Vegas! {Project: Rewind}

Let me just start by saying...I really love vacations.  Oh yes I do.

:)

Prior to finding out that we'd be leaving Pekin, both Brad and I were ready for a vacation.  And by "ready" I mean to say that mentally we were already half-way to Bermuda.  Bahama.  Come on, pretty Mama.  Sheesh.  Apparently I'm still on vacation.  Good grief.

Anyway.

Our trip to Vegas came together kind of quickly.  Brad had some vacation time coming to him, and we wanted to take advantage of it before our move.  In the scheme of things, it left little time to make it work, but between my cousin's weekend and the weekend we'd be attending a wedding, we squeezed in a quick trip to the strip.

Why Vegas?  Well, we only had five days to work with, we needed to travel on the cheap, and we weren't taking the kids with us.  So when Brad said, "How about we go to Las Vegas?" I was all "yeah, baby!" and away we went.

Well, my response might have been more along the lines of "ok."  I'm usually not as cool as I make myself sound.

So on Monday, July 26 we flew west for a much anticipated break.  (And one, I might add, that Brad totally deserved.)  We spent three and a half days in the Vegas heat and had a lot of fun.  Because we did it on the cheap, we spent next to nothing.  Which, if you were to read between the lines, means that we didn't do much besides walk and see, walk and see. :)  There's a lot to see on the strip, which is really what makes it such a economical trip.  We did push our pennies at the slots, and ended up winning back about as much as we put in (maybe $25???...such risk takers, we are), and on Thursday we were able to buy super discount tickets to see both Nathan Burton's Comedy Magic Show and Mark Savard's Comedy Hypnosis.  {Why these particular shows?  They were cheap (duh) and they appealed to both Brad and I.  Translation:  It'll be a cold day in Texas before Brad'll see Cirque or Celine.}  

So, keeping "cheap" in mind, our pictures are pretty boring, really.  Unless you've never been there before, in which case it'll probably look pretty awesome to you. :)

We did have a really great time, although I think we'd be okay waiting ten or so years before we go again, and although we consider ourselves pretty fun and funky, we'd like to take a few friends along next time around, too.  :)

I love this sign.

Vintage Vegas.

I'm such a nerd.

 The MGM Grand

 The MGM Grand

 New York New York

WIN!

 We thought maybe this could be Brad's next church???

 The Luxor

 Mid-Strip (The Bellagio, Caesar's Palace) at dusk.

The Bellagio and Caesar's Palace 

 Looking toward the north end of the strip.

(The Mirage, Treasure Island, Bally's)

 My favorite place was inside the Bellagio.  They had this beautiful ceiling in the lobby, and just beyond it was a beautiful flower conservatory.

 Love!

 It looked beautiful

 and smelled beautiful, too.

 With balloons hanging overhead in the conservatory

 and decorative umbrellas throughout the resort.

 Some of Caesar's fountains (across from the Flamingo).

 Probably as close as I'll ever get.

 The flamingos at the Flamingo.

 Brad's favorite place - frozen yogurt by the ounce.  It was yummy.

 The Sirens perform at TI.

 The gondola at the Venetian.

 TI

 The Mirage

 The Flamingo

 The Bellagio fountains at dark.

 The lions inside the MGM.

 Excalibur

Looking north from the south end of the strip.

 Weird, right?

 The Bellagio fountains during the day.

 The volcano at the Mirage.

 The Encore and Wynn.  We didn't walk any farther north down the strip than this, but I really wanted this picture because it's the hotels I recognized from CSI.  :)

 We stayed at the new Planet Hollywood Towers.  Well, "Tower," really, as only one is currently built.

 We were able to update to a one bedroom suite for the price of a studio suite (which was already super discounted, because in case you've forgotten, c.h.e.a.p.), and I gotta say, Brad scored big on this reservation. 

 It had a full kitchen with seating space for six (which we never used, but we could have),

 a large enough living space for just as many people, with a window shade that transformed into a giant movie screen.

 The bedroom, with jacuzzi tub (pardon the disarray...we had trouble with housekeeping the last two days)

and the bathroom, complete with combination washer/dryer (which we never used, and probably would have broken had we tried).

And our pool.  It was rad.