Chester's Thanksgiving Vacation

Chester would like to share how his Thanksgiving vacation went while we were in Vegas.

Take it away, Chester!

"I was picked up by my buddy Kody's mom and sister. But I didn't see him. We just rode in the car for a long time. I hate car rides.

Then we got to my grandma, grandpa and Aunt Stine's house. They tortured me there.
EVIDENCE -

I was so ashamed. Mom says we're Vikings fans, so I felt like a traitor.
AND I didn't even get to sleep in a bed! Stupid kennel.

On Thanskgiving, they made me dress as a turkey. Luckily, they didn't eat me.

But they did take me to a place I had never been with other dogs. It was pretty stressful and I barked the whole time. BARK BARK BARK

Then grandma decorated for Christmas. I got into the Christmas spirit too.

And killed one of grandma's snowmen. Sorry grandma!

I loved all the snuggling Grandma and I did. Plus, we went on LOTS of walks which are pretty much my favorite thing ever.

After a few days, I went on another long car ride with Kody's family, and went to my other grandma and grandpa's house. We played for a bit, and then we went to an airport, and picked up MY MOM AND DAD!!!! I was really excited to see them, but they wouldn't let me out of my kennel because we were in the car. I was going crazy and squeaking, like I do when I'm REALLY EXCITED. Because I was.

After we pulled in the driveway, I barked a lot outside to let the whole neighborhood know I was back. Inside, I sniffed around a bunch and made sure nothing was out of place."

And thank you Chester for that descriptive recap...

Vegas Day 2: Thanksgiving & the Strip

Day 2: Thursday, November 22

Thanksgiving was our main day to explore the Strip. I slept in a bit, while Adam watched TV in the bathroom so as not to disturb me. While I was getting ready in the bathroom, I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I told you that mirror TV came in handy!

We were out of the room by 9:30 and started exploring the east side of the Strip. Our first stop was at Paris. Here we roamed the cute streets of Paris and then found the crêperie. 

They were out of the fruit ones I wanted, so I settled for a Nutella banana crêpe, which we split.

While I waited in line, Adam got us a few drinks - a Bloody Mary for Adam and mimosa for me. Delicious!

 We continued our stroll going south on the Strip. We walked through Planet Hollywood and the MGM.

I loved the art deco style of the MGM, but it's quite far down the Strip. It ended up being a 1.4 mile walk down there from our hotel!

If you've never been to Vegas, you don't realize how much walking is involved! And it's not just a straight shoot down the street either. There's lots of stairs, escalators and bridges (kind of like skyways) to make it so people aren't crossing the streets. It results in lots of zig zagging to try to get where you want to go!

Then we crossed over the Strip to the west side. There we went in New York New York. We went on the overpriced roller coaster ($14 per person), which was fun, but gave me a headache. Of course. Adam said he knew it would.

Since on his first (and previous) visit to Vegas Adam had stayed at the Luxor, I wanted to check it out. So we continued south on Las Vegas Boulevard to it. I really liked the Ancient Egypt theme. Adam said staying in the pyramid was weird because the elevators go sideways AND up and down.

Mandalay Bay was just south of the Luxor, but we didn't bother to check it out.

We then noticed the tram, so took that back north to Excalibur to avoid a little bit of walking.

Once again we went past NYNY,

and then it was on to the Monte Carlo. There we attempted to pick up our Blue Man Group tickets, but the Box Office said they wouldn't be ready until the day of the show since I ordered them from Ticketmaster (it was the same price, but allowed me to be able to see what seats were available and pick our seats).

From there we took a shuttle up to Bellagio. Once again, we admired the lobby ceiling and walked through the casino.

We were getting hungry, so we headed over to Caesar's Palace for the Bacchanal Buffet. Unfortunately for us, it was a 3 1/2 - 4 hour long wait. So we returned to Bellagio to see how long their buffet wait was. 2 1/2 - 3 hours. No thanks.

We decided we needed some refreshments, so popped across the street to Bill's for $1 High Life cans 

 and then back to Caesar's for a small $12 mango slush for me. Kind of a rip off.....

We were headed up to The Mirage to pick up our LOVE tickets. On the way, we went past Caesar's again. I stopped to admire the Winged Victory of Samothrace statue (we saw the original at the Louvre in September!),

We also took a few photos of the casinos across the street.

Outside of The Mirage, I snapped a few photos. 

Adam was growing restless, so decided to jump in front of the camera. It was quite surprising to unexpectedly see him through the lens.It makes me laugh!

At The Mirage, we decided to check out the buffet. There was no line, so we went for it. Let's just say there was a reason for no line. It was marginal at best. I'm not a buffet fan to begin with, but I figured we had to try one in Vegas. I expected more for $35 per person....

