Getting Caught Up...

Well I am just going to post the rest of the Vegas photos here to try and get caught up.  I had planned to give a nice long narrative on each day, but I just have not had time to update everything, and I don't think anyone really reads this thing anyway.

 

 

Las Vegas Trip Day 2

Welcome back to the Thuis Blog Time Machine. Today we go back nearly 2 weeks to Monday, March 24, 2008.  Back to our trip to Las Vegas.

As you remember we spent last night in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Today it's early to rise as we start the 508 mile (or so) second leg of the road trip.  We hope to make Las Vegas before dinner time, so after an overpriced breakfast buffet at the hotel (the only thing I didn't like about the hotel), we are off.

The beginning of our drive is through Utah.  I tell you what, nothing is more desolate than the first couple hundred mile of this drive.  I don't ever remember seeing signs saying, "Get your gas now! 120 miles until next services.", but we see them now.  The scenery is enough to keep us entertained.  The drive is beautiful, and we stop a few times to take in the breathtaking views.

We stop in a town called Richfield and have lunch at a restaurant called Wingers.  The appearance of this place is deceiving.  Outside this looks like a fast food place, but inside we find a full restaurant.  The food was GREAT. I had a steak sandwich, that was delicious even though it would make a cardiologist stand up and take notice.

Back on the road we don't stop until we hit the Nevada border. After a quick stop in Mesquite, Nevada we finally arrive in Las Vegas around 4:00 PM. For the duration of this trip we will be staying at the Embassy Suites Convention Center Las Vegas.  This is a very nice hotel.  Probably tiny by Las Vegas standards, but big enough for us.  NO casino but this is where the wife's class is being held so we couldn't this of any better place.

After getting cleaned up a bit and changing clothes (it is now in the upper 70's and we showed up in blue jeans and sweat shirts), we decide to hit the town.  So after a short break at the hotel bar for FREE drinks and snacks, we head on out.

For the first night we decide to go and see the fountains at the Bellagio and then find some place for dinner.  We decide that we will take the monorail downtown, but the desk clerk convinces us to drive, park at Caesar's Palace, and walk "next door" to see the show.  Well the drive was not as bad as anticipated, but parking at Caesar's was a huge mistake.  I am pretty sure we got "lost" once we entered the Casino, because it took us forever to find a way to get out of Caesar's and get "outside" to get to the Bellagio.  Though at the time we didn't really care and tried to consider it an adventure.  Finally, finding our way to the fountains we watched the show.  This really is a "must do" when visiting Vegas because the show is great and best of all it's free.

The show is finally over and it's about 8:00 PM and we decide we really need to get some dinner (mistake #2).  But where to go and how the heck do we get back to the car?  After "getting lost" again in Caesar's getting back to the car, we decide to find someplace to eat in the hotel.  Anyway, long story short, after searching around and some "heated" discussion, we end up getting some overpriced, crummy pizza slices and eat it in the car.

Back to the hotel.  The boy wants to hit the pool, and you'll hear no complaints from me.  After the drive and all the initial walking I want to hit the Hot Tub.  Upon entering the hotel we find out that the hotel is changing their boiler tonight so no water tonight after 11:00 PM until 5:00 am.  No big deal we'll be sleeping.  We change, hit the pool for about an hour.  Get cleaned up, fill the fridge with some drinking water and head off to bed.

Vegas Trip Day 1

Flashback one week to March 23 (Easter Sunday) and we are off to Vegas for a little trip.  "The boy" is on spring break and "The Wife" has a class in Vegas, so we decided to tag along for a little impromptu vacation.  We are driving as it is still a lot cheaper then flying even with the high gas prices.

Anyway, back to the trip.   After a nice visit from the Easter bunny, we started on the road for the first leg of our two day drive.  Today, we are going about 310 miles to Grand Junction, Colorado.  We are taking along a tag along rider.  We will be picking up our nephew Nick in Golden and taking him back to college in Grand Junction. 

First leg of the trip is pretty uneventful until we get to Golden.  We are supposed to meet Nick at a convenience store near the Highway that we just could not find.  After a rousing game of cell phone tag we finally meet at a strip mall that we both could find.

Once we finally found Nick we decided we were getting pretty hungry as it was getting around lunch time, so we stopped at one of the few restaurants we could find open called Tokyo Joe's.  A little Japanese style restaurant that was actually really good.  Then back on the road as we head West towards Grand Junction and locations beyond.

We decide to stop at a little rest stop just outside Glenwood Springs and stretch our legs a bit. The pictures below are from that stop.  Then off we go again.

 

After a few more hours on the road we finally get to Grand Junction.  We get a nice tour of the dorms at Mesa State College and the it's off to dinner.  A lot of discussion here on where to spend Easter dinner, but, unfortunately, Nick doesn't know where to go because he usually eats at the school.  After a short, grumpy, hungry drive we finally find a restaurant open.  It is a Golden Corral, and even though this is not quite the fancy Easter Dinner Julie wants, we decide to stop and try it out anyway as it is one of Nick's "favorite" restaurants.  I thought the meal was pretty good, even if it wasn't a traditional Easter dinner.

After dinner, it's off to the local Wal-Mart to buy some college supplies, and then we drop Nick back off at his dorm room.  Even though it is still pretty early, Nick has a paper still to finish before morning.

Off to the hotel, tonight it is The Courtyard by Marriott Grand Junction.  This is a very nice hotel.  Brand new by the appearance and sparkling clean.  "The boy" is ecstatic because they have a small indoor pool, and this is where we spend the rest of the night until we get some sleep for the rest of the trip tomorrow.

Viva Las Vegas

Greetings all...  We just returned from a week long trip to Las Vegas, where we had a great time.  In this case what happened in Vegas will not stay in Vegas.  Over the next couple of days, I will inundate everyone with stories and those wonderful vacation photos!