Oh golly, I don't even know where to start, so for those that didn't know, Dave and I left for Vegas early Saturday morning the 14th (on my dads birthday - Happy Birthday Dad !!!) and got back very late Thursday night the 19th, that was almost a week without our baby which was very weird but she had a ball staying with my neighbor which is such a God send and her four little girls, some of which are Jades best friends in our road :-)
We obviously called her daily sometimes many times a day but she really wanted very little to do with us, she was having so much fun, that at least made being away a little easier for us, we were really very thankful for this opportunity, I feel very indebted to Tina.
Dave had a conference to attend Monday - Thursday so we tried our best to see as much as possible on the Saturday and Sunday, the three hour time difference helped us have more time to see more on Saturday but also wore us out big time. I should have taken my pedometer with me to record how much we walked because my golly did we walk a lot, especially the Saturday, the Sunday we were a little tired but the adrenalin of Vegas keeps you going. Sunday evening we took a 6 hour tour which was awesome and a great way to see Vegas at night, see stuff we might not have seen had we not taken the tour, we also learnt a lot about the history of Vegas and they even took us to downtown Vegas which is like the old Vegas Strip for a lack of a better way of explaining it.
Some of the things on the tour were the Stratosphere which is this high tower that over looks the strip, that was cool but I couldn't believe that up there they have what they call extreme rides off the side of the tower, they are extreme but more insane if you ask me, I was nervous just watching them. Then we went to the Hotel Rio which is slightly off the strip so I am glad we got to see it. The atmosphere there is like Mardi Gras, they also have a free show there that emulates Mardi Gras, they have dancers and performers in costume and floats, only these floats are up on rails on the ceiling, they are all lit up with people in them, they even threw beads like you would expect to get at Mardi Gras, very cool. At the Rio I also got an opportunity to see some of the Chippendale's and I will stop there before my husband closes down my blog (hehehe) !!! Very cool !!!
In The Distance Is The Stratosphere And Below Are Two Of The Rides You Can Take Off The Top ... Madness Or What ???
This Was At The Rio, The Mardi Gras Party I Spoke About, I Know These Pics Are Very Dark But Below You Can Try And See What I Was Talking About When I Said The Floats Were On The Ceiling.
That Of Course Is My Attempt At Taking A Pic Of Two Of The Chippendales, Only The Security Weren't Impressed With Me :-(
Then we went to the Bellagio to see the musical water show, Dave and I had already seen it but this was an opportunity to see it at night which was very different. Unfortunately it was a little windy so not as nice as I expected it to be but still the show is amazing. Then we went into the Bellagio to see the conservatory which we had also seen during the day but I thought it would be better at night but it really wasn't the daytime viewing was way nicer. Anyway this room if filled with a garden theme, butterflies, snails, ladybugs, different kinds of watering cans and just absolutely beautiful mind blowing gardens, everything is made of flowers, now this is hard to explain but hopefully the pics that I slot in here will give you more of an idea, apparently these flowers get changed out frequently but we also got to see it at the best time of the year which was a bonus. In the middle of this room there was a greenhouse kind of house, you know a little house made of glass but there wasn't plants inside, it was like a mini butterfly farm, it housed the most amazing butterflies, this was one of those times I wish I had Jade with us, she would have loved it. I have never before seen such big butterflies.
The Bellagio
This Is Where They Have The Water Show, When I Can Figure Out How To Put Video In Here I will Paste In A Small Video To Give You More Of An Idea Of What It Is Like.
This Is The Conservatory, It Was Just Amazing, These Pics Do It No Justice. Oh And That Roof Above Cost 10 Million To Put In ...
Everything Is Made From Flowers !!!
That Was A Water Arch Everyone Is Walking Under, It Goes On And Off As You Walk Under It, Giving You A Fright Of Course.
I Know These Don't Look Amazing, You Kind Of Had To Be There.
The final stop on the tour was downtown Vegas which was really cool, it had all the old casinos there but still a very lively atmosphere, the biggest attraction is that and again this is all very hard to explain but imagine casinos running down both sides of the street and between the two sides there is this huge canopy when I say huge they say it is 4 blocks long or 4 football fields in length, well every hour on the hour the lights get turned off and this canopy comes to life, it is the biggest TV screen in the world or so they say, it is run by 32 odd computers, hard to believe but true, if I can figure out how to put a video on here I will have to paste it here for you guys to see, absolutely mind blowing !!!
This Is A Daytime Pic Of The Canopy, It Actually Is A Lot Bigger Than It Looks In This Pic.
