Viva Las Vegas!

This past week I have been on Spring Break, so what better time to head to Las Vegas?! It worked out really well, for a few reasons. There was "talk" that Grant might be there for work, but we didn't know for sure. I had also found a feeding conference that sounded really interesting to get some continuing education hours for my SLP certification. When I was looking into the possibilities, the timing just seemed perfect as long as it all worked out. Well at the beginning of March, we found out Grant would be there for work, so I booked my trip!

I left Thursday evening after work, flying out of Twin Falls. Allegiant Air flies nonstop to Las Vegas from there, but only has flights on Thursdays & Sundays. It was a little farther than driving to Boise, but it was CHEAP! I rented a car in Las Vegas and drove to Nellis AFB, where Grant was staying for work. (I was able to stay with him for the week...free room, yes!). We went to In-N-Out Burger and then down to Old Vegas and The Strip. Grant was working nights (which was the crappy part of the trip), so he wanted to stay up late. I was a trooper, and I think we stayed out until almost 3:30am and went to bed around 4am. And that's PST...so really it was 5am my time, meaning I'd been up for about 22 hours! Whew. It was fun though. :)

 Fremont Street - Old Vegas

A video played on the ceiling! See the white screen/ceiling in the first picture?

 That's right...this guy stuffed himself into that box...

Stratosphere

 

 New York, New York

 Luxor

Nice, right?

Friday was a less eventful day. When Grant got up, we went to the gym and then to dinner at Blueberry Hill, a diner-ish place right outside of base (and Grant's favorite restaurant there). After he went to work, I watched basketball and a movie and went to bed early!

Saturday I got up and went for a run while Grant slept. He had this day off, so we decided we would spend it "Vegas style." We went to the Bellagio Buffet for dinner, and since we got there before 4pm, we only paid the brunch price vs. the dinner price, even though they changed over to dinner meals shortly after. Score!

 He was trying snow crab...and he doesn't like seafood!

 Some of the MANY desserts we tried. :)

 The ceiling in the lobby of Bellagio...they look like tissue paper, but are made of glass!

 Pretty spring flowers in the Bellagio gardens.

 Outside of Bellagio (Paris is across the street)

We then walked outside to watch the fountain show at the Bellagio. The water "dances" to different music, and it's really awesome. I couldn't believe how high the water shot at times. It sounded like fireworks. :)

Then we walked around and found some slot machines to play for a bit. We eventually made our way to The Venetian to pick up our show tickets to the Blue Man Group. The show started at 10pm, so we checked out a couple more casinos before heading back to The Venetian for the show. The show was pretty neat. We sat in the first few rows and had to wear a poncho because we were in the "splash zone." That's what happens when you let the husband get the tickets! ;) The drum parts of the show were cool, but they also did some skits which I didn't like as much. They were a little too long and just kind of cheesy.

 

 Inside Caesar's Palace..the "sky" ceiling was so cool!

 The Venetian

 Grant winning! :)

Part of the Blue Man Group show...they spun in a circle so fast that they looked like they were dancing! 

At some point before the show, I lost my cardigan, either while walking outside or sitting in the casino. I was pretty bummed and sort of looked for it, but no luck. I tried not to let it ruin my night, but it sort of did. :(

We did a little more gambling, but then headed back to base to end our night. An interesting thing about Vegas is that there is no "open container" law, meaning you can walk pretty much anywhere with your drink! I got a drink at one casino and took it with me while we walked down to another one. It was weird at first, but nice that you didn't have to stay in one place to finish your drink. AND I learned that if you are gambling and a waitress asks you if you want a drink, you say "Yes" because it's free!! I turned one down because I thought I'd have to pay for it....THEN Grant told me it was free. Bummer. ;)
 
Sunday I slept in for a long time. I think the late nights finally caught up with me. I went for another run after Grant went to work, and then left for the airport to pick up my friend and co-worker, Amy. She was coming down for the conference, also, and since her husband is also military, she was able to stay on base.

 

Monday & Tuesday, we went to our conference all day. It was a pretty good conference about feeding disorders in children. I don't see any kids for this right now, but I thought it would be a good course to gain some knowledge in case I ever did. The conference wasn't as specific as I'd have liked it to be, but it was still good information.

Wednesday, Grant & I went to breakfast (he had to switch back over to days) again at Blueberry Hill, and then I went to Verizon to check out some phones (I got a new phone, so look for a post on that later!). The weather was BEAUTIFUL, so when Grant got back from work, I wanted to go outside and enjoy it instead of sitting in the hotel room. I got him to go back down to The Strip just to walk around some more. And I won't lie, I wanted to play the Wheel of Fortune slots again. :)

 Inside Paris...cute little "street" with shops & restaurants.

