Our Week Out West (Day 1)

Hey folks! It’s been a long time since I’ve used my blog, so I figured this was a good opportunity. Here you’ll find an overview of the road trip that Areg and I took from Vegas to Denver this August. It’s going to be a pretty quick overview (well, for me) and it’s broken up into several entries because of the pictures. I’m also going to try to go easy on the pictures of scenery, since there are professional photographers out there who have taken far better photos than Areg and I could ever hope to capture.

Quick disclaimer: Most of these pictures are Areg’s. He had the better camera phone and I probably would have taken pictures of the same things anyway.

Day 1 – Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

Wish I’d counted the number of times Areg said that!

After picking up our car and settling in at the Luxor (including a quick nap), we set off to explore the Strip. It was a bit quiet—2pm on a Wednesday isn’t exactly a hoppin’ time for anyone—but we entertained ourselves with peeks at casinos both old (Luxor, Excalibur) and new (Vdara, Bellagio); a ride on the roller coaster at New York, New York; and glances into a couple art galleries, Vegas’s attempt to get classy. We were on a hunt for the dolphins I remembered from my childhood visit, which I think were at the Mirage, but by the time we got there the dolphin exhibit was closed—alas!

Inside the pyramid at the Luxor

Okay, not the greatest picture, but we're trying to point to 

that sculpture in the background, to the right of our fingers--

it's made entirely out of canoes!

We were really taken with these lovely, delicately balanced sculptures

We caught a quick show—Absinthe—which was kind of a circus for adults (though the only things that really made it adult were one or two people without the usual attire and an excess of unnecessary swearing). I was definitely impressed with the acts: a triple-tiered high wire walk, a man not only balancing on one hand on another man’s head completely unsupported but also slowly moving, some incredible jugglers, and a guy who played a life-size chair-balancing game and climbed to the top of the pile! The décor was also right up my alley: no two chairs in the audience were the same, bare lightbulbs in a variety of shapes hung from the ceiling, and the walls were covered with antique/faux antique mirrors and iron works.

See? Gorgeous. 

Also, you might want to read this show's one-star reviews. They're hilarious, 

and the company actually has excerpts on sandwich boards out front.

Next on our list was the Venetian. I remembered the indoor canal and was determined to show it to Areg...without telling him what I was looking for. After a ridiculously long walk through what I think is, in fact, two hotels, we found it--and snagged the very last gondola ride of the night. We were both impressed with the fact that the fake canal is actually on the second floor of the building!

We managed to entertain ourselves while looking for the canal. 

You'll probably need to click the image to read the funny sign we found on the way.

Afterwards, we tried to find a dance club for Areg, as he wanted to get a sense of a real Vegas party…but we were skunked at every turn. Cleopatra’s barge in Ceasar’s sounded a lot more impressive than it turned out to be, my lack of desire to go to a club with a stripper angle ruled out pretty much everything, and the rooftop party we did find wanted something like $17 for two half-sized bottles of water! So we decided to call it a night and rest up for our first full day on the road.

Oh yeah, and I also managed to find a not-too-hideous, not-too-small pair of sunglasses that fit over my glasses. I’ve lived sunglasses-free since the fourth grade, so this was a big deal for me—and I ended up very happy to have them on our drives!

You can check out more pictures via Areg's Facebook page.