It Has A Different Feel To The Strip, Actually Very Lively And Well I Enjoyed It Enough To Go Back In The Daytime By Myself :-) Oh And Jax That Last Pic Is For You :-)Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Dave went off to his conference which left me alone to do site seeing till about 6ish in the evening. This was nice in a way because Dave really hates to walk and take everything in and I just love it, the only thing was that when I did see something that was wow, I didn't have anyone to share it with, so it was a little lonely doing that on my own but still, I got some good shopping done and just walked in and out of everywhere to see as much as possible. I also managed to get a little gambling in, those machines scare me so I had a coin jar on my desk at home that I cashed in and got $27 and that was my gambling money well, I won a couple of times and even though I was only playing the one and two cents machines I managed to finally cash out at close to $200 which again was a big wow factor to both Dave and I since Dave knows, I have no problem winning, it's the walking away that is tough for me, I usually put all my winnings back into the machine, this time I was adamant to walk away and I did :-)
This Was The Casino Royale, The Casine I Won The Most At, I Was Playing The Wheel Of Fortune Machines.
What was nice also is there is a bus on the Strip called the Deuce and it is a 24 hour hop on and hop off bus, $5 a day which is really nothing. I used this bus constantly, it really helped me get to see so much more. Also when Dave was done at the conference he would call me and see where I was and then catch the bus to where I was, it really worked for us !!!
I think what is cool for me in Vegas is that every hotel and casino has a theme, these hotels are so huge, some of them even have full malls inside them, it's amazing. I can hardly tell you which was my favorite because they were all fantastic, maybe the Venetian which is obviously the Venice Hotel, it has a canal running through the middle of the hotel and mall and they have gondolas on these canals, you can take a ride if you like, and the person steering really sings and you get to kiss under the bridges just like I have always seen on Tv, too cool. The Paris is also great with a huge Eiffel Tower outside, apparently it is a third of the size of the real one but probably as close as I will get to Paris ever so, that was neat to see too. Most the hotels had entertainers in the bars and lounges and it was nice to stop at watch those at times too. We certainly saw enough Elvis's :-) And the dualing piano's were cool too.
This Is The Venitian, There Was So Much Construction Going On In Vegas It Wasn't A Great Time For Pics But That Building You See Behind It Will Be An Extention Of The Venitian Making It The Biggest Hotel On The Strip.
Now Isn't That Just Pretty ... The Trip Runs Right Through The Hotel And Shops Inside ...
That Obviously Is Paris Right :-)
Very Pretty At Night, The Entire Strip Actually.
Lots of the Hotels had free shows too, like Treasure Island had an outside show where two pirate ships dual and one eventually gets sunk, the pyrotechnics were really good for this one. And on that note, the one at Caesars Palace was good too, it was one where statues come to life and do a show, this one was called fire and ice, we were so close to the stage that we could feel the heat from the fire, mind blowing, I am sure by this point you are all counting how many times I have said amazing or mind blowing but it really was. Talking about Caesars Palace the weirdest thing happened to us, Vegas is huge, and busy, busy, busy, people everywhere, but I was sitting at the stage waiting for the show to start, Dave went to see the Exotic Cars Exhibit when this guy that I recognised walked past me, it was Tony, he used to be married to someone in Davids family, he lives in the States and was in Vegas with is new wife and in-laws and my golly I walked into him there, is that not amazing. I called him over and we chatted a good while till Dave arrived and then they caught up. What are the chances of that happening, and it did !!!
This Was The Ship At Treasure Island Where The Hold The Sirens Of TI Show. Two Ships This Size Dual And Get Blown To Pieces, The Other One Actually Sinks, Great Show To See, It Was Very Sexually Charged But Still Not Too Bad For Kids To See Too.
Doesn't Dave Look Comfy (Hehehe) ?
This Was Caesars Palace
Unfortunately I Never Went Back To Video The Statue Show, These Are Not The Statues But Just Another Decorative Setting In The Middle Of The Hotel.
Dave Went To See An Exotic Car Exhibition, He Said It Was Pretty Cool But Wishes He Could Have Sat In The Cars And Got A Closer Look.
This Bike Actually Had A Slot Machine On The Gas Tank ...
This Was Tony And His New Family ... Still Can't Believe That Happened !!!
This Is The Mirage Hotel And Casino, Not That Every Hotel Doesn't Have A Casino ...
That Water Feature On The Right Is Actually A Volcano That At Night They Make Erupt, Again You Can Feel The Heat Of The Fire and The Water Actually Has Flames On Top Of It As If The Lava Has Run Over The Sides, Very Clever And Fantastic To See.
The Mirage Is Where Sigfried And Roy Used To Do Their Show.
I Actually Went To See The Sigfried And Roy Secret Garden That I Had Always Heard About, There Was A Big Dophin Training Center There And The Garden With Their Lions And Tigers In It.
Even Though They Don't Do Scheduled Shows, I Was Lucky Enough To Be There During A Training Session, It Was Really Cool And Actually I Have Never Been That Close To Dolphins Either.
