My trip to Vegas

Wow! What a trip this has been!! Paul and I first found out about the possibility of this trip around the beginning of the year. It was originally supposed to be in Nashville at the Grand Old Opry Hotel in May. But the week before the convention, Nashville had major flooding issues, and the resort was under 18 feet of water!!! I was really bummed out that the convention was cancelled. I had lined up to visit with a number of friends and family in the area, and was really looking forward to seeing them. When we found out the trip had been rescheduled for Las Vegas, we were less than thrilled. This city is not exactly the place a conservative Christian really enjoys. Paul had to go as he was one of the speakers, but I was really on the fence about going. However, with all the stress of the last few months and the move just a couple of weeks away, I decided a good break would do my soul some good.

For the fact that Paul was in seminars several hours each day and most of the day Wed., I think we crammed in just about ever tourist hot spot that there on the Vegas Strip. We walked and walked and walked some more, and then we took the bus!!! We saw from the Vegas welcome sign all the way to Freemont St. I really did not enjoy Freemont St. Way too loud, drunks were everywhere, and it was dirty. The big screen canopy was cool and I got pictures of the famous cowboy and girl. We did find a really cool gift shop of Indian things (Kristen will love us for that!)

We rode the Eiffel tower ride and saw the city from WAY up high! Ya know, I have been at the Sears tower in Chicago many times, but this elevator was glass and it seems nothing was around you-- I was so totally backing up as far as I could!!! Our big splurge was a the MGM Grand hotel where we did the CSI Experience. It was really cool. It had real stuff from the show, and you got to do an interactive crime solving case with Grissom as our supervisor. All the cast was there (on video, of course-- that would have too cool if they were really there) to help us along with the different tasks. We had to examine fingerprint and blood evidence, and to watch the autopsy. Pretty cool stuff.

We also saw the Luxor, walked into the extravagant Trump Towers, saw the statue of Liberty made out of jelly beans, and the Vegas sign made out of M&Ms, went to Caesar’s palace, and so many other things. My husband humored me by allowing us to have our picture taken in front of the famous Little White Chapel, but no, Elvis wasn’t there!

My absolute favorite thing about Vegas was the Bellagio. Made famous in the Oceans 11 movie, it is well known for its grandeur. The fountain at night is spectacular. It goes off every 15 minutes, and I could sit and watch it all night. I think in total we saw it five times. The Bellagio is also equally as beautiful inside. The conservatory was breath taking, and the candy shop with its giant chocolate wedding dress, and 27 foot tall chocolate fountain was just plain a dream for this chocolate-loving girl.

I will certainly not miss some things in Vegas, and I learned NEVER take pamphlets being handed out on the street!!!!