vegas vacation

Viva Las Vegas!!!

Friday around one, Tyler, Tristan, Orly (the cat), John and I piled into my Impala to drive down to Vegas!!! It's Tristan's 21st birthday, so we all went down to celebrate. Her dad lives there, so we got to stay with him. The drive was actually fun. I read more of The Catcher in the Rye, listened to music, read for homework, and took a nice nap in the back seat. Then, five hours later, we arrived!

That night we just hung out at the house, ordered pizza, and watched The Last Samurai. It was really fun to just hang out and relax!

The next day, after we all got ready, we went to Hoover Dam! It was so cool! I had never been- well, that I can remember. I was barely a year old last time. We parked and walked around the top of the dam, making "dam" jokes the whole time. It was huge! I'm not afraid of heights, but it was still creepy and a bit eerie to look down a few hundred feet to the river below. It was also really neat to walk in between two state borders. I joked around that I was time traveling, since Arizona is an hour ahead of Nevada.

Kissing across borders and time zones :)

After we got back from the dam, we got ready for the evening. Tristan's dad took us all out to dinner to a fabulous Italian restaurant in one of the casinos. It was delicious! Then the kids all went to the mall so Tristan could buy some Converse. I have converted her to the ways of Converse. Yesss!

Then we headed down to the strip! It was about 10 when we got there. We started out parked at the Mirage, and walked around the outside and inside of the Venetian, then headed over to Treasure Island. After that we just walked down the sidewalk, occasionally stopping to take pictures in front of the casinos. They are beautiful. The buildings are amazing, and there are gorgeous fountains and statues. I think it's funny that most people go to Vegas for the sin, and I go to look at its architecture.

Inside the Venetian

The Pirate Ship at Treasure Island

A fountain by Harrah's

There was a guy dressed up like a robot. He was awesome! He had a voice box that made him sound like a robot, and he even moved like one. He was really funny, too.

After more stops by the Paris (there is a real, big Eiffel Tower!!!), and the M&M store, we ended our journey at the MGM Grand. It's definitely not like it used to be. When I was a kid, there was a big Yellow Brick Road, and other Wizard of Oz scenes. It was very family friendly. Now there isn't anything but more boring, new slot machines.

Tristan just had to lose some money in honor of her golden birthday, so John and I went over to Starbucks to share a vanilla bean frappuccino while she played Craps. It was very delicious! Who would have known that there are a lot of really good non-coffee drinks at Starbucks? Then we took the monorail back to the Mirage to end our journey.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Vegas definitely isn't as fun when you're Mormon, but it's still a beautiful city. After biscuits and gravy, we headed back down to Provo to start another week!

Quotes of the Day:

John: "If you eat that dog biscuit I'll never kiss you again!"

and

Tristan: "If I was a horse, I'd be running away from the battle."
John: "No way. Look, that horse doesn't have a rider and it's still going. It knows what's up."

and

Tristan: "That guy is bleeding all over. If I was a horse, I'd want to remain white."
Tyler: "Why do you have to make this about race?"

and

Tristan: "How is Tom Cruise still alive? He got shot."
Tyler: "That's why he's limping."
Tristan: "He got shot twelve times. When you get shot twelve times, you don't limp. You die."
Scott: "But he's a Scientologist."
John: "Yeah. They can heal themselves like this- *waves arms around*"

and

Tristan: "If you kill me, you won't be getting dinner tomorrow night."
John: "Oh, we'll still get dinner. Your dad just won't be paying."
Tyler: "If you're not there, we'll have money for dessert."

and

All of our dam jokes:
"Just follow the dam sign."
"Dam straight!"
"They're building a dam bridge so you don't have to drive on the dam road."
"Man, the dam tours are way expensive."
"That dam bathroom is very awkward."
"I got a picture with a dam cop!"
"These dam tourists are really getting in my way."
"We don't want a dam death. Get out of the dam road."
You get the picture :)

and

Me: "We stood on Mercury, kissed on the moon, and danced through the galaxy!"

and

Drunk girl: "Is that a real man?"
John in mocking girly voice: "Is that a real man? I don't know. I am so totally wasted."

and

Me: "Thank you for putting up with me when I was fake drunk."

and

Me: "Tell me a secret!"
John: "Okay... I broke my toe once."
Me: "That is not a secret. That is a random fact that you had not yet disclosed to me."

and

Me: "What's the word for people from Provo? Provoites, Provoans...?"
Tristan: "Weirdos. That's what they are."

and

Guy at lunch table: "I had a friend who read Twilight, and he also watched Brokeback Mountain, and he said that Twilight was more gay."