What Happened In Vegas...

So when Whitney called me a couple months ago and asked if I'd like to start planning a girl's trip to Las Vegas for sometime in February or March I hesitated...

Because I just wasn't quite sure I'd be willing to leave this...

for this...

No seriously, I jest, but I really had no idea how stressful it would end up being to leave my house sitting all alone in the midst of the worst "Polar Vortex" the state of Michigan has ever known. Come to think of it, this winter of 2014 is what coined the phrase to begin with. But more on that later...

We decided on the last week of February right at the end of Aaron's basketball coaching season and also due to the fact that we thought Daryn might then arrange to come with us working it around her and her husband Jon's trip to Big Sky, Montana for his annual continuing ed requirement for his optometry practice. Trust me, the timing all made sense, or well at least to me and Whit. In the end, Daryn wasnt able to make the trip, or at least our trip. In any case, I only mentioned that because it was a primary factor in as to why we didn't wait until March (when the hotel pool would be open!... and I wouldn't have had to leave my house afraid that the roof might cave in while I was gone due to the two feet of ice on my roof, or that my car battery might die sitting parked outside for a week in sub-zero temps.) But to be fair, if we had planned the trip the first week of March Jade would have ended up not being able to perform in the Drigg's High School production of "The Wizard of Oz" and any later Aaron would've been back to his landscaping job and wouldn't have been able to stay home with the kids (all 4 of them, all by himself!) while the 2 of us took off to Las Vegas for 4 days of unimaginable fun!

Anyway, long story short.. in retrospect we ended up picking the ONLY week of the entire winter that, in reality, would have worked out. And it really did work out perfectly! Even if Daryn didn't get to go with us. :(

Sunday, February 23rd...

I was kind of a wreck leaving home. My garage floor had shifted due to the sustained frigid weather forcing my overhead door tracks askew, so I was a little nervous that the mechanics might give my kitty sitter Cheryl issues when trying to open it and that she'd end up having to go in through the side door (which was now incapable of being locked due to the major shifting of the door jam and the placement of the locking mechanism vs. the lock hole...) and also the walkway leading to the side door was a complete skating rink. So I went back into the house, grabbed a box of Coarse Sea Salt dumping a ton of it on my front walkway in hopes of improving the traction a bit. After setting the box on a shelf in the garage (rather than back in the house in the kitchen cabinet where it belonged). I pulled my car out of the garage, shut the electronic door and headed off to work where I'd planned to park my car for the week and meet my co-worker Renee who'd drive me to the airport.

I just love it when a plan comes together!...

The flight to Vegas? No problems! Except for maybe the awkwardness of having to sit directly across the aisle from my Bank's Affiliate President on the segment GRR to MSP.

But then.. suddenly I was there! In Las Vegas! And it was WARM! REALLY WARM! And it felt SOOO GOOD! I even took off my sweater!

Whit had arrived a few hours early and taken advantage of the SPA at the Monte Carlo and had just taken off to the Aria SPA for an "eyebrow emergency" when I pulled up in the cab, which allowed me a few minutes to unpack and relax before pulling out our week's detailed itinerary...

Our first night was so much fun, first catching the "Blue Man Group" procession in the lobby...

And then just walking. Walking in the warm evening! Amidst all the lights. Crossing the bridge to the other side of Las Vegas Blvd near the MGM Grand. We hadn't quite figured out yet that we could have just crossed at the cross walk and didn't really have to go all the way down to the bridge in order to cross, but I'm still glad we did. And besides, our feet and calves were still feeling pretty much ok at this point.

We offered to take a photo for another "couple" who crossing the bridge and just as we took it some guy stuck a cardboard sign in front of them which read "I will smoke your weed for FREE!" Hee. Don't have a picture of it because it was afterall their camera. But it was hilarious and only in Vegas I guess!

Ditto on this pic...

