Vegas Baybee!

John and I went to Las Vegas, NV from August 14 through August 18.
Oddly enough, we took no pictures of Las Vagas. Rather, we took only scenery type pictures.

Click on thumbnails for bigger images!

August 14, 2003

We flew out of Newark Liberty Airport around 11:30ish local time.


View from the plane leaving Newark	View of mountains from the plane


More mountains	Even more mountains

When we landed in Vegas, it was about 5:30 pm in NY. As I always do, I called my mom from the plane as soon as it was safe to turn on cell phones. Her typical response is, "Good. I'm glad you're there." This time it was "OH THANK GOD YOU'RE SAFE!" It kinda threw me just a bit. She then proceeded to tell me about the Blackout. I started relaying what she was telling me to the people on the plane around me -- that the lines were down from Toronto to Baltimore, etc. I'm pretty sure the people on the plane thought I was lying or out of my mind. I proved them wrong, of course! ;) Many back and forth phone calls to mom (fortunately, she had one non-portable phone that worked) while waiting an hour to check in at the Luxor hotel. Finally got to our room in the Pyramid to find they gave us 2 double beds instead of 1 king. We did have a good view of the airport from the room.

Planes that go to Area 51

We ended up changing rooms and stayed in the East Tower. The room was nice. We spent some time in the room so I could watch CNN and report back to mom on Long Island from Vegas about what was going on with the Blackout, since she had no way of knowing! That night, we basically just hung out at the casino, and dealt with jet lag. We had dinner at the Sacred Sea Room. It was good, but the portions were HUGE. We hardly touched our entrees and there was no fridge in our room, so it was a bit of a waste.

August 15, 2003

My 28th Birthday! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! We had breakfast at the Pharaoh's Pheast Buffet, which was good for a buffet. I then got a wonderful aromatherapy massage at the Oasis Spa. We had sushi for dinner at Hamada's, which was good. That night, we saw Mystère by Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island at the Mirage. WOW. it was PHENOMENAL.

August 16, 2003

We ate at the buffet again for breakfast. John has been reading a lot about Area 51 and the surrounding area, so we decided when we booked our trip that we'd drive past Area 51 and visit Rachel, NV, just 27 miles north of Area 51, known for ufo sitings. It was a very fun road trip. 150 miles north of Vegas. The only things there are a gas station, a church, a few houses, and the Little A'Le'Inn. We didn't go down Groom Lake Road, the road to Area 51, for fear that we may get a flat or something, and find ourselves in an area where deadly force is authorized ;) The food at the Little A'Le'Inn was... fine. The people? Interesting.


Driving to Rachel, NV	Old casino ruins, right near the turn-off to the Extraterrestrial Highway	The desert


Groom Lake Road	What used to be the infamous Black Mailbox	The road that leads past Area 51, and into Rachel


"Humans: 98; Aliens: ?"	The Little A'Le'Inn	Self Parking

On the way home, we saw a B-1B Bomber (or at least that's what John says it was), presumably returning to the Nellis Airforce Base.

B-1B Bomber

For dinner that night, we actually went back to the buffet. Real creative ;)

August 17, 2003

Around 8:40am, we were picked up for the "4 Aces" Tour. We drove over the Hoover Dam


View of Lake Mead from AZ side of the dam	View of AZ side of the dam	View of AZ side of the dam


View of Lake Mead from AZ side	The ~~DAMN~~ Dam spillway

From there, we drove to Dolan Springs, AZ to pick up the lunches that were included with our tour. Dolan Springs was an... interesting... place. However, we did see their "Chocolate Factory"

Dolan Springs, AZ

On our way out of Dolan Springs, AZ, smack dab in the middle of the desert, we found this "oasis"


The "oasis"	Close-up of the sign

We then passed through the Joshua Tree Forest, and of course I couldn't get U2 songs out of my head.


Joshua Tree Forest	A Joshua tree	Road to the Grand Canyon West Ridge


Us	Cactus	Another cactus

This is a baby Joshua tree. We dubbed him "Joshie"

Joshie

We then proceeded to the West Ridge of the Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking. Pictures do it no justice. The nice thing about the West Ridge is that there were very few tourists, no guardrails, etc.


Grand Canyon - 01	Grand Canyon - 02	Grand Canyon - 03


Grand Canyon - 04	Grand Canyon - 05	Grand Canyon - 06


Hualapai Indian dwelling	Us	Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore"

When we left Grand Canyon, we stopped to take some pictures.


Funky cloud outside the Grand Canyon	A tiny little puddle (and John's shadow) in the desert	The desert

We drove back over the Hoover Dam, and this time stopped on the NV side.


Hoover Dam - NV side	Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

We stopped to take some pictures of the Big Horn Sheep in Boulder City


Big Horn Sheep - 01	Big Horn Sheep - 02	Big Horn Sheep - 03

That night, we had dinner at The Luxor Steakhouse. Now, I've been to some good steakhouses in my life. Some great ones, actually. But DAMN that was good food!!!! We hung out at the casino, generally content to just chill.

August 18, 2003

That's all folks!

After vacation, I always feel like I need a vacation!

THE END!!!