For better:

• Blue recycle bins on the street
• Bike share stations
• More express buses (the SDX had just opened last time and is way faster than the painfully slow Deuce)
• More newer bars and restos on East Fremont
• Higher longer zipline downtown in the Fremont Experience

Neutral:

• New casinos on the strip (mostly replacing older ones)
• More big box pharmacies on the strip
• Little liquor stores on the strip

For worse:

• Lots of closed casinos and shops downtown
• Half the poker rooms downtown are no morw
• More panhandlers

Misc funny moments

• Waitress insisted the daily happy hour ended at 5pm. I pointed to the sign on the wall that read in foot high letters 4 – 6 pm 
• Airport check-in person asked if I had a return flight out of Canada. Not needed, I say. Do you have a visa? Not required for US citizens, I say. She keeps reading through the fine print and agrees.

• 3 stadiums aide by side!?
• Statue downtown of chicken chain’s big investment in scholarships over the years
• Statue of woman who helped reshaped downtown
• Indian lunch: salad with dal, veggies and a nice hot green sauce
• New stadium under construction (reverse side of the leftmost stadium in the other photo)
• Flatiron building! cf near St Lawrence Market in Toronto
• Thats one big wreath! And the fire hydrant in front has a plaque: the first display of water system in 1875

The dog’s vest says “pet me.”

The handler’s shirt says “Ready. Pet. Go”

Clockwise from top left:

• Non-traditional Sb*x sign
• Roof of torn down gas station
• Snow!
• Really ms*t employees have a dedicated checkin line with this airline?
• Tasty veggie farotto (sp?) last night

Oh yes,  we have champagne!

Infinity pool (with bar) truly looking infinite with the lagoon. Last sunset here for us, with Moorea in background.
The hotel made a little flower and stick welcome message on our bed.

The scooter was delivered to us at the boat dock, and picked up at our restaurant prior to sunset, so we never had to go to their office.

Clockwise from top left:
– sunset from waterfront dinner resto Chez Louise
– tasty seafood dinner (lobster, parrotfish, curried non-local shrimp, raw fish Tahitian style – parrotfish, not tuna, this time), 5500 CFP /US$50 pp plus drinks(but tax and tip included)
– cows with Raiatea in the background, on our 15 min hike to a semi-deserted beach
– helmets required!
– one of the bays at center of the island
– view to Raiatea from the southern tip of Taha’a
– drying tamanu nuts (used for skin products)  at the vanilla farm… this is the Vanilla Isle after all
– Joe Dassin beach with snorkeling just offshore, inc a dropoff

We also visited a pearl farm, had a tasty lunch on the bay at Taha’a Maitai resto, and tried to see rescued turtles at Hibiscus hotel but they no longer do that (the danger of an LP guide that is 2 years old

Tip: most places have hard to see road signs

Also, hyper tattooed emcee at last night’s traditional dance show (he did cool fire twirling at the end), and the logo behind the front desk of the resort (with birds of paradise in front).

Clockwise from top left
– rocking my pareu
– stingray (one of two regular visitors by or bungalow)
– Susan in her pareu
– Susan ready to snorkel,  at 7am!!!
– flower (not plumeria)
– boxfish (one of several near our bungalow)

Bottom pic is from our bungalow deck, with Bora Bora in the distance