How it began. For my thirtieth birthday celebration, my sweet sister, Caitlin, orchestrated a birthday trip to Vegas from May 28-31 2015. The party-goers include Melissa, (my mom) Aunt Karen, and Briana (Bre). We decided to stay at The Linq a hotel on the strip, see One, a cirque du soleil show and have a pool day, but like any great Vegas vacation, so much more happened.
Thursday, May 28, 2015 Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada:
The previous evening, Aunt Karen and Bre traveled up from Tucson, in Uncle Jim's new truck, and stayed with Melissa. I also spent the night so that we could have an early start in the morning. The plan was to be on the road by 8:30, but we left closer to 9. Aunt Karen and Bre followed Melissa and me to Caitlin and Dave's house which was down the freeway a bit and on the way to Las Vegas. After giving Aunt Karen and Bre a tour of the house, and leaving my car there we piled in Uncle Jim's truck and started on our adventure.
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| Joshua Trees, from the Public Domain |
When we got to Wickenberg we stopped at McDonalds, for a bathroom break, and Caitlin saved a little elderly lady from the giant curb! She also walked her to the door. Go Caitlin! At McDonalds, we also took apples from the cooler in the back of the truck and snacked on those, since none of us had breakfast. Then, we were off. We traveled through up 93 through Nothing and Wikieup, Arizona on our way to Kingman.
In Kingman, we decided to stop for lunch at the In-N-Out, because they serve their burgers protein style which means that Caitlin and Aunt Karen can eat them. The wait was long when we got there, but it was longer by the time our meal was ready because 13 bikers from Sweden, on a tour of the Southwest, United States, decided to stop to eat there as well. They had just spent two days in Las Vegas and were on their way to the Grand Canyon and from there Scottsdale, Arizona. They were really nice guys!
From Kingman, it barely took any time to get to Las Vegas, recently a bridge was built over the Hoover Dam so instead of spending time driving down to cross over the dam we were able to travel over it in minutes. You can see a little of the dam from the bridge, but it's easy to miss. We were still able to see Lake Mead after going over the bridge.
We made it to the hotel with out much of a problem though there was a moment where we weren't exactly sure where the valet was. We were able to check in online before we arrived so it was a matter of getting the keys to our rooms and then we were up in our rooms. At first we agreed to head down after making sure out bags got into our rooms, but by the time we left everyone had changed outfits, and were looking cuter for it.
Bre had never been to Vegas before, so we decided to walk down the strip a bit so that she could get a look, and then try to see the water show at the Bellagio. The Linq is across the street from Ceaser's Palace, and we stayed on our side of the strip as we walked down past the Cromwell and Planet Hollywood. There were plenty of people out on the street, though it was too early for the strip to be lit up. We stopped to talk to a promoter about going to a pool party at Drai's later that weekend. We crossed the pedestrian bridge near the Bellagio and found a good spot to watch. The water show was set to "Your Song," by Elton John and it is always cool to see the water shows on the strip.
After the show was over we went into Cesar's Palace in hopes of finding a place to eat. Inside, Aunt Karen told me that the ceiling changes from a dawn sky to dusk sky over an hour. I had seen that before, though I hadn't realized that is what happened, so it was interesting to see this time. We also got to see a replica of The David! He was almost as cool as the real one, and you can take pictures of him!
We finally settled on, Gordon Ramsey's Pub and Grill for dinner, I am not sure how this was decided, but I think it was because it had a gluten-free menu, but also because we were really hungry by then. I ordered a Shepard's Pie which was really good and a Stella beer. Bre ordered me a dessert because it was my birthday! It was so good, but it wasn't gluten-free so Caitlin and Aunt Karen couldn't eat it. More for the rest of us. The manager came out while we were eating dessert and told us to visit Nine Irishmen later that week and gave us a card. He also got me a shot of tequila for my birthday. It was delicious.
