Las Vegas

Hey y'all,

Las Vegas... Sin City... Hmmm... well, I can tell you that it is aptly nicknamed! However, in many ways it was very different from what I expected. I expected dirty, crowded, many lights, cheap (and by that I mean trashy and inexpensive) but, it wasn't all that dirty, unless you count the millions of "girly" cards thrown on the ground. It was crowded, but even on the weekend, not as crowded as I expected. There weren't near as many lights as I thought there would be. It was very lit up, but not how I expected. It was cheap in the trashy sense, in parts, but classy in other parts. However, it was NOT cheap in the inexpensive sense!! The food was outrageous, we didn't even consider seeing a show, and I have no idea how people can afford to walk around with the $50 drinks! Geez! I had always said that I had no desire to go to Vegas and I think I would say that even now, but I did enjoy seeing it and many of the casinos were amazing. I loved sitting by the pool at our hotel. It was a "beach" complete with sand and waves. My favorite part of the trip though, was when we were off the strip. We went to Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon. Our last night we spent at the Ritz Carlton, off the strip. It was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle and just relax through the end of our time there.

The clouds were very pretty as we flew. I don't often get a window seat. I pretty much begged for it this time. I was hoping to see the Grand Canyon as we flew over.

I will never know for sure, but I think I saw the Grand Canyon. Not sure if this is part of it, but...

This is the outside of New York New York. It was really neat inside. It was the first Casino we really explored. I have never been to New York City, but it certainly looked like pictures I have seen.

This is where we stayed and where Michael's conference was held. It was very nice and as I mentioned, the pool was fabulous, but the hotel itself was on the boring side compared to others we saw.

The Statue of Liberty outside of New York New York.

M&M World (or WW World, if Grandpa McCleery had been there) was very cool! The movie posters they had around the store were great. I took pictures of a lot of them. I took this one for the Bruce Avenue Joneses. :)

I took this one especially for AJ!

The Bellagio was awesome. We went to see the fountain show there the first night. Another day we looked through the inside. It was one of our favorites.

Paris was right across the street from the Bellagio. I took this picture while we waited for the fountain show.

One of the few pics of us together... I took this one.

The fountain show was great. It was one of my favorite things we saw.

Here is the pool at Mandalay Bay (where we stayed). I spent a couple hours there each morning. It was so nice to just relax!

This was my most common view at the pool. :) At least, when my face wasn't in a book!!

The Venetian was probably my favorite casino. It was so neat inside and there was a lot going on there. While we were having dinner, this "statue" was attracting a lot of people! Then this joker came and took all his tips! Actually, he collected it like he was thieving, but then gave it all to the "statue" who then took a break!

One of our splurges was to do the gondola ride at the Venetian. It was awesome. Our Gondolier was incredible. It was well worth the splurge.

Tino, our Gondolier. He sang to us and was really good, was funny and also, informative.

This was in front of the Wynn.

Fins to the left...

The Conservatory in the Bellagio was another favorite. Michael was very patient with me, but I was enthralled! The flowers were beautiful and their creations were amazing! They had beautiful hydrangeas!! (My favorite!)

As you can see, there were many neat floral creations.

This Ferris Wheel was in the conservatory. There were flowers arranged in every seat.

Another M&M movie poster. We went back to the store a second time to pick up a little something for Molly, M&M stickers with her name on them. :)

While at M&M World, the second time, we watched an M&M movie in 3D.

We drove out to Hoover Dam. I must admit that it was pretty anticlimactic. It was neat, the area around it was beautiful, but... well, I don't think we would ever need or want to go back.

The Dam.

On the way to the Ritz, from Hoover Dam, we took the $5 scenic route. We didn't know it would be $5, but it was pretty. Basically, it took us around Lake Mead.

More of the scenic route.

Still more of the scenic route.

This was the view from our hotel room! Beautiful, huh? Our room was actually over the water. The hotel had a bridge of room.

This is also a view from our room.

I loved the decor of the room! I loved the carpet, the drapes, the bathtub, and this chair. I even loved the paint color on the walls. I told Michael I wanted our bedroom to look just like the hotel room! :)

We drove out to Red Rock Canyon. It was not really what I expected, but it was beautiful!

I am guessing you can tell how it got it's name... ;)

I loved these mountains. I thought it looked like God took them between His hands and squeezed them together like an accordion.

All in all, we had a fabulous time. I got to relax and be alone to the point that I got bored. Michael had a good conference. And, we got to spend some fun time together.

Until next time...

PS. I went all the way to Vegas and didn't gamble a penny! (I was afraid to! Grandpa would have never let me hear the end of it!!) ;)