Something else that was weird to us, is people drinking all day long and all night of course, you could buy a beer or drink anywhere and walk in the street with it, they had these yard long glasses that everyone was carrying around, just weird to us. And the smoking, we don't know too many people that smoke where we live but I tell you now, I think everyone that smokes in the States was in Vegas this week, going into those casinos was sometimes too much for me, my clothes stank like I was a smoker and I would wake up every morning as if I had smoked a box of cigarettes, yuk !!! I now also totally get the 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' motto, it's a crazy place, the constant buzz is unbelievable, you have to experience it to know what I am talking about and although, this normally would not be my scene I can't wait as I said before to get the opportunity to go back again one day, I loved it there.
Before going on, here are just some other pics I had to put in somewhere, there were just so many hotels, I couldn't put all my pics in but wanted just to add a few pics of the cool ones and some of the other attractions and stuff we saw ... I know this is a never ending update but man ... there is just so much to tell :-)
This Was The New York, New York Hotel, It Really Is Amazing, Having Actually Been To New York, It Really Does Look Like New York, Inside And Out.
This Was The MGM Grand, There They Had A Lion Exhibit Which We Went To See, Saw The Cutest Cubs Too ...
The Luxor Is Where We Stayed, Dave And I Were Both A Little Disappointed, It Was Nice But At $300 A Night You Expected Wow And It Wasn't That. It Was Pretty Neat Though And The Brunch Buffet Was Out Of This World.
This Was A Tram That Went Between The Madelay Bay Hotel, The Luxor And The Excalabur Hotel, It Was Pretty Neat Too.
This Is The Mandelay Bay Hotel, This Is Where Dave Had His Conference. They Have The Most Amazing Beach Pool, With Waves and Sand, In The Middle Of Desert, That Is Amazing. Oracle Had Their Last Night Party There But The Weather Wasn't Great So We Didn't Stay Too Long Unfortunately, It Could Have Been Great !!!
This Is Harrah's And For Anyone That Knows Chris Ball, This Is Where He Stayed When He Visited Vegas Last.
This Is The New Planet Hollywood, They Only Recently Took This Hotel Over From I Think It Was Called The Aladin.
This Is The Excalabur Hotel, Really Cool One With Knights and Dragons etc. It Was Our Neighboring Hotel So Until I Found An Easier Way To Get The Bus, I Walked Through This Hotel A Bunch Of Times.
Oh My Golly, This Is M & M World, 4 Floors Of M & M Stuff, A Kids Dream, 22 Different Color M & M's Really Neat !!!
M & M Was Next To Coke World, This Was Similar To M & M, They Had The Whole History Of Coke And Tons Of Coke Logo Stuff, Amazing ...
This Was The Harley Davidson Cafe, Dave And I Had Dinner There One Night, New Model Bikes Were On Platforms Ran On Tracks Above Your Head For All To See. That Bike That Is On The Outside Is Apparently Made From Propper Harley Parts ...
Ok, This Was At The Wynn Hotel, These Were Amazing, Similar To Stuff We Saw At The Bellagio Conservatory, Take A Look Below At The Detail, Can You Imagine How Long That Must Take And How Often It Must Be Changed Out, Not To Mention The Cost !!!
A Vegas Wedding Chapel, There Are So Many Of Them, Even All The Hotels Have A Wedding Chapel In Them :-)
This Apparently Is The Largest Gift Store In Vegas Although They Say The World, I Doubt That, But It Was Big, I Spent A Good While In There. Not A Great Part Of Town Though.
Dave Figured If You Want To Make Big Money You Have To Play The Big Slots (Hehehe).
But He Didn't Win His Millions :-( Apparently This Is What A Million Looks Like.It's good to be home again though and to get back to normal, having said that Dave and I are still battling the 3 hour time difference, just can't get up in the mornings and everyone that knows me well knows I am not a morning person anyway so I am taking strain but trying hard to get back to normal.
Dave went back to work Friday actually, Jade is back to school, not much longer and she will be on Summer Break, give me strength !!! There is great excitement that she and I are driving up to Canada in June to get my cousin, Karen and her three girls and to bring them down here to us for a vacation, it is going to hopefully be a fun road trip for her all of us, or I pray it will be it's 12 hours at the very least in the car with 4 kids, ok am I mad or what ? Nope I am just desperate to spend some time with my cousin again, she has been my rock since I moved to the States and in all that time I have only seen her once, time for another visit :-)
Ok, I think that is enough for this update, oh one more thing, my mother in law turned 70 in the week we were in Vegas, congratulations, I hope you had a fun party. Dave and I were suppose to be partying that evening as well at Mandalay Bay, the Oracle last night party but it was so cold outside we didn't stay too long, which was a huge pity because it was a beach party and although you were in the desert, you were at a huge pool with waves and beach sand, pretty neat, sorry the weather didn't play along.
And Some Last Pics, This One Is For My Brother ... Take A Closer Look Below !!!
(Hehehe)
So Bye Bye Last Vegas By Night ...
And Las Vegas Blvd !!!Last but not least, thank you Dave for having me tag along for a vacation of a lifetime, I hope you had just as much fun, I love you.
