all-you-l can-eat-for-a-pittance cafeterias in Las Vegas, is truly immense. It fed nearly 11,000 people per day in 1986. What the food lacks in haute cuisine it more than surpasses in familyf style abundance, and you may regorge indefinitely, if you have the guts for it. Generally, food in the hotel-gambl-.

irig emporiums isn't just reasonable, it's cheap. world at the Las Vegas Musuem of Natural History a splendid display with giant animated replicas that snap at visitors (admission charged) Displays explain the anthropology and natural history of the area at the Southern Nevada State Museum and Historical Society (admission free). One gallery is devoted to recent history, including a fascinating exhibit on Las Vegas and the heyday of neon. Drive 25 miles to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam for water skiing, fishing and boating. Along the pier's edge, the fish thrash themselves into a frenzy of gaping mouths, begging popcorn.

En route, stop in Henderson for a free self-guided tour of the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory on Cactus Garden Drive, near Sunset Way (9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.), where boozy bonbons are made. Nevada and Kentucky are the only two states in the nation where liquor-laced candies may be manufactured. Can't even import them legally.

Behind the factory, for your viewing pleasure, grows one of the largest cactus gardens in the United States. Beneath this core of contemporary bustle, beneath the playland and the players, beneath the westward settlers, the Mormons and the early Mexicans, beneath the ancient Anasazi Indians, lies the desert as it has since long before man struggled to survive, and it is an astonishing land of wondrous things. Most dramatic is Nevada's oldest state park The Valley of Fire, 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, with its lavender to tangerine to rust red geologic gingerbread. The surrounding desert plateau is an eye-stretching vista of undiluted drab before this astonishing jumble of apocalyptic erosion appears. Here life plays second to the wind in sculpting the grand-scape.

No soft green mounds. Just the craggy, chiseled towers glowing in the hot colors of the spectrum. When you have regained your composure from this overwhelming spectacle, stop by Overton. Here an exemplary archaeological display. The Lost City Museum, encloses an excavation of Anasazi ruins; a complex society when Rome dominated Northern Europe.

The first humans arrived in this valley about 1500 B.C. and subsequent civilizations hunted, gathered and, finally, farmed the harsh land until around A.D. 1150, when they migrated to Arizona and Mexico. For a sampling of desert glory, geologic grandeur, an snowcapped mountain, forests of rare Joshua trees as well as barrel cactuses, prickly pear, and, if you're lucky, wild donkeys, coyotes, badger, deer, elk and bighorn sheep, you need only step out the west side door of Las Vegas. A 15-mile drive west on Charleston Boulevard, a Las Vegas main thoroughfare, brings you to the eastern escarpment of the Spring Mountains and all these splendid things.

The towering sheer granite walls rise above the alluvial plain covered with gnarled alien forms of Joshua trees and their lesser yucca relatives. Along the mountain base is an inclusion of unbelievably carmine-colored rock; Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands. An impressive visitor center provides information and guidance for a 17-mile loop drive second only to the Valley of Fire for gorgeous geologic spectacle and desert awe. Nearby, through a well-marked wooden arch, is the road to Bonnie Springs Old Nevada. The brochure for this private enterprise proclaims that is is "open seven days a week, including Saturday and Sunday." Despite its somewhat bedraggled and hokey mien, it is a beautiful setting nestled against the mountains, and was the site of Bonnie Springs Ranch, built in 1843 as a stopover for the wagon trains going down the Old Spanish Trail to California.

Along the highway, we spied a wild burro browsing, Turning off the engine, we coasted noiselessly toward it and stopped, lowering the window and moving the camera slowly into position, not to frighten it with quick motions. It looked up and saw Premier Travel IB mm LAS VEGAS February or February 19 22, 1988 FROM SIOUX CITY Pioneer Travel lake a Break lours Meaas "your travel professionals" rv. OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK PRICE PER PERSON DOUBLE TRIPLE LAS VEGAS CLUB $278.00 $268.00 UNION PLAZA $282.00 $278.00 IMPERIAL PALACE $308.00 FLAMINGO HILTON $338.00 $328.00 PACKAGE INCLUDES Round Trip Airfare (Non Stop) 3 Nights Hotel Plus Room Tax, Round Trip Transfers Between Hotel Airport Baggage Handling Pre-Registration at Your Hotel Coupon Fun Book 2H) Hamilton Blvd. Box 21211 Sioux City. IA 51 104 (712)252-0008 Call Toll Free 1-800-383-0008 For Free Brochure Located in the Pioneer Mall at Sgt.

