Saturday 1.08.2011

After finishing getting packed and cleaning my Broomfield apartment, we loaded up the car and took off in hopes of beating snow/precipitation in the Rockies. The road was wide open and we kept searching out good music to last us to Vegas. We considered stopping in Grand Junction, but thought it wasn’t worth getting a hotel room just for a few hours and I was excited enough that my adrenaline was pumping. We stopped at a rest stop and was amazed how high the snow was piled off (after barely getting any thus far in Boulder!)

Around 5 A.M. we took a break for breakfast at McDonald’s.

As we crossed into Utah the sky began to turn various colors as the sun came out. I had anticipated Utah’s red, dusty landscape which was snow-covered, but still very beautiful.

We pulled over several times for photographs and were very happy to not be driving mountain roads in pitch black anymore!! We passed signs for some of my favorite national parks including Bryce and Zion which I hope to venture back to sooner than later for camping and hiking!  We finally rolled into Las Vegas around 3 P.M. and went to check in at the Luxor. After getting a much needed shower and cup of coffee, we got dressed and ventured out to explore the strip and get some food.  We explored the new City Center area which includes, shopping, several hotels/casinos and luxury condos. The whole area is huge, and the design inside the Cosmopolitan hotel is fabulous.

We watched the fountains at Bellagio, before walking into the lobby to see the Chihuly glass installment and the themed display in the atrium (this month’s theme: Chinese New Year). We had a great dinner at Serendipity (in front of Caesar’s Palace). They apparently are known for their gigantic sundaes which would be worth a trip back for sometime. We explored some of the Forum shops at Caesar’s before stopping for $10 worth of slots (which lasted for almost 45 minutes…whenever I’d start to get close to $1 I’d win and be back up to $5) and a drink. Being up for 36 hours finally took its toll on me and we decided to head back to the room and call it a night.