Las Vegas, Days 1 and 2

Greetings from Vegas! I'm exhausted already!

Our journey here was less than great. We started the morning by S. telling me I embarass him all the time. And then, for the rest of the day, he told me everytime I was embarassing him. Maybe this was a contributing factor to the migraine-like headache I had for the entire day.

The flight to Phoenix was uneventful, but the short layover became 3+ hours. My head was hurting so much, I ended up laying across a bunch of seats and taking a nap. When we finally got on the plane to Vegas, I went back to sleep.

We took a bus to our hotel, which went smoothly. There was a young couple and their friends and family on the bus that were getting married at the hotel where we are staying - the Luxor. I thought that was so romantic. S. said I embarassed him when I leaned over and said, "Are you getting married?"

Checking into the hotel was brutal, I just cannot believe ALL the people that are here. The hotel is an amazing complex - something like 8 restaurants, a HUGE pool, shops, the casino, and a bunch of shows and exhibits. And that's JUST at the Luxor! The lady at the desk talked us into upgrading our room to a nicer, newer section of the hotel, and we went and settled into our room. I was already overwhelmed by the enormity of this place and all the masses of humanity here and wanted to just stay in the room and curl up in a ball. And I still had a headache.

We went and had some dinner, a DELICIOUS chicken ramen noodle soup and sandwiches. It was very yummy. Then we went and booked the shows we wanted to see. We got such a good deal on the flight and hotel, we splurged on some shows. I'm a fan of Cirque du Soleil, so I really wanted to see at least one show. I told S. I could go by myself if he wanted to do something else or didn't want to spend the money, but I guess he was up for it. Here's what we're going to see:

Tuesday, Aug. 19: Blue Man Group at the Venetian
Wednesday, Aug. 20: Cirque du Soleil: KA at the MGM Grand
Friday, Aug. 22: Cirque du Soleil: The Beatles LOVE at the Mirage

We dropped almost a grand on 3 shows. Yikes. But I'm very excited because I love Cirque du Soleil, and have been listening to the soundtrack to the LOVE show for over a year.

Back to our room, I needed to lay down. Fell asleep very soundly and really needed it. S. fell asleep, too. I actually woke up before he did, at about 8:00pm Las Vegas time. When S. finally woke up, he wanted to go out and walk around, so we did. We walked almost half the "strip" just to see where everything was. We checked out the M&M store, which is 4 unbelieveable floors of M&M stuff. On the right you'll see me with a giant blue M&M. We made a stop at WalGreens for snacks and water, then headed back to the hotel. All of this took about 3 hours.

I had no trouble going right back to sleep and got up feeling a LOT better today. We got going slowly, and decided to go down to the Bellagio and walk back on the other side of the strip. On our way to the Bellagio, we went through Excalibur, New York - New York, the outside of Monte Carlo, and inside the Bellagio. The Bellagio is really upscale, beautiful inside. I was SO thirsty so I bought 2 bottles of water - $7.50 each! Ouch! We checked out some of the shops in the Bellagio and went into Tiffany & Co. They had a beautiful diamond dragonfly necklace that made my eyes sparkle! I love sparkly things!

We found out about the fountain shows at the Bellagio. We were there way too early for the shows, so we'll probably go back later. I wanted to check out the Botanical Garden in the Bellagio, S. didn't want to, so we didn't.

We crossed the street near Bally's and went into Paris. It has an Eiffel Tower in it, so we decided to check it out. For $10, you get to go up in the Eiffel Tower and see a 360 degree view of the strip. The minute we stepped off the elevator, I was happy - it was the quietest place I've yet to be in Vegas! We stayed up there for quite a while, taking lots of pictures. It was about 105 degrees today, but it was very breezy and that felt great. A picture of me with Caesar's Palace in the background is on the left.

Next was the Miracle Mile shops attached to Planet Hollywood. Lots of upscale stores, and an ABC Store! Just like Hawaii! Funny! I saw this store that had the most intriguing jewelry, very different, modern stuff - it was all either stainless steal or titanium. I just loved the styles of them. The store is called Teno.

I've been looking for a ring that was pretty yet practical. A bunch of try-ons later, and I bought myself a new diamond ring. It's shiny titanium, light as a feather, with a comfort fit and 9 little diamonds. I like the feminine look. A picture of the ring is on the left.

Next, we walked through the Hawaiian marketplace, then into the MGM Grand. We spent some time in the MGM, and picked up our tickets to KA while we were there. Played a slot machine - put in a $20, got down to $14, then back up to $25, then back down to $16, then back up to $21, which is when I quit. I was really hoping to win $10,000 so I could feel better about spending $ on the shows and the ring. Oh well, it's only our first full day here.

Also in the MGM, there is a lion habitat (photo at right). Even though there was glass, I've never been so close to a lion before and I was amazed by how big they are. There were 3 lionesses, and they were so beautiful and very playful. Just like big kitties!

Everywhere you go, people are trying to give you free or discounted tickets if you go look at their timeshare or resort. Also, everywhere on the strip there are folks trying to give you "cards" that are for escorts, strippers, and prostitutes. These cards litter the streets.

After the MGM, we walked through the Excalibur back to the Luxor. We were hoping to go to Mandalay Bay to see their Shark Reef Aquairium today, but after 5 hours out and walking almost the entire time, I needed a break, so here we are. Gonna go swimming at the awesome pool in a bit, and then some dinner.

Tomorrow is the first show, Blue Man Group!

Right: Our room at the Luxor (with my happy little orange Prada backpack that I got in China!)

Above: A cool ORANGE lamborgini we saw on the strip!