VEGAS BABY!!!

I am sure most of you know that Bill and I went to Vegas last monday and came back Thursday night, oh well if you didn't you do now! I really appreciate my mom and dad coming up to watch the kids too. Its always nice to be able to get away for a couple of days just the two of us. And its nice to have parents who are willing to help out. Monday we left our house around 3:15 but decided to get the tire on our car fixed before we left so we didn't come back to a flat. It took longer than expected and we didn't leave IF until 4pm. By the time we got to SLC we had no time...btw just incase anyone needs a heads up. If your running late and park in long term parking, park near bus pick up number 12 since its the last pickup before heading to the airport, not...say...number four which has 8 stops before heading over to the terminal. We made it to check in our bag with maybe a minute to spare. By the time we made it to our gate they were already almost done loading. Left at 8 got to vegas at 8:35 (Vegas time), picked up our car rental and headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Southpoint. Waaaaayyyyy at the south end of the strip. I wouldn't try to walk anywhere from there!

Tuesday we got up, had breakfast, and drove out to the Las Vegas Temple to do a session, we got there to hit the 10:30 session. Its a very beautiful Temple. The set up on the inside is different from any temple I've ever been in, and the Celestial room is stark white. Very pretty.

By the time we got back to the hotel, changed, and got to the strip it was about 3:30. We parked at Ceasars Palace since we were going to the Cher concert that night. We walked 3 miles north to the stratosphere, checking out all the hotels on the way, then walked another 3 back...checking out the hotels on the other side of the street. By the time we got back to Ceasars we were starving and our feet hurt like crazy. So we went into McClarens Irish pub and ate at the burger king in the back. Then hurried over to Ceasars so we wouldn't be late for Cher. We got in sat down, had a great chat with a couple from Illinois, we thought they were getting ready to start and some guy got on and announced Cher's concert was cancelled and our tickets will be refunded. We all just sat there dumbfounded. Cher was the reason we got tickets to Vegas in the first place. That's why we went! Anyway at 7:45 when you leave the Colosseum there wasn't time to get tickets to a different show and we were so bummed, we drove around a little. Bill let me out to catch the end of the Pirate show at Treasure Island (its outside) and we went back to the hotel. It was very disappointing. :-(

Wednesday we got up and thought we'd catch breakfast by the hand at McDonalds, but first we went to Bass Pro Shop and the Virginian to see the aquarium tanks they have there. But we took to long and missed breakfast at McDonalds. Today we parked at Mandalay Bay, because that's where our show was tonight. We ate at "The House of Blues" in the hotel then proceeded our long walk for the day. It was noon by the time we got finished with breakfast. We walked to Ceasars and then back to Mandalay. This time we had more time so our walk wasn't as fast and we looked inside more of the Hotels. Besides our legs were pretty sore I'm not sure we coulda walked fast today! I'll put pictures below of the hotels we saw. Vegas is a different kind of place too, just looking at the outside of the buildings is as interesting if not more so of whats inside. Since we don't drink or gamble we had time to see most everything we wanted, but time does get away from you. We saw the weird animatronics show at Ceasars Shops, outdoor preserve at the Flamingo and the lions at the MGM. We saw the coke store (with t-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles) and the M&M store, four floors of everything M&M you can imagine. About 4pm we were beat and decided to go back to the hotel for lunch, to rest and to freshen up a little before going to Mamma Mia! at 7:30, walking for 4 hours in 98 degree weather makes you a little stinky and sweaty! We were excited for Mamma Mia and was there by 7pm for our seats. IT WAS THE BEST SHOW I"VE EVER BEEN TO! I have loved ABBA since I was a kid listening to the eight track in my best friends moms car. Its amazing to write a play around a greatest hits album and have it work. Every song that started Bill and I would look at each other in amazement, it works! Anyway I loved the show and would see it again and again if I could. After the show we went over to Bellagio and watched a couple of the fountain shows. Went in to the hotel and saw the worlds largest Chocolate fountain. By that time it was eleven and way past our bedtime so we headed back to the hotel. Still completely elated by the great show.

Thursday was the day we were heading out, but didn't need to be back with our car until 3pm. We decided we didn't have the energy or desire to walk anymore, so we drove out to Hoover Dam. I don't ever remember being there and it was pretty cool. Amazing how big it is. Bill and I were talking about the economic downturn we have been facing in our country and how different the world is now. Then the government created jobs by building stuff, now government just hands money out and you don't even have to do anything for it. After we looked around there for a while we drove back to Vegas. We never did make it to old downtown at night so we decided to go check it out quick before we left. It would be really cool to see at night all lit up.

All in all we had a really great trip. The only thing that could have made it better was seeing Cher! Oh well I guess that means we have to go back! Oh yeah and being able to fly out of IF instead of SLC would've been nice too, seriously who closes an airport!