Las Vegas, 1 week

[Pax]

Hey, y'all-

Wife and I are off to LV from Weds 4/29 and we'll be back Thurs. 5/7. I'll probably log in a couple of times before we go, but... assuming no internet access... I'll see you next week Thursday...!

[MacBeth]

All hotels have Internet access these days ;D

Have a grand time ~~

[Pax]

I'll have no excuse then, will I? :-)

[MacBeth]

The is noooooooooooo escape bwahaahaahaa

[wheelspinner]

Apr 27, 2009 17:36:33 GMT -5 Pax said:

I'll have no excuse then, will I? :-)

You'll be too busy winning money and having a great time.

Enjoy!

[Georgina]

Enjoy your time away, Pax.

[Calluna]

Have a great time!

[Pax]

I'm back. :-)

[Georgina]

Welcome back. Have a nice time?

[Calluna]

It's already been a week? Time flies! Did you have a good time? Win anything?

[Pax]

Yes, it has...! And I wish it were a week longer! I had a fantastic time, thanks for asking. We went to Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. Sedona was beautiful -- that's where those giant red rock formations are. Grand Canyon -- you have to see it to believe it. We also hiked down a trail a bit -- the Bright Angel trail -- about a mile and a half down. It really does get warmer as you go...! We probably could have gone further but we didn't want to push it, never having done that before. We plan to try to hike down to the Colorado in a few years. :-).

Las Vegas was more than I expected. It truly is "an adult playground," that is, if you were to take New York City, and mash it up with Disneyland, I think you'd get Las Vegas. It had NYC's hustle/bustle and never-sleepness. The Disneyland part comes from some of the hotels themselves being deliberately built to look like cities of the world... NYC, Paris, Venice, Egypt (ok, not a city, but still). And the scope of it is breathtaking. Each hotel is gargantuan. You think you've seen the whole thing, and nope, that's still only a part of it. And, yes, it's easy to get lost in those things. It tooks us two days out of three just to figure out how to easily find where our room was in our own hotel, the Flamingo. :-)

And, God, so relaxing. If you're not thinking about how much money you're spending on food and shows (they're not cheap anymore really), it's really great.

OH! And there's a "Serendipity 3" there -- it's a restaurant. I love that restaurant from when I lived in NYC, and they JUST opened one in LV just across from my hotel...! We ate there three times, lol. Their desserts are legendary -- particularly the Frozen Hot Chocolate. Icing on the cake.

I didn't win anything. My wife put in $1 in penny slots and walked away half an hour later with $75, so that's something to feel good about. :-)

[Calluna]

They have penny slots? I thought the cheapest you could find anywhere were nickel slots (and when I visit Atlantic City, they are always all claimed by the little old ladies, so I can never get near one).

That sounds like a fun vacation. I haven't been to the Grand Canyon yet, but really want to get there. I also want to get to Las Vegas someday. It's good that it was relaxing. That sounds like a really great itinerary for a vacation, then, to do things like the Grand Canyon first, which require a good deal of work (hiking), and end with Las Vegas where you can wind down and relax....the vacation from the vacation.

[Georgina]

I've never found a single thing about Las Vegas relaxing. The Grand Canyon is gorgeous. So's Sedona. Although Sedona's grown so much in the past decade or so that an awful lot of its charm is lost. The landscape is still amazing, though.

Did you get to see this while you were there, Pax?

[Pax]

I did, Georgina. :-). That could have been a picture I took. :-). I see we both had the good fortune to have a cloudless day, eh? lol. It is a beautiful church. As well, it's a small thing, but Beth and I loved the small shrine to St. Francis just outside the chapel.

I'll be sharing some pictures of my trip -- I wish it were easier to upload here, but, oh well.

I loved Sedona but I don't see a lot of reason to go back there now that we've experienced it. I'd want to go primarily for hiking, and for that, I truly fell in love with the Grand Canyon. We even got about a dozen pictures of rock squirrels. They're very cute. Remarkably "tame" too... they tolerated people being literally within two feet of them (or less). And, no, I didn't try to pet one. :-)

Vegas -- well, simply being on vacation helped -- "no responsibilities" is always relaxing over looming deadlines. And you're right, it is truly an assault to "go anywhere" in Las Vegas -- it's crowded and without exaggeration there are literally fifty things screaming for your attention literally every step of the way. However, I will say that something I never thought I'd enjoy as much was simply sitting beside the pool at the Flamingo. The sun was just right, the temp was just right, the feel of the air was just right... it was, well, just right.

[Georgina]

I agree; there a loads of gorgeous venues for hiking in that area of Arizona.

And *now* I get what you mean about finding Las Vegas relaxing. That specific experience. Yes. Last vacation I went on last fall was a true trial in things going wrong and just trying to make it happen. Plus work was crazy at the time and there was a whole combination of stuff was trying my nerves.

I arrived and felt harried, rushed about here and there as soon as I landed and got to the hotel. I was commandeered out of bed early the next morning by my best friend's mother who had a strict itinerary for arriving at breakfast. None of that was helping my demeanour in spite of being on a tropical island. We got to the beach, got installed, and I got into the ocean, swam about a bit, and stopped and it was as if every care in the world melted off of me. The water was exquisite, and the sun was spectacular. Finally. I was on vacation. And it felt grand.

[Pax]

Calluna -- yeh, they do. :-). And actually, I can't take responsibility for that itinerary -- it was all a tour by AAA. Cheap, too, eight days for $1600 per person, all transportation (excepting side trips) and hotels included. Mainly, meals were at your own expense. A really great deal if you're willing to go with a group and be a bit scheduled in the first half.