Final Thoughts (wall of text alert)
Since getting back home I've moved job, and we've finally sold our house and found somewhere to buy, and should be moving in the next couple of months. Baby Bloo #2 is also due in the next month, and #1 is now walking and talking and far more of a handful than he was back when he just lay wherever you left him and occasionally needed feeding or changing. He has preferences now. Not ones he can really articulate (barring yelling the word 'hungry' over and over again until we cave in), but still, that's weird. He's starting to be a proper little person.
All of this has meant that planning the next trip has taken a back seat for a bit, but I've got preliminary permission from the wife for another trip in, uh, the second half of 2018. Which is a long way off but, hey, it'll do. Considering inviting my dad along for that one, as he's never been to the USA, let alone Vegas, although I'm not certain. He's not a gambler (as far as I know), so abandoning him for hours to play poker seems a bit mean. And part of what I love about Vegas is that I don't have to worry about anyone else for a bit, whether they're bored or hungry or on a schedule or whatever, if I want to do a thing I can just go do it.
Overall this was a pretty successful trip, although I'd definitely do stuff a bit different next time I come to Vegas. And so help me god, there will be a next time. It took a month or so for the itch to come back, but I'm already back reading Vegas blogs, forums, keeping an eye on my airmiles and trying not to think about how far away 2018 is. But, hey, 2017 was always going to be a transitional year - new job, new house, new baby. Kick through it, and 2018 should be easy.
As always, poker tables at Vegas were significantly chattier and friendlier than anywhere else I've played. And the general atmosphere and energy of Vegas is just so good. Stay away from the slots and the hardcore gamblers, stay nearer the people who've come to look around and party and enjoy themselves, and there's just so much positive energy around. I'm not someone who normally draws off the vibes of others, so maybe that's why I love Vegas so much, having finally found somewhere that does energise me.
Would definitely stay at the Mirage again, location is reasonable (maybe being slightly further south would be good, but at the same time being so close to the Venetian and Wynn is also nice), rooms are fine and reasonably priced, and I like the general 'feel' of the place. It's hard to describe really, but it seems a bit more laid-back and chilled than some of the other casinos. I wouldn't stay at Mandalay Bay again purely due to location - the rooms are really nice, the casino as a whole is great, but by the second day staying there I was really sick of the time it took to walk from there to anywhere else worth being (even at my brisk London pace, it takes a good 20+minutes to reach MGM Grand or Monte Carlo).
Definitely wouldn't bother hiring a car again either, with the new car parking charges. Let's say the hire car runs me $20 a day all-in, plus $10/day parking charge, $30 a day buys me a decent number of Lyfts/Ubers, particularly given some days I don't leave the strip, and I like having the freedom to day drink and not worry about driving.
Next time I definitely think I'd do a full week in Vegas, maybe with one night at the Grand Canyon or Zion in the middle (I've seen both on day trips, but never had more than a few hours to explore either). In all honesty when I've added other cities to the trips I've generally just been either champing at the bit to get to Vegas or wishing I was back in Vegas, but I'd always been a bit hesitant about doing a full week in Vegas in case I either go busto or get bored by 4-5 days in. I think this is largely driven by a truly awful trip to Atlantic City five or so years ago where I ran like absolute turds at the poker tables, polished off my $1200 bankroll by midway through my second full day there, and then found out how awful a place it is to be when you have no money to gamble (my wife insists on a super strict division of my poker roll and my life roll, which I understand). But on both my last trips to Vegas I've kinda felt like there was a lot I could have done that I didn't get to. And hopefully by the time I get back I'll have a big enough bankroll to withstand the swings that the tables throw at me (my new house is two miles from one of the UK's new supercasinos that has a proper poker room, so going to see how I get on there).
also next time I might be able to avoid a full $250 stupidity tax
Anyway, thanks to all who've read and commented on what I'm aware has been a wall of text without enough photos at times. I mainly write these for myself really, so I can relive the fun I had on these trips while I'm over 5,000 miles away and it's probably raining. But hopefully someone else gets something out of them as well, and apologies that there's been quite such a delay in getting this finished. Next time I think I'll probably write the whole trip up as a post-hoc trip report rather than doing it semi-live, will probably result in things being slightly better written as well.