I finally found the cord so I could download pictures from our vacation to my computer...just a heads up, we took over 650 pictures (Joe is snappy happy, a step above camera happy) but I will try to condense it down for you...this post ended up taking me 3 days to complete, so here it goes!
Wednesday, April 20th
At the airport, getting ready to board the plane...we're headed to Vegas baby!
Thursday, April 21st
We woke up early, since we were still on MN time and this was our view...right along the Colorado River, it was so pretty!
We got ready and checked out of our hotel. We then planned to go down the street to the Riverside Casino, in hopes to take the morning boat cruise along the river. But as we approached our rental car in the ramp, Joe noticed the front tires of our rental were COMPLETELY bald (it was a 2010 Toyota Camry with 47k miles)!! The mileage should have tipped us off but who thinks to check the tires...we didn't notice it when we picked up since it was super dark in the rental garage and we're both pretty tired from the flight.
So Joe called the 800 number to see if we could exchange the car...they didn't have a location in Laughlin but they did in Phoenix. They said to just bring it in there and we could do an exchange at no extra cost, which was a relief...but we still had another 3.5 hours to Phoenix to go! That drive was a little nerve-wracking but we made it with no incidents.
After dealing with the car, we drove down to the Riverside Casino to get tickets for the boat cruise on the Colorado River...when we arrived at the ticket office, she couldn't get the computer to work. She told us to come back 15 minutes before the cruise, she guaranteed we would get tickets...so off we went to kill an hour or two in the casino...
After walking around the casino for a while, we headed back to the ticket office. Unfortunately, the 10:30 cruise had been canceled, due to an emergency down the river. They had to lower the water levels for some reason and it was too shallow for the cruise. So instead of wasting another 2 hours for a "maybe" 12:30 cruise, we just decided to head to Phoenix. Here is what we mostly saw along the way...lots of brown!
Once we got into town, we headed straight the airport and exchanged our car for a much newer and nicer ride, a 2011 Nissan Ultima with only 5,000 miles! We drove to my sister's condo and then went out to dinner with her and Trevor for burgers at Island's, YUM! It is my favorite place to eat when I visit her!
Friday, April 22nd
We headed north with Debbie and went to visit Sedona, which is just beautiful! We had lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant (which is also where I realized that rice makes me gag!) and hit the shops of Sedona for some souvenirs. We also stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a chapel up in the red rocks of Sedona.
Saturday, April 23rd
Joe got up bright and early to hit a local golf course...walk-ins had to arrive by 5:30! It was too early for me to tag along, I slept in that morning. I wish I had gone though, he ended up getting a hole in one, it was the 11th hole, par 3 (149 yards). Here is a pic of the ball and club he used to get it...he also is getting his name in the local paper and gets a box from Callaway to store his hole-in-one golf ball...
After Joe got home, we had a lazy morning and early afternoon and spent some time by the pool at Debbie's condo...
Later that afternoon, Debbie headed to a family get together with Trevor's family, while we checked out Pinnacle Peak for a hike! We made it up the peak about a 1/2 mile...which doesn't sound like much but when it's an uphill dirt path the entire way, 90 degrees outside and you're pregnant, it's quite the accomplishment :)
Sunday, April 24th
It was our anniversary! We celebrated our last day in AZ by going to Easter brunch with Debbie at Rustlers Rooste, it was delicious!
After we said our goodbyes, we headed north on the 5 hour trip back to Las Vegas. Along the way, we checked out Hoover Dam...talk about AMAZING! I knew it was going to be huge...but not THAT huge, WOW!!!
And we finally made it to Vegas, we can see the strip as we arrive!
We dropped off our rental, took the shuttle back to the airport and then hopped on the hotel shuttle from there. We finally arrived at our final destination...The Flamingo! We got a great deal on an upgrade to the "Go Deluxe" room...and it completely surpassed our expectations (especially for what we paid for it, which was next to nothing)...we also got a room on the 24th floor (sensing a theme here??)...check this room OUT!
Monday, April 25th
We woke up and decided to walk around the strip and take advantage of some free sites/shows along the way. The first stop was at the Ceaser's Forum Shops, where they have an hourly show about Atlantis and his two children wanting to take over his thrown. While it was educational, it was kinda cheesy. When I read there were moving statues and light show, I assumed it was humans pretending to be "statues"...but no such luck. Either way, I think it was worth the stop.
After that, we headed to the Mirage to visit the Seigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. This wasn't free but definitely worth the entrance fee.The facility is a research one, so there are no set shows...the trainers would just hop between the 3 pools and work with the dolphins on tricks. We were able to get fairly close to the dolphins, it was pretty cool. Then we headed into the Secret Garden to see the lions, panthers, leopards and white tigers.
There was a self serve frozen yogurt shop just outside the Secret Garden that we stopped at on our way out, it was yummy! They had like 15 flavors of yogurt and just about any topping you could imagine, it was awesome.
