What happened in Vegas

Williams, AZ

We had just finished our yearly trip to Minnesota for fishing and family time, and rather than going all the way home, stopped at Barb & Fred's house in Tinley Park, Illinois, for a short night of sleep and a ride to Midway airport. We awoke around 3:00 a.m., left for the airport with our taxi driver, Fred, at 4:00, and our plane (Southwest Airlines) took off at 6:00 a.m. This was the first time Leah (15) and Chloe (13) had flown on a plane, so they were so excited. We made sure we got them window seats, and they were able to enjoy some really nice views between Chicago, and Las Vegas, our destination.

We arrived in Las Vegas at 7:50 a.m., having lost 2 hours on our flight. So even though we were tired from our short night of sleep, we had the whole day in front of us, and lots to explore! The first order of business was finding breakfast. We found a place called "Egg Works," and were all thrilled with the “egg-cellent” food and service. After filling up, we headed for the Las Vegas strip to explore. We enjoyed the variety and creativity of all the different hotels. The Luxor looked like an Egyptian Pyramid and had a sphinx out front; New York, New York looked like a mini city with a Statue of Liberty; another hotel looked like two towers leaning in opposite directions; The Hilton was a tall, narrow, unusually-shaped building; and the Bellagio had the famous fountains out front.

We also enjoyed walking through some of the lobbies and seeing amazing chandeliers and décor. Our favorite was the Bellagio which had Chihuly glass sculptures, a beautiful garden area, and the biggest chocolate fountain we had ever seen! We had fun browsing through stores like the 4-story M&M store and the Coca-cola store.

We left Vegas (which was getting busier and crazier as the day went on) around 4:00 p.m., and drove to the Hoover Dam. It was hot, and since the entrance to the tour and visitor center were rather pricey, we just looked around on our own. The structure was huge, and the new highway bridge over the top an engineering marvel. From the Dam we drove out into the Arizona dessert on Hwy 40. This road intersects in a couple of towns with the famous Route 66. So we ate dinner on Rt. 66 at Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner in Kingman, AZ. We then drove on to our Days Inn in Williams, about an hour south of the Grand Canyon, and settled in for a good night’s sleep.