Time to chillax...

Day 19 – July 17, 2016

Las Vegas, NV – Scottsdale AZ

320 miles – 5 ½ hours

110 degrees

Today was a long, hot day. The drive form Vegas to Scottsdale was mostly barren. And at times the topography actually liked like we were on a different planet. The drive was also long because it seemed as though every 45 minutes, someone had to go to the bathroom and we were literally in the middle of nowhere. I’ll let your imagination fly with that one.

We stopped at the Nevada-Arizona border to see the Hoover Dam. Wow. It’s mind-blowing. I was nervous because often when you hear how big something is, and see many pictures over the years, what you’re seeing doesn’t match up to the hype. In this case, it did. It’s cool. We didn’t stay too long though – it was hotter than hell.

We arrived at the Camelback Inn at 4p.m. We hung out at the pool and then went out for an early dinner. This hotel is one of all my all-time favorites. I love it here. We’re nesting for a couple days to rest, do laundry and celebrate Camden’s 9^th birthday. I’m going to take a few days off, but will catch you up before we start heading home.

Quote of the Day:

Cammy: "My least favorite part of the road trip is how long it takes to get to each place."

It's this weird? It's like another planet?

 Serious drought conditions. You can see the normal water line - where the rocks change color.

Roller Coaster Madness

Day 18 – July 16, 2016

Las Vegas, NV

Temperature 109

We had a very lazy morning. I think we’ve all hit a wall. I was exhausted. Rich and Audrey got up at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. and went to the strip in search of breakfast. Can you imagine? When they got back, the boys and I were still asleep. I didn’t rise until 8 a.m.

While Audrey and Rich were at breakfast, she convinced him that it would be a good idea to ride the roller-coaster at New York New York, rather than my planned excursion to the Hoover Damn. They rallied the boys and I was the odd woman out. I gave in to peer pressure and rescheduled it for tomorrow. To the strip we headed.

It was hot, hot, hot. We had lunch at an Irish Pub in the NY NY hotel, and then headed to the roller-coaster. It was pricey, so we decided that we’d only send Hunter and Audrey. Audrey begged me to go, and I stupidly relented. I like wooden roller coasters, but I’m not a fan of mac daddy coasters. 

This was somewhere in between, and it was a couple flights up off the ground to begin with.

It is the last roller-coaster I will ever ride. I almost threw up and it jerked me around so much I had a headache for an hour. I am officially too old for this.

We walked down the strip to the Bellagio. I wanted to see the fountains, but unfortunately they weren’t on. We checked out the lobby of the hotel, which is pretty, but insanely crowded. Everything is just so, so crowded. And there are weirdos everywhere. We encountered one lady while we were walking on the sidewalks that was so strung out (blabbering to anyone and anything she passed) that the homeless guys told her to lay off the drugs.

We got back to the hotel around 4 p.m., and rested before going out to an early dinner. We ended the evening the pool, where Barrett terrorized some preteen girls with his constant jumping in the pool. They were basketball players. Thank goodness for understanding parents.

Quote of the day – from a stranger.

We had a rough dinner at McCormick & Schmicks. Our server was awful and we had to wait an hour for our food. Rich heard a little girl at the table next to ours (we both had “private tables, with curtains – kind of cool) say the following:

“It never fails, we get a sucky table and great service, or an awesome table and sucky service.” She was correct (and they had the same waiter).

First some photos from last night that didn't upload...

Pre-show selfie

 The Venetian at night.

Show photos..$$$ Cha-ching

Ah, youth...

And me...

Aud & B...walking on the strip.

Gardens in the Bellagio.

The Paris hotel 

The Bellagio

Day 17 – July 15, 2016

St. George, UT – Las Vegas, NV

159 miles/ 2 ¼ hours

Temperature – 118 degrees!

It was a relatively easy drive to Vegas. The highway took us through some pretty mountains. And it was kind of cool how we drove over a hill and then all of a sudden – we could see Vegas in the distance. It’s a huge payoff after miles and miles of nothing. But oh, how I wish I could have seen it in the 1960s and 1970s.

We arrive too early to check in, so we found a place for lunch and then drove to the strip. Very crowded and an assault on the senses. Poor Bear Bear. There’s just so much to see and everything is big and bright. We drove to the famous Las Vegas sign, so we could get our obligatory picture. Rich was not happy about getting out in the heat (we passed a digital thermometer that read 118 degrees). But its Vegas and we had to have the picture. And of course – it’s dry heat. Amazing that it can be so hot, and yet none of us were sweating. I love it.

After check-in, we hit the pool for a little bit. We got ready and headed out for an early dinner, because we had show tickets! On the hotel’s recommendation, after I asked for a decent family restaurant that wouldn’t break the wallet, we ended up at Café Grand Deluxe in The Venetian, which is on the strip. The hotels on the strip (ours is a few blocks off the strip, thank God) are enormous. We entered through the front door of the hotel, and had to walk about mile to get to the restaurant. Of course the restaurants are all located on the other side of the casino. So we had to walk through the smoky casino and were treated to quite a show. Oh boy! Quite the crowd in Vegas.

After dinner we walked across the street to the Mirage for our show. Cirque du Soleil – Love, a tribute to the Beatles. Oh my goodness – hands down the best show I’ve ever seen. And that my friends was the consensus of everyone in the family. It was a big score for me, because even Barrett liked it. Every time I looked at him, he was smiling.

After the show we got to see the Vegas lights for real and the crazy was just starting to get wound up. Time to head back to the hotel, must to the chagrin of Rich, Audrey, and Hunter. I swear, the older I get, to bigger stick in the mud I’ve become. It’s rather sad.

Cammy quote of the day

the kids were talking about were they wanted to live one day. Audrey mentioned that she liked the dry heat and maybe she would move to the dessert. Cammy said, "I'm thinking big baby! I'm moving to L.A.!"