 If you see a slot machine this big, you have to play. I only did $1 and lost, of course. :)

 Beautiful sky that evening!

 

Thursday was a lazy day, as Amy &I had to head back to the airport early that afternoon. It was sad to leave the gorgeous weather (sunny, 70s-80s all week!) and come back to cool, wet, windy Idaho weather. It makes me so anxious for spring/summer to get here!! Overall, I had a fun trip. It was my first time in Las Vegas, so it was quite an experience, but now I've got the itch to go back! :)

Fall Visit to Ohio

I spent the 15th through 25th in Ohio, and it was a great trip! It was so nice to be able to spend time with family and catch up with friends whom I have not seen in almost a year or more! I really enjoyed being able to devote time to "my" friends instead of trying to split the time with Grant's friends, as we usually have to do around the holidays when we are back in Ohio.

Anyway, my flight went smoothly and I landed in Detroit and headed to the car rentals. (First, I grabbed Hungry Howie's pizza for dinner in the airport...yum!!) Basically, I think I got ripped off because they recommended I upgrade to the next level car since the one I had reserved didn't have cruise. Well since I like my cruise and figured I'd be driving longer distances most of the time, I went ahead and upgraded. I ended up with a 2011 Ford Fusion, and I must admit that I really liked it! I've grown up having a negative association of Ford (thanks Dad & Mom...haha!), but I was actually impressed with this car. I finally made it "home" and visited with my mom, brother, and grandma for a bit. By the way, if you want to feel like you've completely wasted a day, take a 3 hour flight across country where you lose 2 hours due to the time change! I didn't eat lunch because my flight was during that time and when I got in Detroit, it was dinner time! Geesh!

The next day I went shopping with Mom, of course! :) And then I got to meet my niece Brianne!! Love her. :)

Sunday I had plans to go to Cedar Point for Halloweekends!!! I was so excited for this since it had been a couple of years since I had been to CP. I met up with Christine and her friend there, and my brother and his friends also came along. It was fun to spend time with my brother and catch up with Christine also. We rode some fantastic rides and took some excellent pictures, as well.

Over the next few days, I visited with friends. I drove to Sandusky to see my favorite J-Bil and her boyfriend Jeremy (now Fiance!! Congrats!!) and see their new house that they are doing a great job "fixing-up." Jeremy cooked us an excellent dinner, and then we made our way to Tofts for ice cream...yummm!!

I drove down to Columbus to have dinner with Jenny and Laura, my friends from undergrad at Miami. We went to Champps restaurant and caught up on life. I don't think I'd seen either of them since Jenny's wedding in July 2009!

I had lunch with Wanda and Karli (Grant's mom and sister) and Brianne too! It was great to see Brianne again, and catch up with Wanda and Karli some more. Thursday evening, I met Lindsey for dinner at Chipotle and then we went shopping at Kohl's, which was fun of course!



Saturday was my cousin Beth's wedding! It was a fall themed wedding held at a park. Fall in Ohio is so nice! The trees were gorgeous, as was the Bride! It was fun to see some of my family I hadn't seen in a year and a half too!

Sunday I packed up most of my stuff since I had an early flight back to Idaho the next day. I was supposed to go over to my dad's to visit with him and my step-mom, but she ended up being sick, so we thought it was best I didn't catch it too! Come to find out, my dad took her to the hospital that night, and she was admitted for pneumonia. She stayed for over a week and it was pretty scary at times, but she fought through it and is doing much better now.



Monday morning I headed back to the airport and made it back to Boise with a pretty smooth trip! Seems strange to say, but I'll be back in Ohio for Christmas in just a couple of months!

Headed East

I'm currently on my flight to Salt Lake City. Everything is going well and I made it to the airport on time! I think I have about 45 minutes at SLC before my flight leaves for Detroit, so I'll have to hurry once I'm there most likely. My flight to Detroit is going to be loooong, ugh. Hopefully they play a good movie!

When I was boarding I saw a sign for Internet on board, so I was really excited I could check my email and make this post. HA. Of course you have to pay for it! Really Delta? My already high ticket price and extra 25 bucks I paid you so I could check a bag wasn't enough to let you give me free wi-fi?! Nevermind that you don't even give out free peanuts or those delicious biscoff cookies anymore. I'm surprised you don't charge for water. So anyway, my post will have to wait to be published until I get Internet access.

We are starting our descent to Salt Lake, so it's time to "stow my portable electronics." See you back in the Midwest!

EDITED TO ADD: Okay, so Delta redeems itself a bit...they did have free peanuts and Biscoff cookies! Yum! AND, I got to watch The Grown-Ups (an Adam Sandler movie). SO funny! :)