The EPIC Vegas Post

03/05/2009

Okay, John got this cable that he hooked up to my hard drive which he popped out of my laptop and was able to retrieve ALL my data!!! YAY! Though we did start our laptop buying adventure...we already fought about it. Told you we would.

Moving on, with retrieval of my data came the access to my pictures! John just moved everything over to his hard drive. Apparently it's a terabyte drive which just means it has a disgusting amount of room and makes his friends drool a little when they hear about it.

I should remind you that this trip was our first actual vacation that did not involve visiting family. We were joined by our dear friend Joe. John has been friends with Joe for almost 10 years. We couldn't think of a better person to do Vegas with. We arrived in Vegas very late Monday night. We explored a little and crashed. It's a two hour difference between Winnipeg and Vegas so we dead tired.

Day 1 - Tuesday February 24th

We did a lot of exploring. We made it from our hotel (Luxor) to Caesars Palace. We took a peek in shops and various things along the way but most of the day was spent exploring and just taking it all in. Remember we come from a place  where it's stupid cold in the winter so we were just enjoying the beautiful weather.

 


If you look closely it's a poster for "The Amazing Johnathan"


John and Joe seeing with stripper cards they have.

This was the day we ate at a Wolfgang Punk restaurant. Again, be still my little foodie heart. We ate at his asian restaurant and it was amazing....the most beautiful sushi ever. Oh and I had fresh wasabi for the first time. So much more awesome than the stuff from the tube which I don't actually like.

That evening we went to see Craig Ferguson (he played the boss on the Drew Carey Show and now does the Late Late Show) It was fantastic! Hilarious! Unfortunately Joe was feeling very sick all of a sudden. We think it was a combination of things but he left in the middle of the warm up act and proceeded to be violently ill for the rest of the evening and most of the next day.

Day 2 - Wednesday February 25th, 2009

Joe felt very sick that day but he was determined to get better for Penn and Teller that night. So he spent the day recovering. John and I didn't want to do too much without him. We got kidnapped by some time share nazis as I explained in a post from that day.

However Penn and Teller that evening totally made up for it. They were amazing!!! Totally amazing. I totally wore the wrong shoes that night though due to all the walking we did to get to the monrail to get us to the place that had a shuttle to get us to where the show was and then it turns out we were way early because John got the times wrong. *sigh* But my shoes were so so so so so hot! Amazing. And now they're broken in.

And now for fun once again. John and Joe with Penn and Teller!!!




Day 3 - Thursday February 26th, 2009.

I woke up that morning with a very very sad heart. I couldn't believe it had been an entire year. A whole entire 365 days since I said good-bye to my Opa. John brought me coffee and krispy creme doughnuts. Oh yeah you Americans are evil tempting with something Canada doesn't have. Krispy Creme is totally amazingness drizzeled with awesome. Moving on.

That morning we took in the Titanic exhibit at our hotel. Which was one of the passes we recieved from the timeshare nazis. It was so so so cool.

The 25,000-square-foot exhibit features numerous items from the Titanic, including luggage, the ship's whistles, floor tiles from the first-class smoking room, a window frame from the Verandah Cafe and an unopened bottle of champagne with a 1900 vintage. In addition, the exhibit features a piece of Titanic’s hull, a full-scale re-creation of the Grand Staircase as well as a newly expanded outer Promenade Deck, complete with the frigid temperatures felt on that fateful April night.

These actual artifacts, recovered from two and one half miles below the surface of the North Atlantic, tell the story behind the legendary Titanic’s short journey from construction and destruction to eventual recovery. Walk her decks, peer into her cabins and meet her passengers and crew.

The personal artifacts on display offer haunting, emotional connections to the forever-altered lives of those on board the Titanic. Visitors even have a chance to walk through authentically re-created first- and third-class rooms, with furnishings by original manufacturers.

At the entrance you were given a boarding card. It had the information of a passenger. Mine was a little girl on route to Winnipeg. Cool! At the end you found out if your passenger survived or not. Mine did, Johns didn't and Joes did. It was an incredible exhibit.

Thursday was also the day of the death walk. Yes in Vegas you walk alot. You also assume places are closer than they actually are. We wanted to go to Circus Circus. Just to see. It's one of the older places on the strip and we wanted to see a piece of old Las Vegas. We rode the roller coaster inside circus circus. I'm debating posting the picture of us on it. I'll let you know. We took the Monorail there and then decided we wanted to go to The Venetian. And so began what we like to call the death walk. It was long it was hot I had blisters from the night before because I wore the wrong shoes for the walking we did (but they were so hot!) So yeah we were all hungry and miserable. But were reborn after some air conditioning and food.

And thus shenannigans ensued at Madame Tussauds.
 
