Mini Vegas Vacation

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I love Las Vegas. I never get tired of the sights and fun that can be had in Sin City.

Kenyon drove down a week early to take some firearm classes at this gun membership organization south of Vegas. I flew down on Sunday and met him for a mini-vacation. Then we made the long drive home.

I chose the longer non-direct flight as it landed in Vegas three hours earlier than the direct flight. I didn't mind that I had two flights with one stop in Spokane. I had some free SWA drink coupons to use, and no I didn't use them all.

I bought an iced decaf Americano in the airport and got some Bailey's Irish Cream as my first drink. It was a good idea.

My second leg I tried scotch for the first time. It wasn't too bad. I was having my pre-packed lunch I brought with me so I wanted Coke Zero to go along with it.

A few hours later I arrived in Vegas and Kenyon met me at baggage claim. It was time to start the fun! I love Vegas and I never get tired of just walking around looking at everything.

We decided this time to stay off strip at The Rio, as we planned to see Penn & Teller. I am not a fan of staying off strip as I just love being right there in the action. However, you do get a chance to see different parts of the city if you stay at other hotel chains. There is a shuttle that runs to/from Harrah's and Bally's so you can still get to the strip. It is also a short mile walk, which we walked one day.

Our room was nice and large for the killer deal Kenyon was able to find. We thought we had a strip view room but that wasn't the case. It was a bummer but really we were a mile off the strip so all you could see was the tops of buildings.

Anybody a fan of Amazing Race? Recognize anybody? While we didn't see The Chippendales, we did stay at the hotel where their show plays. I coudln't resist a photo with this huge wall advertisement.

We met up with Kenyon aunt and uncle that lives a few hours from Vegas and we also mostly just walked around. 

Our only show was Penn & Teller, which was good but not as fantastic as I had hoped. The magic is really awesome but it was pretty slow moving and there was more talking than magic. Both Penn & Teller come out into the lobby after for photos. That was really neat. I pushed to the front of the line and got a photo with Penn.

One of my “must do” when I visit Vegas is head to the Premium Outlet Mall to visit the Coach outlet. We went to the North one this time and my shopping trip was a success. I've added to my purse collection.

I also love to visit the Belliago to see the Conservatory that is always decorated for the respective season. I think Spring is my favorite. The flowers were just beautiful. They even had a real butterfly house with real butterflies. That was neat.

We did a lot of walking and one of our stops was to see Palms. I have never been to this hotel/casino. I only really watched one season of The Real World and it was when they were in Vegas. They stayed at Palms and also worked in Rain and Ghostbar, which didn't open until after 8pm.

It is always hard to leave when the time comes for vacation to end. Until next time Vegas.

It was a very long drive home. I am not a fan of the 10+ hour drive between Idaho and Vegas. We actually decided to take the longer route through Salt Lake City, which was all freeway and provided more stops. We drove through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho all in one day. I slept through the small bit of Arizona though. We found a way to entertain ourselves.