2026 Southwest Meander - Day 7

Day 7 - Las Vegas, NV

We left Kanab, UT and drove three hours, through beautiful landscapes and barren flats, to Las Vegas, NV.  We've been to Las Vegas many times before, not for the gambling, but for the shows.  This time would not be different.

When I picked a hotel in Las Vegas, I picked one that I'd thought we'd stayed at before a few years back but, totally by accident, I picked one that we'd never been to before but located in the perfect location for what we were planning to do.

The Judges and VIP section of the arena.

The first show we were going to was in the early afternoon and located, literally, across the street from our hotel.  The Battlebots Destruct-A-Thon was located in the Battlebots arena.  We walked over and, first things first, we went to the gift shop for a t-shirt, a magnet, a piece of 'Scrapnel' (a piece of scrap shrapnel from a battle bot with a certificate of authenticity), and a few gifts.

Several BattleBots were on display.

We entered the arena which included the same battlefield you see in Battlebots on TV (now on YouTube).  They were not filming a new show at the time but they hold daily shows.  I learned a few things.  There are multiple copies of each battlebot  When they aren't filming, random battlebots are selected to battle and a group of substitute drivers cycle through the running of the battles.  The owner/designers of the BattleBots only drive when they are filming.  Now before you start thinking these substitute drivers are professionals or anything, I ended up buying Red Vines and chips from one of them at the concession stand where we joked about having to feed the munchies and he looked like he had a lot of experience with the munchies.

They staged four battles which felt like you were watching the show on TV just more exciting in person.  One of the announcers, Bill Dwyer, was one of the original TV hosts for the BattleBots show on Discovery. Unfortunately, the lighting, the protective plexiglass, and the speed of the battlebot movements made it difficult to photograph the actual battles.

The Sphere from the outside, flowers projected on its surface.

After we left the BattleBots arena we walked the one mile to the Sphere.  Here we would be watching an AI enhanced copy of the original "Wizard of Oz".  The sphere is an incredible venue.  The actual venue takes up maybe two thirds of the sphere with the other third being full of escalators to get people to their seats.  We were pretty high up and, I suspect, anyone with a fear of heights would have issues entering the venue.  The stairs are very steep and I held on to the railings as I walked to my seat.

The "Wizard of Oz" in the Sphere.

The movie started with a small projection like a normal movie theater then at the perfect time the movie expanded to fill the inside of the venue.  AI was used to wrap the film around the inside of the Sphere.  Most of this was seamless but there were a few glitches here and there but, having said that, it was very impressive.  A large gasp rose from the audience when the projection expanded.  There were other things to enhance the movie experience like paper leaves flying around the venue during the tornado scene.  I was surprised how much of the movie I'd totally forgotten about.  Scene after scene seemed new to me even though I'd watched this movie a kajillion times.  Shows you how little I'd paid attention, and how much my memory simply forgot, watching it as a child.

Psychedelic Sphere.

The best part of the Sphere, frankly, was the graphics that are projected on the outside of the venue.  I probably could have sat there all day just watching it change.  It was particularly spectacular at night.

We managed to get out of Las Vegas without gambling even once and I didn't miss it.

Next ... Oxnard, Cambria, and the Clown Motel.

Photographs can be found in my 2026 Southwest Meander Google Photos album.