Bluff Daily Departures From Sioux City Americast Airlines 3 Nlflht LAS VEGASCLDB niyui HOTEi. at CASINO Air Fare Transfers $228 and Norelll LAS VEGAS from $260.00 3 days, 2 nights Round trip scheduled air fare Car rental Free fun book with over $200.00 in valuable coupons for meals, cocktails and shows. Prices based on double occupancy, restrictions cancellation fees apply. TRAVEL PLUS, INC. 1-800-522-8489 Call Any Day Including Sundays per person dbl.

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I I.MItf.-. for 2 persons includes double room with color television and radio, 2 Certain Restrictions Apply FARES SUBJECT TO CHANGE $150,000 FREE Travel Insurance With Every Ticket HOURS 9 A -7 ,710, 0-rnr 9-6 Ncn-5 sun. Call (712) 943-2700 Jdelicious Sirloin Club Steak Dinners and champagne or wine in our r-v CiillwFc-nrtoH Mntnrrnarh Tnurc uuith the fn nwinn rnn- llJ CRYSTAL TREE DINING ROOM, music and dancing in our LAZY LEOPARD LOUNGE, swimming I UIIV l-WI KIWIWIVVUU1I in our 4-seasons SOLAR DOME POOL and relaxation in our Whirlpool and Sauna Baths. Poolside (Q.jP venient departures: Sibley; Sheldon; Alton'; Le Mars; Sioux -K Pitw rinauua' anH Micsnnri Vallev rooms extra. PRESENT THIS COUPON WHEN YOU REGISTER.

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DBL. OCC. Plus Airfare ICSES 4 MAY 11-15, 1988 Southern Hills Mall, Sioux City, IA (712 274-1444 Toll Free Number (800) 383-1444 18 Plymouth St. S.W., Le Mars, IA (712) 546-7891 Sioux Center, IA Remsen, IA (712) 722-1 400 (71 2) 786-2950 AltonOrange City, IA (712) 756-8936 (I Feb. 9-March 1 ARIZONA LEISURE only $1,199 Extended stays in Phoenix and Tucson with highlights 2 big nites in LAS VEGAS 2 nites at a beautiful resort in Lake Havasu City Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.

Feb. 13-26 SOUTHWESTERN GETAWAY only S849 Extended stay in Phoenix LAS VEGAS the GRAND CANYON, travel in luxury onboard our brand new European touring coach. Feb. 29-March 12 TEXAS and the Gulf only $699 See all the sites and cities of Texas along with the gulf coast onboard our new VanHool motorcoach! prices based on double occupancy All tours feature round-trip fully escorted motorcoach transportation; lovely lodging, some meals; all touring attractions are included. Call us toll free today for a free brochure, from Iowa 1-800-533-6801 in Minnesota 1-800-247-2228 or see your local travel agency STAY IN THE HEART OF MANHATTAN SEE THREE BROADWAY SHOWS i YACHT TOUR AROUND MANHATTAN SHOP AT MACY'S VISIT TOP OF EMPIRE STATE BUILDING CITY SIGHTSEEING TOUR TOUR OF UNITED NATIONS NEW YORK CITY BALLET PERFORMANCE Round Trip AIR FARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND AVAILABILITY Restrictions may apply Most require advance purchase.

fyhl AAA TOUR DIRECTOR Make Reservations Now! AMTRAK All Aboard Fare. Ask for Details $188 PHOENIX From Sioux City 1 74 NEWARK From Sioux City $188 MUNICH From Sioux City S478 I SEATTLE From Sioux City S228 CHICAGO From Sioux City M68 I HARLINGEN From Omaha S208 ORANGE COUNTY From Sioux City 5228 TUCSON From Sioux City $178 HOURS: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m, to 5:30 p.m.; Sun.

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