Las Vegas

So my parents decided that we were going to go on a vacation during Christmas break. First we were planning on going to Puerto Rico, but apparently if you want to go to a foreign country you should probably start planning more than a month in advance.

Back-up plan?

Las Vegas.

Yes, Las Vegas. My conservative parents, and my super-conservative grandparents (and I am not exactly a supporter of Las Vegas happenings myself) decided to go to Las Vegas. Luckily we didn't loses much money (I myself only lost $3 and my dad and grandmother lost $1 each) and had a great time. Here is our trip in detail and pictures :)

Day 1, Friday, Dec 18

First I ran 16 miles (and totally dominated them I might add). I'm marathon training and decided running 16 miles on Saturday on a treadmill was not ideal so I did it a day early (and at 5:30 AM). Then after getting ready and finishing up some last minute packing, we headed to Houston to catch our flight. I didn't get stopped at security (amazing!) and had a smooth flight there. After we got there we caught a cab to our hotel, Treasure Island. Las Vegas is definitely not like any other place I've been. It's flashy with giant hotels, lights, and music filled casinos everywhere. The first day was very tiring because we were walking around to hotels and after running so much the last thing I wanted to do was walk around all day. But luckily it was a short day and the hotels were pretty amazing so it wasn't too bad. We checked out the Bellagio, the Mirage, the new city center Aria and many more but it all blurs together.

Day 2

Another day of hotel touring. We headed back to the Mirage. Their zoo (with the animals belonging to Siegfried and Roy) didn't have their new cubs out the day before so we waited to check it out until today. Worth the wait! The cubs we very cute and we got to see them play with their trainer. We also got to see the dolphins perform some tricks and some very well groomed lions (see below :) )

After the zoo the ladies got distracted on the way back to our hotel by the everything for $10 sale that one of the shops was going on and we all got some cute scarves :)

Then we headed to check out The Venetian with some pretty amazing murals painted everywhere throughout the hotel. Also complete with very Venician looking shops, gondolas, and opera singing.

Later that night we had planned to go see Donny and Marie Osmond at the Flamingo, but found out that the show was cancelled. We were able to swing some last minute tickets to go see David Copperfield, and it wasn't a disappointment that's for sure. He was at MGM Grande, so we ate there at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner (always and interesting experience) then headed to the show. He managed to make a car appear on stage out of no-where, go through a large piece of steel, and for the grand finale made my dad disappear! No worries, he reappeared in the audience just a few seconds later, and has no idea how it happened. Afterwards we went and checked out New York, New York to ride the roller coaster, but unfortunately it was closed so that would have to wait until another day.

Day 3

This day started off with indoor skydiving! Yes, indoor skydiving. We took the tram (after walking through Harrah's first) out to the ghetto where this business was located. Then we suited up, learned all of the rules, and then headed into the flying room. I'm in the yellow helmet and my sister's in the red.

That took up most of our morning. We also went to Ceasar's Palace and their shopping center and saw the talking statues and also saw Cirque du Soleil's Mystere.

Day 4

Today we spent most of our day shopping in Paris :) Too bad it wasn't the real one. We got lots of great souvenirs, learned French pick-up lines in the very nice bathroom, and went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Then we went back to New York, New York to ride the roller coaster (very large with too many drops for me to appreciate). We walked by Excalibur and went into the Luxor and saw the Sphinx, then headed back one more time to the Bellagio to watch the fountain show. This was a very busy day and I was definitely exhausted and ready for bed.

Day 5

Time to head home. We packed up and flew back to Houston and sleep. Las Vegas was definitely fun as well as exhausting. All of the hotels were mind-blowing extravagant, we met many interesting taxi drivers, and had a good time with my grandparents. Definitely worth the visit.