Vegas Baby Vegas

I was in Las Vegas last week with my parents and Jeremy. It was a wonderful, relaxing time. By Wednesday I think I had finally let go of my anxiety about not having a full time job and taking a week off of my part time job (more on that in a later post).

We saw most of the big sites and major casinos in Vegas. I dreamed of pulling off a heist like Ocean's 11. Of course, instead, I lost 6 dollars by gambling. (I was up a few times but I wasted it all away on the hopes of a bigger win). We started the trip with a big bang and we saw "The Lion King". It was amazing! The actors were amazing - the choreography is top notch - every inch of the stage is utilized in amazing ways - I think I could see the show another 15 times and see something new every time. I cannot say enough about the amazingness of this show. If you have the opportunity - go see it. It will be worth your time. The new songs that are added for the show aren't all that exciting, but it's hard to top something written by Elton John. The Lion King was showing at the Mandalay Bay casino - so we also spent a little time looking around there. Each casino has it's own flavor, so to speak. So it was fun just to walk around the different ones.

The next day we spent the morning in the pool. The pool was heated and it was in the high 80s that day - so it was a little like swimming in bath water. Fun though. We had a wonderful buffet at the Main Street Casino for lunch and dinner at the Hoffbrau House. (Sorry if I'm just butchered the German language there.) The Hoffbrau House isn't identical to the one in Germany, but it's close. It was fun and loud. LOL Good beer, I hear. (Hard to know for sure since I don't drink beer myself.) We ended the evening at the Bellagio and saw the dancing water fountain. They didn't play Clair de Lne by Debussy like at the end of Ocean's 11 - I was slightly disappointed. The Bellagio is gorgeous though.

Tuesday we went to the Mirage to see the Secret Garden and Dolphin Park. They have some beautiful animals there, including a baby leopard named Java. Jave was cute and playful. That night we saw Bette Midler in concert. Bette puts on a wonderfully entertaining show. She is the people's Diva - had to fight for that spot with Sarah Palin.

Wednesday we left the strip and drove out to Hoover Dam. What an amazing feat of engineering. It would cost a fortune to build today; not that I coudln't help thinking about what project Obama could start that would similarly help Americans out of this depression. That evening we walked around the MGM Grand, had amazing food at a Spanish Tapas restaurant, and saw the Star Trek movie. The Star Trek movie is worth the hype. It is clever science fiction writing, good looking actors (who can actually act ... though we are comparing them to the actor who made a living off the term "bad actor" - William Shatner. Who, by the way, I absolutely love in Boston Legal), and great direction by JJ Abrams.

The next day was gloomy and cold (for Vegas). So I went the gym and ran about 3 miles in 30 minutes. I'm not breaking any records with the 10 minute mile - but if you know me, you know I HATE RUNNING! I'm trying to have a better attitude about it and so I'm proud of my 10 minute mile. We spent the afternoon playing games in the suite - I'm awesome at Scrabble Slap. Jeremy was one with the dice in "Phase 10 the dice game". My dad was a good sport - he hates losing and didn't win a single game - though he came in second at Scrabble Slap. We had a wonderful Italian dinner at the Venetian. The Venetian has the cutest shopping/restaurant area. Then we saw the Blue Man Group. The Blue Man Group is awesome! I have not laughed like that in a long time. That show is keeps you engaged with all your senses - and is even partly educational. Fun fun! A must see in Las Vegas.

Friday we left the strip again and drove out to the Valley of Fire. It was gorgeous! The pictures do not do it justice. We walked up a short, 1/2 mile trail where at the end was a "tank" made out of the rocks where water collects. There was a little water in it. I guess some guy named Mr. Mousse hid out there in the late 1800s and that water was how he survived. Hard to imagine, I must admit. In the evening we went for Thai food. It was my mother's first experience with Thai. It was unfortunately not the best food as it had lots of cilantro in and my mom and I are not big fans - we think it tastes like soap. Oh well. Then we went to an art fair in the evening. The art was local artists - everything from photography or paintings to jewelry. There were some really strong artists and then some things that I could have done with my eyes closed which I do not think should qualify as art.

On Saturday we went to the Luxor and the Excalibur (because it was right next door). The Excalibur is the cheesiest of the casinos. It's where you go if you decided to bring your kids to Vegas. The Luxor was fun because it had a nice exhibit about the Titanic. I learned that there were quite a few people who were "transferred" to the Titanic from other ships for various reasons. I'm sure that would have seemed like an awesome thing, at the time. Many of these transfers didn't survive though, as they were transfered to second or third class. The exhibit really highlighted the class distinctions. It had a lot of the actual items recovered from the "crash" site. Thus, it showed which china was used in first class and what the rooms looked like and sounded like in third class. It was depressing, of course, but interesting. We ended the week by going to the Freemont street experience - which is a light display shown over a bunch of shops and a casino. It's fun but it doesn't top the fountain at the Bellagio or a good fireworks display.

We had to get up early on Sunday so I could make it to work at noon. My parents came home with us. They stayed through Wednesday. It was fun to show them around. We had bad luck with things being open that we wanted to see ... the Village in town is pretty much closed on Monday - which I forgot until we were walking around. Then we tried to go to an art museum in Pasadena on Tuesday to find that all the museums are closed on Tuesdays. Anyone else think that's random? We did. We finally went to the museum on Wednesday. My parents flew up to Seattle on Thursday morning and I mourned that they were gone. I really loved having them around.

So that's been the last week and a half. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. More pictures are posted on facebook. Vegas is fun - its goal is to take your money but give you entertainment in return. If you need to relax - I highly suggest it.