What Happened in Vegas...

I'm sure you all heard about the big snowstorm in Denver last week. We heard about it too...and had a connecting flight there enroute to Las Vegas! We checked the Denver airport website obsessively all morning, and confirmed and reconfirmed our flight status. Travelers were advised not to try to get to Denver on Wednesday if it wasn't absolutely necessary. We weren't quite sure what to do! We decided to drive to Milwaukee anyway and see what happened.

The departures listing at check-in confirmed what we'd already assumed, a delayed flight. Our connection in Denver was too close to our arrival time. We wouldn't make it. The representative for Frontier Airlines, our original carrier, suggested we check with Air Tran to see if they had any more room on their direct flight to Vegas. They did! We ended up on a non-stop flight that left just an hour later than our original flight. We had to sit in separate seats, but survived. I hadn't anticipated smooth traveling with all of the potential problems looming, so it was a nice surprise to arrive in Vegas on time and without much stress at all.

We got some food and some rest before meeting our bus for our Hoover Dam tour bright and early in the morning! The Dam was our favorite part of the trip. It was a beautiful day, not crowded at all, and perfect for two history buffs like us.

The new bridge that will bypass the dam in the near future. I loved how weightless it looked, almost just balancing lightly on each side of the mountain.

I'm normally more interested in nature and natural landscapes than I am in anything manmade. Most of the time they just don't compare. The dam was definitely an exception. It was amazing to hear the story behind it and to see the amazing feat of engineering it is. It almost looks as if it belongs right where it is. The fact that it produces clean hydroelectric power and operates independently of government funds is also impressive.

Aaron in the dam bathroom.

Drinking out of the dam fountain.

The Winged Figures of the Republic.

Just browsing.

Aaron eating his dam dog.

Lake Mead from an overlook.

It was a bit windy.

We stayed at The Stratosphere. This is the view out our window!

The view from the observation deck at The Stratosphere.

The fountains at Bellagio with Paris Las Vegas in the background.

The fountains at Bellagio.

Ski Ball! We are probably the only couple to go to Vegas and play more arcade games than slot machines!

Me with a Blue Man! Looks pretty real, hey?!

My favorite picture! A hallway in The Palazzo Venetian.

In the piazza at The Venetian.

We went to see Jay Leno's standup act! Hilarous.

We had such a great time! It was so nice to be with Aaron and just spend time together. We were able to truly relax knowing the boys were fine with their grandparents and we were free to do whatever we wanted. We filled the few days we were there with lots of sightseeing and little sleeping! We're still trying to recover that lost sleep, but it was totally worth it!