Vegas with Mom, Sis, and Joe

Awhile back, my mother mentioned that she would like to get away this winter and go to Vegas.  It's a cheap flight for them up in Montana as they have Allegiant Air but here in the Metroplex, this dang flight is usually pretty expensive.  I watched and watched for a deal and when one came about, I called and plans were made.

I fly in very late the night (or early in the morning if you want to look at it that way) before everyone else and find my way to the Luxor where we are staying.  It's pretty quiet in here when you arrive in the middle of the night.

After a brief sleep, my body is letting me know that food would be a really good idea.  Ya think?  I head down to the buffet and am standing in line when this gentleman beside me asks if I am alone.  Always wary of this question, I pause for a second before saying yes.  He hands me his breakfast coupon and says he doesn't have time to stand in line -- then leaves.  Well dang, perhaps I should stop at a slot machine if my luck is starting out this good.  I just made $17.99.

After breakfast, I need to go and visit three hotels to pick up our show tickets for tonight and tomorrow.  I'm walking the strip and enjoying the beautiful day I've been blessed with.  How glorious is this?  The first stop is at Excalibur where I discover that the box office doesn't open until 11.  It is 10 now so I figure I will stop back here on the return trip.  A quick trip past New York and I am in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  This is new in my memory.  The last time I was here was 5 years ago and I don't recall this, but there are lots of things I don't recall.

After a stop at the Aria, only to discover that their box office opens at 12:00, I discover a tram that leads to the Bellagio.  Well alrighty then.  Lets give it a try.  It's free to boot.  It's only downfall is that it arrives at the back of the Bellagio and so as I walk to the front, I love what I spot in the conservatory.  Oh I do love Dale Chihuly's work.  How lovely.

 I also pass a chocolate fountain that beats ANY chocolate fountain I have seen before.  Oh yum.

Across from the Bellagio is the Flamingo (well kitty-corner) where I get to stand in line for 45 minutes to pick up "will call" tickets.  No will-call line so I have to wait while others cuss and discuss which seats they should choose.  Just shoot me now.

Once I have my Donnie and Marie tickets, it's time to start back towards the hotel and my previous two stops.

Daylight views are always interesting to me so I make a pass by France and the fountain pool at Bellagio before continuing on my way.  Yep, I'm taking the train again so wander back through the Bellagio.

As I await the train, these two buildings catch my eye.  Architecturally, I LOVE the way they are built.  Not sure I'd want to stay in them, but the visual is pretty cool.

I make a stop at the Aria and am able to not only get the tickets for Zakara there, but they also give me my tickets for Excalibur tonight as well.  They are even super wonderful and refund Jen's tickets since she was not able to  make the trip.  I make a stop at the M&M shop where my camera went into hiding but trust me, I walked out with $100.00 worth of goodies for Jen's kids and some dark chocolate peanut M&M's for myself.  I'll call that a success.  It's time to get back to the hotel as my family's plane is about to land.

Everyone gets settled in and we are off to dinner at the King's Tournament in Excalibur.  I'm kind of looking forward to this and am curious how mom will handle it.  We are seated in France and soon our food starts arriving.

First up:  tomato soup that we drink from the bowl.

Yep, it works and while this is going on, Merlin makes an appearance.

Soon, he is out in the crowd stopping to visit with people.

As he continues on his way, the rest of our food arrives.  Oh, it looks so good, but my gosh there sure is a lot of it.  A whole cornish game hen per person?  A bit excessive, but I'll give it my best shot.

It's time for the show to start so cameras off.  It's a great show and I love it all.  At the very last minute I grab my camera to snap a quick shot of the new king and our knight from France.  Not the best shots since I was hurrying, but better than nothing.

We gave the selfie a try -- my lens is just such a butthead.

After the show, back to the hotel for a short break before leaving for Zarkana, a Cirque de Soleil show.

It's dang pretty outside our hotel.

We cab it down to Aria for the show and I am able to take a couple pictures of the stage and the pre-show performers before I have to turn my phone off.

I do sneak my camera out a couple of times simply to get the stage changes -- look at this web - yes those are flying trapezes.

The roses here are gorgeous as the cast comes out to bow.

