Viva Las Vegas

Well, November 7 we headed down to Las Vegas with our friends Ryan, Lani, and their 9 month old Whitney. We had friends down there already with a bunch of jetskis so we pushed it and drove to Vegas in about 24 hours. Whitney did great considering the length of the trip. We met up with Mike and Joni and their jet skis. One day the guys spent the afternoon on Lake Mohave. Tim said it was really neat with all the little off shoots you could explore. Lani and I went shopping: 1) she didn`t have a life jacket for Whitters 2) I am pregnant and didn`t want to have an accident and 3) A freezing cold wind was blowing.

The next day we headed down to Needles California so we could see Tapock Gorge. We didn`t realize how far it actually was. But here we are unloaded the bikes. Ryan chose to stay with Lani and we weren`t planning on goofing around too much so I used Ryan`s life jacket and rode down the river. It was neat to see the gorge, but man it took forever. I think everybody figured spending another day on the lake would have been a lot funner.

On our way back to Vegas we stopped at Hoover dam. Man, it was dam fascinating!! Ryan came up with every dam joke he could think of, so I had to put my tidbit in. Behind Tim and I is a bridge that the are working on that will take people over the dam a little higher than they do now.

This is a picture of the Colorado river before the dam. The water level is really low right now.

I have always wanted to see a cirque de soleil show and they have 5 playing in Vegas. On our first night there I told Tim I was taking him out to the show. As I expected he grumbled about the price. But when it was finished and we came out he couldn`t believe how good it was. He said he would rather watch that than pay the same money for a flames game. Later after we got home he said that his favourite thing about the trip was the show.
While in Vegas we stayed in the Stratoshpere. It is located on the north end of the strip and has a 1150 ft tower attached to the hotel. At the top is a rotating restaurant and rides. We went up for lunch one day and this was our view. It took an hour and twenty minutes to do the entire circle.

There are 3 rides on the very top. This ride here spits you out over the edge of the tower and lowers you a little. The other one has 5 swings that suspend over the edge of the tower and spin you around. The other is located at the top center and shoots you up to the very top of the tower and then lets gravity pull you down. Crazy. None of us had the stomach or the cash to do it after lunch.
Later we headed out to Red Rock Canyon to enjoy some of the sights. It was absolutely beautiful at sunset.
The rock was really neat how it just changed color. I tried to find out information about why it does it but I couldn`t find it on the brochure we picked up and the information booth was closed.
That night we walked the strip to see all the hotels. As we finished watching the bellagio fountain show we headed into the hotel to see it. I turned around and saw the moon sitting on top the Eiffel tower. I think the size of Ceasers palace impressed me the most. The bellagio was by far the most elegant with their marble floors. But my absolute favorite was the Venetian.
The venetian made you feel like you were in Italy with the gondolas being driven throughout the mall and the roof made you feel like you were outside. Absolutely beautiful.


We hit the outlet mall on our way home. We stopped at Zion Kalob for a short hike. It was really windy and they didn`t have a pack for Whitney so we opted for the short hike. On the top we could see the north edge of the grand canyon. Here is a picture of the five of us all wind blown at the top.
The red rock amaze me. I was looking back at our excursions of the year and realized we have a real red theme going on. First in PEI with their red soil and rocks and now here in Nevada with their red canyons. It was very neat to drive down and see the country a little more. I got to see 6 states in our week holiday. Only 43 states left to visit!!