Day 11 & 12 – Vegas – The Respite. Not.

Las Vegas!!!! It was amazing. We thought that this would be a rest stop, but it was far from that. The first morning, we went swimming. It was very hot, so a swim was well needed. It was going to be 109 degrees and was already in the high 90s at 8:30 in the morning. The pool was like heaven on earth. In the middle of the temple pool, was a temple, and statues of Caesar and his buddies. The Neptune pool was square and the perfect place for handstand contests. The Venus pool was a European style pool and people under 21 are not allowed. We swam around for 1 hour. It was tons of fun. Then we headed back to the room to get ready for a series of hotel visits.

We headed to the south end of the strip and fixed any homesick feelings by going to New York, New York. When we walked into the hotel, we saw the NYC skyline. It felt like home. We headed upstairs to eat. We had hot dogs and pizza. I know New Yorkers eating pizza in Nevada doesn’t work but whatever. We happened to come across an ENORMOUS arcade. It was so cool!!!!! We played tons of games and then we were off. We walked outside to get a taxi, and it was just us and another young couple. The lady kept looking back at me and I didn’t get it, until I saw who was stepping out of the taxi…… Melissa Rycoft, from the Bachelor. She smiled and waved at us and then walked inside with her fiancée. My first celebrity sighting – sic.

Next we headed over to Mandalay Bay. Originally we were going to go to the Shark tank, but instead we got our faces drawn. It turned out really well. Dad headed back to Caesars, while us girls when to Luxor. There we did this green screen Magic Carpet ride. They video taped us on a carpet then put a background behind us, so it looked like we were riding around Las Vegas. After that we went to MGM and saw the lion habitat. It was really cool.

We headed back to Caesars for a quick rest and then hit the strip for dinner. We had a fabulous steak dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, an outdoor café at Paris. We sat in perfect view of the dancing fountains at Bellagio. After steak, we went inside Paris and to the shops. It felt like you were outside with clouds and the sky painted on the ceiling. We were very tired and soon decided to head back for a good night sleep.

The next day was just as hot. I never realized how much taxis came in handy. What seemed like a block away, was worthy of a taxi ride, due to the heat. We started the day off by heading over to the northern end of the strip. We went to Circus Circus and enjoyed their arcade. Lea and I decided that we didn’t want to play games, and instead used that money and two months of our allowance to buy a dress and a purse. We enjoyed watching Erin spend her money on the games and followed her around like puppies. There was one game that Erin loved. You had to roll the ball and it had to land in the hole. Depending on which color hole you rolled it in, your horse would move a certain amount. Erin won 2 times, scored two stuffed animal prizes and continued to dart around the arcade like a loose fish. Sadly she ran out of money. After the arcade, Dad once again headed back to the hotel while we all went out to the souvenir shop – more shopping –yeah!!!

Before dinner, which was just a sandwich while watching the Treasure Island show, we met Dad in the Sports Bar. There he was enjoying America’s pastime of baseball with a bet on the Marlin’s game. We watched from afar for a moment, without him knowing. All of a sudden, he jumped out of his seat, pumping his fist in the air and skipping across the room after a bottom of the ninth homer. Weird, very weird but so are most guys.

We spent the evening seeing the Pirates battle in front of Treasure Island. There wasn’t as much pirate fighting as there was girls dancing in lingerie. After the show, we spent time walking around the canal at the Venetian, and Mom even bought a purse!!!! I was so proud of her. She doesn’t buy anything for herself so when she even bought a matching wallet, everyone was smiling. Las Vegas was tons of fun, but very tiring and far from restful. We are almost in California. I’m sooo excited.

Talk to you soon,

Torey