After walking around for most of the morning and afternoon, we headed back to our room for some rest...here is one tired momma!
Unfortunately, we apparently have bad luck with our feet in Las Vegas (remember I broke my pinky toe last year??).We were almost to our hotel and were crossing the street...we stepped off the curb and Joe rolled his right ankle. It wasn't super horrible but it got swollen and it hurt him pretty bad for most of the trip. But he pushed through the pain, so we could still enjoy the rest of our trip.
We grabbed dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville that night...I was super bummed I couldn't drink a real one...but they had N/A mango daiquiris, so that is what I drank and bought the souvenir glass that came with it!
Then it was time to hit up Fremont Street and the light show. It was fun to walk around and gamble down there. We picked up a few souvenirs and Joe bought a cigar from a place in Binion's...and the guy working was a spitting image of Horatio Sanz. Joe told him that and turns out, he actually is pretty good friends with him, he says he hears that all time. And of course there are some interesting folks down there (the creepy people that try to come up to you and ask for money) so I was glad to be headed back to the main strip and our hotel...at least the non-English speaking immigrants in neon shirts that slap the hooker cards can't talk to you, they just slap the cards at you. I can handle that, they are much easier to ignore.
Tuesday, April 26th
We started the day by taking a shuttle to the Bass Pro Shop and Silverton Casino, which was about 3 miles off the strip. We walked around the store, checked out their huge aquarium, and got a free lunch buffet at the casino, then headed back to the strip.
We then headed down the the NYNY to get a replacement mug I had bought on our honeymoon that Shiloh managed to destroy. Then we went to our usual stops at the M&M and Coke Stores.
This may look like a statue...nope, it's a REAL person. I totally thought it was a statue and wondered why all that money was still sitting on the ledge...until I saw his eyes moving around, totally freaked me out!
That evening, we walked down to the Mirage to see their outside volcano erupt.
We ended our last night in Vegas by going up to the 46th floor of the Paris Eiffel Tower to see the city at night. The first few minutes were a little tough...it was super high. But after that, I was fine. It was just very windy and cold. This was one of my favorite things I've ever done in Vegas, highly recommend it!
Wednesday, April 27th
Our last day there was pretty low key...we are really worn out from everything we had done over the past week. We just relaxed in our hotel room until it was time to check out. Then we walked around the wildlife exhibit in our hotel, which had ducks, flamingos and fish.
When we landed at 11pm, we arrived to low 30's and light snow...coming from a week of sunshine and temps ranging from 85-90...it was quite the shock! We got home after midnight and both slept like a rock that night...there really is no place like home (or like your own bed!!).
Thursday, April 28th
Joe woke up early and picked up Shiloh from his mom's...after a week of playing with puppies and stressing from being away from home, we had one TIRED dog...she barely moved from this position ALL day!
We really had such a great time, hope you enjoyed this very lengthy update :) It will be the last vacation for us for a while, so we took full advantage of it! I was proud of us though...we were pretty budget conscious but also didn't hold ourselves back either. It ended up being an expensive week (despite what people think, Vegas is NOT cheap)...but it will be the last one we ever take with just us and was worth every penny...you only live once, right?!?
We woke up early, since we were still on MN time and this was our view...right along the Colorado River, it was so pretty!
After dealing with the car, we drove down to the Riverside Casino to get tickets for the boat cruise on the Colorado River...when we arrived at the ticket office, she couldn't get the computer to work. She told us to come back 15 minutes before the cruise, she guaranteed we would get tickets...so off we went to kill an hour or two in the casino...
Friday, April 22nd
We headed north with Debbie and went to visit Sedona, which is just beautiful! We had lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant (which is also where I realized that rice makes me gag!) and hit the shops of Sedona for some souvenirs. We also stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a chapel up in the red rocks of Sedona.
This is someone's house...worth like $15M!!
One of Joe's many random snaps...
Saturday, April 23rd
Joe got up bright and early to hit a local golf course...walk-ins had to arrive by 5:30! It was too early for me to tag along, I slept in that morning. I wish I had gone though, he ended up getting a hole in one, it was the 11th hole, par 3 (149 yards). Here is a pic of the ball and club he used to get it...he also is getting his name in the local paper and gets a box from Callaway to store his hole-in-one golf ball...
Later that afternoon, Debbie headed to a family get together with Trevor's family, while we checked out Pinnacle Peak for a hike! We made it up the peak about a 1/2 mile...which doesn't sound like much but when it's an uphill dirt path the entire way, 90 degrees outside and you're pregnant, it's quite the accomplishment :)
What we're about to climb...
A very large rock...
Our view from the top!
The 1/2 mile marker we stopped at...24...awww
On the way back down, we passed a man that told us to watch out
for the rattlesnake between markers 19 and 20...ummm, what?!?!?!
THANKFULLY we never saw it...but we sure didn't putz around that area either!