We ate dinner at Fat Burger each ordering a "small"... while waiting for the 9:30 movie showing of "Endless Love" at the UA Showcase Theatre but at around 8:30 decided we'd probably rather just go back to the hotel and watch "The Bachelor" and "Jimmy Fallon" (not realizing at that point that it was Sunday and not Monday, but still it all worked out) and fell asleep watching some Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding Documentary. It had already been a long day...

Monday, February 24th...

After a brief workout in the hotel gym we headed uptown via the Las Vegas Strip's Monorail to the Quad Hotel for breakfast at the world famous Hash House A Go-Go (featured on "Man vs. Food").

Breakfast was fabulous but *Sidenote for future: Unless traveling to the very far north end of the strip don't choose to take monorail over walking because you will still do as much walking just trying to find it. And at least on the strip you'll be walking outside and not through all of the endless smokey casinos...)

The rest of Monday we spent pretty much just shopping and... walking. LOTS of walking! Basically, I no longer have to look at a map in order to tell you the exact order of the Strip hotels, or the precise location of each of their casinos, but that one's easy... Just head towards wherever you want to go and you will always run into the casino first.

Monday night we saw "LOVE," Cirque Du Soleil's tribute to The Beatles and it was fabulous!

I've never quite seen anything like it before and now I want to do ALL the Cirque shows!

Passing through the Belagio on our way home, Whitney stopped at Jean Philippe for a purchase.

No, not a handbag...

...or designer shoes.

Whitney enjoying her purchase back in the room.

Tuesday, February 25th...

A busy day! Beginning with a ride on the Coaster at New York, New York. Or at least Whitney was brave enough. Brave enough in fact to ride it twice! She had to go a second time so she could snap this picture. :)

I got my own picture with it on the crossover to the Excalibur...

The Titanic Exhibit at The Luxor was amazing and definitely worth the price of admission (especially since we were able to score discounted tickets)!

Back to The Mandalay Bay for the tram we passed the House of Blues where we had tickets for Pentotonix the following night. We stopped by the box-office to find out exactly where our seats were only to be told that we didn't have seats but would be "standing" in the 3rd level general admission area where our only chance of not having obtructed views would be to purchase additional VIP passes for $20 so we could at least have a shot at preferred standing space. *sigh* As if our feet and legs weren't tired enough already!

It also makes this picture seem kind of funny! Right? A little bit?

On to Excaliber's Pool (ours was still closed) for a couple of relaxing hours in the sun.

On our way to Paris for dinner and "Jersey Boys."

Dinner at Le Provencal...

Let's see, we drank water and split an entree and the bill still came to $49. Must have been the side Caesars... Can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about money. lol

We had fantastic seats for "Jersey Boys" arranged by my old friend John Salvatore from my "A Chorus Line" Days.

Here's our meeting before the show...

And after...

This moment took me back...

Anyway, the show was great and it was so wonderful seeing John again! Just hope Whitney wasn't too bored with our reminiscing.

Wednesday, February 26th...

With no big plans for the day (other than Pentatonix that evening) we decided to hike back up to the north part of the strip and Fashion Show Mall to get a refund for a purchase Whitney had been overcharged for on Monday. We could have taken a cab but that would have completely defeated the purpose...

The day was slightly cloudy and cool but still a gorgeous day for a walk. Here's a few pics from our afternoon.

I'm not really sure when the idea was first broached.. I had entertained the idea of Celine Dion tickets even before leaving home but at $250 a ticket I hadn't entertained it much further. So perhaps it was that 1/2 Price Ticket Stand near the Fashion Show Mall we have to thank... or maybe, even more than that, Whitney saying "Let's just check it out!" even though I was already fairly convinced there'd never be half price tickets available for one of the most popular shows in Vegas.

This was us a few hours later...

Front row orchestra seats for $98!

As for the show??? No words!!! It was the absolute perfect ending to an absolutely perfect 4 days.

Oops, almost forgot about the Belagio Fountains...

Thursday, February 27th...

We had a painfully early morning flight out of Vegas into Idaho Falls... but with lots of great memories to bring home! What a wonderful time we had!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

But in my case I think the only thing that stayed in Vegas was my cellphone charger! lol

To be continued....