Summer Trip: Day 2: Day of Sun(day) and heat

Day 2: Sunday, July 18, 2010 Day of Sun(day) and heat

We did your typical sightseeing in Las Vegas.  Have I mentioned that Las Vegas is VERY HOT?  Dry heat they say.. I don't care, dry, wet 118 is hot and yes I did sweat (I was told you don't sweat).  We carried our own water bottles but there were people everywhere selling cold bottled water for $1.  They seemed to be selling a lot.  We bought our water for $3 for 24 bottles.  If they bought their bottles at a similar price, they can make over 80% profit on each bottle.  I kept wondering what they sell during the winter months??? hot chocolate???  Okay, back to our vacation. After breakfast at Margaritaville, we traveled the strip visiting many of the famous hotels. (and look pictures!!!)

We took the monorail and rode it to the end where we saw the Stratosphere and the Sahara.

 We got back on the monorail and went to the Imperial Palace and Harrahs stop and walked through. Then we crossed the street and  went to the Caesars Palace Forum shops. This mall is very interesting and beautiful.  We walked through to Caesars Palace.

 

Next, we went to the Bellagio. We saw the glass designs and the magnificent conservatory.

We went outside and spent some time watching the fountains dance.







We returned to our hotel and cooled off for a while. We went to see the famous Las Vegas sign. It's a sign and it's famous and we did stop and park and take pictures with the sign.
 



We then went to dinner at the Rio hotel.  We waited in a really long line for a while to get in to what is the larges buffet in Las Vegas, the Carnival buffet. It was very good, lots of variety.

After dinner we drove around, went out toward Nellis air force base. We dropped my son's friend off and drove back via Las Vegas Blvd.  This gave us an opportunity to see some of the older hotels and the famous wedding chappels north of the strip.  Then back to the hotel for relaxing evening.

Join me next time for Day 3: Freedom and Red (hot as fire) rocks

Summer Trip: Day 1: "Snacks on a Plane"

Okay, so here I am starting my blog about our trip to Hades (Las Vegas) where temperatures were around 120 during the day and 90's at midnight... and then Grand Canyon.   I have to figure out the best way to add or link photos. But first.  Let's talk about the trip.  On Saturday, July 17, 2010, we woke up at 3am Eastern time for our 7am flight. We made it to the airport and checked in without any difficulty.  Our flight left at about 7am and we arrived about 9am Las Vegas time.  I brought snacks "Snacks on a Plane!"  We took the bus to the car rental place.  All the car rental agencies are housed in the same off site building.  We got our car (we got to pick out our own car, which we have never had the opportunity to do on any of our other trips) We found our way out of the car lot and made our way to some apartments that son wanted to see. Not impressed with apts.  We then tried to find someplace to get distilled water for hubby's CPAP machine.  Found a CVS and bought the distilled water and some drinking water bottles. While we were checking out some guys were talking about how someone was killed near by.  "Great" I thought.  Then I thought, "Great, they don't seem too surprised by the news"  Okay, so checked out and headed to the strip and to MGM to eat lunch at rainforest cafe and to meet Jason's friend.  Lunch was only so-so.  If you are in Las Vegas, skip the restaurant, it's a chain and you can probably find one near your home.  I'll review the places we ate as we go. We left MGM and traveled to Flamingo hotel and tried to check in, but it was too early.  We were able to pre-check in and we had to wait for our key.  By this time we have come to realize that Las Vegas has no place to sit except at slot machines and games in the casinos.  I'm sure that is planned so people will sit and play.  We managed to find a place to sit and wait about 1 hour.  Then I went to wait on the line to get my key (yes they do have a special line for keys) And there was this really drunk guy and I'm thinking "this guy is going to fall down" and sure enough, he falls down.  Then he asks me to help him up.  Right... I told him I have a bad back and can't help him.  Somehow he managed to get himself up and stumbled away.  I got my room key and we went up to the room. 9th floor. Nice enough room with an ok view.  We could see the flamingoes from our room.  We relaxed and we ate at the Flamingo buffet.  It was very good.  We then took the monorail to the MGM for the concert of the year: James Taylor and Carole King.  A fantastic concert!!!!  Once in a lifetime event.  We then returned to our hotel room and crashed.  By this time we had been awake over 24 hours!  This actually helped with jet lag because we were awake so long that by the next morning we were on Las Vegas time.  Unfortunately, we also found out over night that hubby's CPAP machine was broken.  Oh no!!! How to get a replacement, stay tuned for Day 2. Day of Sun and Heat....