After dinner, we walked around the shops at the Cesar's Palace, Bre wanted to try to get the self tanner that my sister had used the night before, so we found a Sephora, and Angela helped us. She said the self tanner Caitlin used was good, but was supposed to be left on over night and turned your skin a little green, but another kind dried faster. She said that if Bre didn't like it we could find her the next day and return it for the other. We never returned! I also got free lipsticks because it is my birthday! Bre also got free lipstick. If you are in Sephora in Cesar's Palace ask for Angela, she was great!
When we were finished with our purchases we decided to go back to The Linq. It dark then and we could see the lights, but we only had to go across the street to get back to our hotel so we didn't see much of it. Bre and Aunt Karen decided to go up to bed, they both said they were tired, but I think Bre wanted to try on her new tanner.
Melissa wanted to play blackjack, Caitlin and I kibitzed. Well, we started too, Caitlin sat down with Melissa at a losing table and when Melissa decided to move tables she stayed there and talked to the dealer about craps. I went with Melissa to kibitz some more. She found a better table and was winning her money back. I stayed around for a while, but some of the younger guys at the table were making some blackjack moves that was worrisome, so I went back to the first table to talk with Caitlin and the dealer until Melissa was finished. She ended up pushing for the night and we decided to go to bed.
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| Bernadette, Bre and Caitlin |
Bre had never been to Vegas before, so we decided to walk down the strip a bit so that she could get a look, and then try to see the water show at the Bellagio. The Linq is across the street from Ceaser's Palace, and we stayed on our side of the strip as we walked down past the Cromwell and Planet Hollywood. There were plenty of people out on the street, though it was too early for the strip to be lit up. We stopped to talk to a promoter about going to a pool party at Drai's later that weekend. We crossed the pedestrian bridge near the Bellagio and found a good spot to watch. The water show was set to "Your Song," by Elton John and it is always cool to see the water shows on the strip.
After the show was over we went into Cesar's Palace in hopes of finding a place to eat. Inside, Aunt Karen told me that the ceiling changes from a dawn sky to dusk sky over an hour. I had seen that before, though I hadn't realized that is what happened, so it was interesting to see this time. We also got to see a replica of The David! He was almost as cool as the real one, and you can take pictures of him!
We finally settled on, Gordon Ramsey's Pub and Grill for dinner, I am not sure how this was decided, but I think it was because it had a gluten-free menu, but also because we were really hungry by then. I ordered a Shepard's Pie which was really good and a Stella beer. Bre ordered me a dessert because it was my birthday! It was so good, but it wasn't gluten-free so Caitlin and Aunt Karen couldn't eat it. More for the rest of us. The manager came out while we were eating dessert and told us to visit Nine Irishmen later that week and gave us a card. He also got me a shot of tequila for my birthday. It was delicious.
After dinner, we walked around the shops at the Cesar's Palace, Bre wanted to try to get the self tanner that my sister had used the night before, so we found a Sephora, and Angela helped us. She said the self tanner Caitlin used was good, but was supposed to be left on over night and turned your skin a little green, but another kind dried faster. She said that if Bre didn't like it we could find her the next day and return it for the other. We never returned! I also got free lipsticks because it is my birthday! Bre also got free lipstick. If you are in Sephora in Cesar's Palace ask for Angela, she was great!
When we were finished with our purchases we decided to go back to The Linq. It dark then and we could see the lights, but we only had to go across the street to get back to our hotel so we didn't see much of it. Bre and Aunt Karen decided to go up to bed, they both said they were tired, but I think Bre wanted to try on her new tanner.
Melissa wanted to play blackjack, Caitlin and I kibitzed. Well, we started too, Caitlin sat down with Melissa at a losing table and when Melissa decided to move tables she stayed there and talked to the dealer about craps. I went with Melissa to kibitz some more. She found a better table and was winning her money back. I stayed around for a while, but some of the younger guys at the table were making some blackjack moves that was worrisome, so I went back to the first table to talk with Caitlin and the dealer until Melissa was finished. She ended up pushing for the night and we decided to go to bed.