We did see this little friend on the way down though :)
Sunday, April 24th
It was our anniversary! We celebrated our last day in AZ by going to Easter brunch with Debbie at Rustlers Rooste, it was delicious!
We were greeted by Horney the Bull
To get to your table, you can either take the stairs or the slide...
Debbie and I chose the stairs, Joe took the slide!
Joe got me chocolate covered strawberries for our anniversary from the chocolate fountain!
Look how low the water was...the white area is how high it's been in the past. This river supplies water to 7 states in the southwest and there continues to be a serious water problem there (the river continues to drop).
And we finally made it to Vegas, we can see the strip as we arrive!
We dropped off our rental, took the shuttle back to the airport and then hopped on the hotel shuttle from there. We finally arrived at our final destination...The Flamingo! We got a great deal on an upgrade to the "Go Deluxe" room...and it completely surpassed our expectations (especially for what we paid for it, which was next to nothing)...we also got a room on the 24th floor (sensing a theme here??)...check this room OUT!
Yes, that is a TV in the mirror of our bathroom...
along with a Bose surround sound system in the ceiling so you can listen
while in the tub or standup shower (we had both options!).
while in the tub or standup shower (we had both options!).
One of the shops in our hotel...of course Joe needed a picture in front of it LOL
After we checked in and unpacked, we walked down to Treasure Island to catch the free Siren of TI pirate show outside of the casino...
We didn't get too many pics that turned out, we got there just as it started and didn't get a good spot...but you can see one of the pirate ships from the show.
The Siren of TI Chopper!
Yikes!
We woke up and decided to walk around the strip and take advantage of some free sites/shows along the way. The first stop was at the Ceaser's Forum Shops, where they have an hourly show about Atlantis and his two children wanting to take over his thrown. While it was educational, it was kinda cheesy. When I read there were moving statues and light show, I assumed it was humans pretending to be "statues"...but no such luck. Either way, I think it was worth the stop.
After that, we headed to the Mirage to visit the Seigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. This wasn't free but definitely worth the entrance fee.The facility is a research one, so there are no set shows...the trainers would just hop between the 3 pools and work with the dolphins on tricks. We were able to get fairly close to the dolphins, it was pretty cool. Then we headed into the Secret Garden to see the lions, panthers, leopards and white tigers.
After walking around for most of the morning and afternoon, we headed back to our room for some rest...here is one tired momma!
Unfortunately, we apparently have bad luck with our feet in Las Vegas (remember I broke my pinky toe last year??).We were almost to our hotel and were crossing the street...we stepped off the curb and Joe rolled his right ankle. It wasn't super horrible but it got swollen and it hurt him pretty bad for most of the trip. But he pushed through the pain, so we could still enjoy the rest of our trip.
We grabbed dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville that night...I was super bummed I couldn't drink a real one...but they had N/A mango daiquiris, so that is what I drank and bought the souvenir glass that came with it!
Tuesday, April 26th
We started the day by taking a shuttle to the Bass Pro Shop and Silverton Casino, which was about 3 miles off the strip. We walked around the store, checked out their huge aquarium, and got a free lunch buffet at the casino, then headed back to the strip.
We then headed down the the NYNY to get a replacement mug I had bought on our honeymoon that Shiloh managed to destroy. Then we went to our usual stops at the M&M and Coke Stores.
This may look like a statue...nope, it's a REAL person. I totally thought it was a statue and wondered why all that money was still sitting on the ledge...until I saw his eyes moving around, totally freaked me out!
That evening, we walked down to the Mirage to see their outside volcano erupt.
Next we headed to the watch Bellagio Fountains...
Wednesday, April 27th
Our last day there was pretty low key...we are really worn out from everything we had done over the past week. We just relaxed in our hotel room until it was time to check out. Then we walked around the wildlife exhibit in our hotel, which had ducks, flamingos and fish.
John Edward had a show in our hotel...I soooooo wanted to go but Joe wasn't the least bit interested!
Goodbye Las Vegas, thanks for another great visit!
Very happy to be headed home!
When we landed at 11pm, we arrived to low 30's and light snow...coming from a week of sunshine and temps ranging from 85-90...it was quite the shock! We got home after midnight and both slept like a rock that night...there really is no place like home (or like your own bed!!).
Thursday, April 28th
Joe woke up early and picked up Shiloh from his mom's...after a week of playing with puppies and stressing from being away from home, we had one TIRED dog...she barely moved from this position ALL day!
We really had such a great time, hope you enjoyed this very lengthy update :) It will be the last vacation for us for a while, so we took full advantage of it! I was proud of us though...we were pretty budget conscious but also didn't hold ourselves back either. It ended up being an expensive week (despite what people think, Vegas is NOT cheap)...but it will be the last one we ever take with just us and was worth every penny...you only live once, right?!?
1 comment:
Wonderful Vacation!!!
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