Vegas Adventure

In a number of ways these past months have been somewhat depressing with a dreary sunless winter, ups and downs in school, mostly bad news from the media and so forth. Sophie and Teagan both were feeling a bit down and letting things slide. I told them if they would not give up and pick up their speed in school and help out more at home we would fly off to Vegas for an adventure. They did, and so away we went flying south into the sunshine. Our long time family friend, Chris, who lives in Vegas, invited us to stay with him. Chris was a perfect host and top notch tour guide who earned a 10.5 score from his guests. Thank you Chris !

Waiting to board our flight
Chris, our host and guide
Sophie by the window seat
Frequent flier Teagan was more interested in a nap

With the snowcapped mountains of the Pacific Northwest behind us, our first adventure was a drive down the, “Strip,” filling our eyes and minds with the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas.

Mt Hood – photo by Sophie

The first evening of our arrival we went for a walk among the desert plants that were just starting to bloom, not having reached their peak. They were beautiful and varied beyond my imagination.

It was getting dark when our hike ended but we stopped at a beautiful lit up playground where we had a great time just being kids again climbing on the park toys with Teagan and Sophie running through the water fountain enjoying the cool of the evening. The following day we took busses that deposited us at the southern tip of “The Strip,” allowing us to work our way north through the various casinos. Arriving at, NewYork New York, Teagan was all excited to ride the Big Apple Rollercoaster. I am proud of her as the rest of us weren’t interested. Undaunted, Teagan decided to go on her own. She loved it even though her legs were shaking when she got off. The rollercoaster climbs up, drops nearly straight down, does a loopy loop and continues around behind the buildings.

The girls enjoyed this little park and we returned there the night before we left for home.

Making our way north through the casinos we stopped at the Bellagio to see Dale Chihuly’s famous glass art ceiling, then on to the Conservatory. We didn’t stay for the fountain display this trip.

Caesars’ Palace Casino has an Atlantis Show and we arrived at the Forum just as it was starting. Sophie and Teagan seemed to really enjoy it with the fire and water in battle. It is enjoyable.

…. and so we made our way back and forth across The Strip on bridges to see what we could see. Then we boarded the bus and head to Fremont Street to give the girls a glimpse, where they immediately decided they definitely wanted to come back at night. They heard three bands would be playing there after dark.

We visited Fremont Street that same day but it wasn’t until the following night that we returned. We were exited to go again after dark to see the lights.

This photo was taken on our first visit to Fremont Street