Viva Las Vegas!

As some of you may know already, Sara and I decided to take the western track around the Grand Canyon. My unbelievably gracious aunt Catherine and her husband Todd opened up their beautiful home in Las Vegas for us to relax and regroup. Unfortunately, our hosts are out of town, but nonetheless making us feel at home from afar.

This is my first time visiting Las Vegas, and with the house only miles from the strip, we could see the lights of Sin City glowing. My aunt recommended an amazing sushi restaurant, Xtreme Sushi, upon our arrival (we have been eating hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, cereal, and granola bars for days!) and it was amazing!

We slept hard, weary from the road and camping; a warm bed and accessible restrooms felt like heaven. It certainly heated up quickly and with temperatures in the 110's, Sara and I took advantage of the refreshing, resort-style pool at my aunt's. We spent most of the day lounging and floating around, beating the heat.

Our plans for the evening were to hit the Las Vegas strip. My aunt Catherine Hickland, a comedy hypnotist, actress, author, owner/creator of Cat Cosmetics, you name it, hooked us up with tickets to one of the hottest shows in Vegas, The Mentalist!
Gerry McCambridge, the Mentalist himself, is a personal friend of hers and put on a mind-blowing performance fusing comedy, magic and mind-reading. In fact, the show on ABC is his creation and based on his abilities. We really enjoyed watching him do his thing and were able to speak with him after the show.

Next we headed to Caesar's Palace to try our luck in the casino. It was Saturday night and the strip was electrified! People were milling around everywhere and it was really cool to experience the strip this way. After donating some money to Planet Hollywood, Caesar's and the Flamingo (I feel better using the word donating than losing) we called it a night and headed back to the house. As we drove away, the lights and sounds drifted away behind us.

When we woke up the next day we headed back to the strip to walk around and see the rest of the casinos. Sara had taken a family trip when she was sixteen through the city and was excited to share her experience with me. We walked through New York New York, Paris, The Luxor, The Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, The Bellagio, MGM Grand, Bally's and the Tropicana. This is just scratching the surface. I quickly realized that a couple days is not enough time to experience and explore all that Las Vegas has to offer. Every hotel has numerous shows and exhibits, shops and restaurants.

More important than experiencing the Las Vegas strip was having the opportunity to rest and relax in a comfy home. Sara and I are more than half-way through our summer expedition and this stop happened at just the perfect time. Thank you again Catherine and Todd, your hospitality has been very much appreciated and we can't wait to come back for another visit in the future!