Las Vegas, Nevada....

WARNING: LONG POST

For our family vacation this year, we went to Las Vegas. It was so much fun!! On Monday July 27th we flew from Billings to Salt Lake & then onto Las Vegas. Holy cow talk about a different world. I have never seen so many taxi cabs in my life (not even when I went to New York City).

Monday....

We got into Vegas around 2:00 in the afternoon Vegas time (3:00 in Lovell). The airport is crazy and so big we had to get on trams and shuttles just to get our luggage and rental car. Luckily our car came with GPS or else there was no way we would have been able to find our way around. We didn't really do much, except drive up and down The Strip seeing all the cool buildings. For the rest of the day we were lazy at the hotel, drove down the strip again at night, and went swimming after we got back to the hotel.


Tuesday....

After eating breakfast and getting ready, the family headed to the Mandalay Bay to see what parking was like and also to pick up our tickets for The Lion King. We walked into the casino and then through different shops that were in the bottom of the different hotels. We thought it would be fun to go Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Since traffic & parking in Vegas is a nightmare, we decided to walk down the strip. We didn't quite realize how far the Wax Museum actually was and how hot it was to walk outside (I think it was around 115 degrees). We finally made it and it was soooo much fun. We decided against walking back to our car in the blistering heat & instead decided to catch a cab back to where our car was parked. After getting back to our car we headed back to our hotel where we rested up, got ready, & went to watch The Lion King that was in the Mandalay Bay Hotel Theatre.




Wow!! The Lion King was absolutely amazing. I never thought Broadway was that cool until I went to New York & had the privilege of seeing 2 Broadway plays. From that moment on I think Broadway is one of my favorite things ever. This is the second time I watched The Lion King and it was so amazing. I can't even imagine all the hard work and dedication it takes to make that production as perfect and flawless as it was. It absolutely blows my mind!!! We sat in the 2nd row, so we were able to see all the cast up close!!

Wednesday....

In the morning, we set off to see the Las Vegas Temple. The houses that were on the way to the temple were beautiful, but the yards not so much. Nobody had any plants or grass with the exception of cactus plants, some palm trees, & rocks. When you reached the temple however, the temple grounds were BEAUTIFUL!! The lawn was so green and well kept. Real flowers were in the flower beds. What a difference!!! The Las Vegas Temple is absolutely gorgeous & it stands out from everything around it.

After walking around the temple grounds, we went shopping at one of the outlet malls to pass some time. The heat made everyone really tired so we went back to the hotel to relax. Later that night we went to a show called Legends at Harrahs (one of the hotels on the strip). There were impersonators of Dolly Parton, James Brown, David Bowie, Brittney Spears, The Temptations, and Elvis. That was such a fun show, and we were really close to the stage (3rd row).

Thursday....

Before we headed to the airport to go home, we went back to the shops to pick up some souvenirs for us. I got a poker set that has Las Vegas wrtten on the chips & playing cards. I thought that was a pretty appropriate souvenir considering where we took our vacation & what it's famous for. :) We also had to go back to Harrahs so Dani could pick up a shirt she wanted to get.

Around 2:00 we headed to the airport to head home. Our plane was suppose to leave Vegas at 4:20 but was delayed until 4:50. Which wasn't a big deal except when we finally did get onto the plane we kept getting delayed even further and ended up leaving an hour later then we were supposed to. We missed our connection to Billings by 5 minutes. Luckily, there was another plane heading to Billings a few hours later & there was enough room for all of us to have seats. By the time we got into Billings, got our luggage, and finally got home to Lovell it was almost 2 in the morning!! It was a very long trip, but it was so much fun!!!!

Thank You soo much Mom & Dad for taking us on such a fun family vacation and giving us such a great experience! I had such a great time, saw a lot of fun things, & made some great memories. I Love You Both Very Very Much!!!