That's it for our night and after a taxi ride back to the hotel, I am definitely ready for bed.  I fell asleep once in the show and Mom scared the daylights out of me when she talked to me.  I think I'm tired.  No party in this Vegas girl tonight.  See ya'll tomorrow.

Good morning.  Sis and Joe are AWOL so Mom and I are off to breakfast at the cafe together.  She was hoping to avoid the $17.99 price tag but it turns out, she really didn't.  Once Sis and Joe return, we are off to Mandalay Bay to check out the shark tank.  Gotta say, for the money I was definitely NOT impressed, but the fact that it is in a hotel is pretty cool.

There are indeed a lot of sharks in the tank and that certainly makes for interesting viewing.

Ah yes, the best part -- a sea turtle.  My heart is happier now.

As we leave the exhibit and return through the tunnel leading back to the Luxor, we spot this wine rack that beats all wine racks I have ever seen.  It is crazy high and full of bottles.

Apparently it knows where each bottle is and you just ask it to bring one to you.  Crazy.  Yes, yes I know -- I have seen this technology before, just not with that much wine.

A quick stop in the casino to drop a few dollars.  I refrain this go round but Mom and Sis give it a shot.

Our evening entertainment is the Donnie and Marie show so after a quick (and terrible) dinner in the hotel deli, we catch a cab down to the Flamingo.  We are early so have a bit of time to kill in the casino again.  This time I give it a shot and both Mom and I win, Joe is not so lucky.  I drop a dollar, win and cash out.  Then I drop another dollar in a different machine, win and cash out.  I don't make much each time but I quadrupled my money so was happy.

It's show time so we take our seats and settle in for what turns out to be the best show I've seen in a very long time.  As much as I grumbled about going here, my mom was right -- I'm glad we did it and will go along with everyone else who rates this a top show.  Again, no cameras allowed so I tried to grab a few pictures at the very end.

We decide to walk the strip back awhile and see the fountains along with whatever comes our way.  Now it is Paris at night.

After finding a spot along the wall at the Bellagio, it is mere minutes before the show begins with a mist coming off the water.  I LOVE the fountains.

After the show, we continue walking along the front of the Bellagio and discover many buskers along the way.  Each one is entertaining in their own way and definitely makes ya stop and go hmmmm.

As we get to the end of the block, the show is ready to start again so we once again grab a nice spot.

Sis and I have the same idea and grab pictures of Mom with us.  I think hers is much better.  It's been a great day.

Today we are off to Boulder City and Hoover Dam.  It's nice to get out for a drive and then walk around a cute little "city".

We drive over to the Arizona side to park and take some pictures.  I don't think Mister and I viewed the dam from this side when here previously.  (Here is a LINK to that visit).  The white that you see ringing the water is how high it is supposed to be.  Dang -- it's down a long ways.

You can even see the tunnels ABOVE the water.  This is a sure sign that things are not as they should be.

A quick pic of me and Sis before we head down into town.  I wanted one of us with Mom but that never seemed to happen.  Ugh.

Walking the short street, we make a quick stop in a couple of antique stores and a candy shop before stomachs call and it is lunch time.

Oh the memories

Lunch is at Boulder Dam Brewing --- yay.  It's a great little spot and oh so busy.  In fact, busier than they had planned and so things moved a bit slow, but all in all -- I liked both my food and the beers.  Be jealous Mister, be very jealous.

It is time to head back to the city and I need to start getting ready to leave.  My flight out is tonight and I don't want to leave everything until the last minute.  We go back to the rooms and Mom and I have several hours to ourselves to just visit while I fold and refold clothes.  It all came in this bag and must go back into it.  When we went to Mandalay Bay the other evening, an Irish pub/restaurant was spotted and that is our dinner spot tonight.  It's a nice place --- huge -- and I have a wonderful bowl of mussels.  It's a great way to end the visit and now I really do need to take a short nap or I won't make it through tomorrow even one little bit.  My flight leaves around midnight and I don't get to Montrose until around noon tomorrow.  It's gonna be a long night.

This has been a great visit and I will treasure it for quite some time to come.  Thanks, Mom, Sis, and Joe for memories to last the rest of our lifetimes.