Next bunny?


Apparently something Wolfgang Puck made didn't agree with John.


Joe is all kinds of class


The Godfather didn't want my business card (yes I took business cards on vacation)


The other molesting Johnny Depp picture


Who knew they were such big boxing fans?


Making my American History Prof proud by playing DS with honest Abe.

Day 4 - February 27, 2009

That morning we decided we would try to rent a car because we wanted to see the sights outside of Vegas. But because it was NASCAR week in Vegas (which we didn't know) rental cars were hard to get. John woke up at wake the heck to early AM to get on the waiting list for a car. We would know by 11 that day if we would have a car. So as we waited we took in the Bodies Exhibition at Luxor. So cool!!

BODIES...The Exhibition, which showcases real full-bodies and organs, provides a detailed, three-dimensional vision of the human form rarely seen outside of an anatomy lab or a morgue.

The Exhibition showcases 13 whole-body specimens and more than 260 organs and partial body specimens. These real human bodies have been meticulously dissected, preserved through an innovative process and respectfully presented, giving visitors the opportunity to view the beauty and complexity of their own organs and systems.

In addition to providing an up-close look inside our skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems the Exhibition encourages healthy lifestyle choices by serving as a wake-up call. Authentic human specimens illustrate the damage caused to organs by over-eating and lack of exercise. A healthy lung is featured next to a black lung ravaged by smoking in a vivid comparison more powerful than any textbook image.

At the Craig Ferguson show the other day we had learned about this great little town in Nevada not to far from Vegas. The town itself was nothing spectacular other than you drove through it to get to death valley. What made us want to go was the name. I'm not kidding. The name was to awesome to not go.


How awesome is that?!?!

We ate at the Sonic there. Being Canadian we don't have sonic so we were like...why the heck not and beside who doesn't want their food served to them in their car by a girl on rollerblades?

I took some lovely photos.





 

Oh and look what I found on the way there!!


That night we went to an awesome restaurant called The Cathouse which is fashioned after a victorian bordello. Totally awesome and lush space. It was beautiful. AND the chef was Kerry Simon. Me being a foodie I was ridiculously excited. I saw him win challenge hamburger on iron chef America. He makes incredibly sexy and simple food. The boys even got dressed up.










What is the bowl of pink awesome? Peppermint cotton candy. The most beautiful cotton candy I have ever had. We devoured it. It was incredible.

Day 5 - February 28, 2009

We were off to the Grand Canyon. It was a loooooong trip. 14 hours. Really long day. I slept and complained about not being there yet. What was neat though was that I got to see a place both my Opas wanted to see but never got to see. My Omas both told me that when I mentioned we were planning on making it a part of our trip. It was a little special knowing I was doing something they hadn't done before they flew away home.

On our way out of Vegas we made one stop.


On route we saw the Hoover dam. Apparently The Dam tours are a new addition this year. And the dam tours leave every 30 minutes. Being the children we are couldn't stop giggling.



Then off to the big hole in the ground. When we got into the park the following conversation happened in the car...I kid you not.

John: OH WOW! That's so cool!
Joe: I know isn't it awesome?
Me: What? Where? What are we looking at?!
*John and Joe are silent*
John: Look out your window
*Looks out window and sees the Grand Canyon*
Me: oooooooh. That. It is a big hole.
*John and Joe laugh hysterically at me*


Where was the canyon again?








Joe indicating it's a long way down.




John...I think the Canyon is the other way.


John inside the watch tower.



 That night we ate at a great place called Tenders. A steakhouse in the hotel. Upscale. Beautiful. Quiet. Again the food was fantastic. Yes food was a big thing on this trip. I don't do casino buffets. They have their place but I hate standing in line for my food on vacation. It's not my thing. I love food to much to stand in line for it.

Day 6 - March 1, 2009

My birthday. YAY! Also the day we leave. Boo!!! We spent the morning packing, checking out and all that grown up stuff. We had the bell desk look after our bags until we had to leave that evening.

John and I got renewed our vows early in the afternoon. It see the video check out
http://www.whereevilandgoodnessplay.blogspot.com/

We spent the day exploring. We went to the M&M Factory (my new place of worship.) A few other places we had yet to see such as The Atomic testing museum. Very cool place. We also ate at the Harley Davidson Cafe again AMAZING FOOD!!!! So so so yummy. John wasn't quite sure where to start on his burger.



It was just good hardy food. Wonderful Birthday food.

We left Vegas at 11:45 PM their time. We arrived in Winnipeg at 4:30. We finally arrived home in our apartment at 5:15 AM. I went to work at 11 AM on the 2nd and to my pole dancing class that evening. I was exhausted. I still am.

And thus ends the EPIC Vegas post. Any questions?