But I quickly cheered up when we picked up our Cirque du Soleil Love tickets and picked out a Beatles Christmas ornament. Just being there and hearing The Beatles got me really excited for the show that night.

Next we crossed over to The Venetian and checked that out a bit. 

On our way back, Adam picked up a few more beers for the room and I took photos.

 We were back at the hotel by 5. Adam went up to the room, and I checked out the Wildlife Preserve, 

 and a few gift shops. 

 While Adam napped, I read a book for a few hours. We needed a rest after a long day of exploring!

Around 8, we headed out. We watched the horribly Sirens of TI show outside of Treasure Island. It was awful and not at all kid friendly, even though there were tons of kids around. I couldn't believe how packed that stupid show was.

 On the way back to The Mirage, we saw The Mirage Volcano go off. It was pretty cool, but we were in a hurry so we didn't stop very long to watch.

 The doors opened at 9 for the Love Theater. At the concession stand, Adam got a beer and I got a drink called "A Hard Day's Night." I couldn't resist! 

 The show started at 9:30 and went until a little after 11. It was excellent! I would say it's a must see for any Beatles fan. Even Adam enjoyed it, and he doesn't like The Beatles. At all.

For Thanksgiving, we discussed that we were grateful for each other, Chester, family, friends and the ability to travel (time, health and resources).
Highlights of the day:
Stef - Breakfast at Paris hotel & the LOVE Cirque show
Adam   - LOVE by Cirque du Soleil

Vegas Day 1: Arrival & Bellagio

Yes! Another trip recap for me to drag out!

Day 1: Wednesday, November 21

Chester had been picked up on Tuesday night by my aunt and cousin (returning home from college) and chauffeured back to my parent's house for the weekend (thanks mom, dad and Stine!). Adam and I both worked from 7:30 to 3, and took our luggage with so we could leave right from work. Adam's mom generously gave us a ride over to the airport. Our flight wasn't until 5:30, but with all the Thanksgiving traffic, we wanted to be there early.

So we got to our faraway gate and waited for a while...

During the approx. 3 hour flight, I read my book and Adam looked through various magazines and did some crossword puzzles and Sudokus. Landing in Vegas was exciting as I got my first view of The Strip. It was nearly 7, so all the lights were on. We grabbed our carry-ons (we NEVER check bags, what a hassle), and made our way to the rental buses. 5 minutes later, we were at the rental station. This time we rented from Alamo. It was very smooth.

Upstairs, the rental lady said she was going to upgrade us from a mid-size to a full-size since they were running low. Adam said something about being upgrade to a Camaro and she was like, "DO YOU WANT A CONVERTIBLE?! They just reminded me to ask people if they'd be willing to upgrade to a convertible!" Adam and I looked at each other, and were like "YES!" I was really excited because I had looked into renting a convertible for this trip but it was hundreds of dollars more. So that was awesome. We had a red 2013 Ford Mustang convertible.

Our next stop was In N Out Burger. It's a regional burger chain found out west that I've always wanted to try. The inside was all retro and cute with the workers wearing those paper hats. Adam and I both ordered cheeseburgers with onions and fries. It was delicious. And I'm not even a burger person.

Then it was on to our hotel, The Flamingo. The parking area was packed, so Adam dropped me off to check-in while he parked. The line for check-in was a nightmare. After waiting 10 minutes, I saw that they had a shorter line for Total Rewards members. The line to join Total Rewards was short, and it was free, so I did it. Total Rewards is just a player's card that you can use at the different casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment Corp. You can also get some food discounts at some of the hotels AND I got a $5 certificate to use in the casino.  With my new card, I checked in quickly.

Since Adam still hadn't found a spot in the nightmare of a parking ramp, I went up to our room on the 20th floor. I opened the door, and was greeted by the lovely odor of stale cigarettes. Our non-smoking room on a non-smoking floor clearly had guests smoking in it. It was terrible. I could feel myself instantly getting a headache. So I went back down and waited in line to request a different room. The lady was apologetic but wasn't sure if she'd be able to find me something else. So I happened to mention that I get migraines from that odor and she was suddenly able to find me a different room. I thanked her profusely and met up with Adam and our bags. Luckily this room didn't smell of smoke. It was on the 22nd floor, and while it didn't have a Strip view, the view was still lovely.

The room itself was quite interesting... We went for the upgraded GO room. It took us a minute to figure out that the blinds opened with a switch that was on the wall by the bed.

The bathroom had a TV in the mirror (see the black square) that came in quite handy while getting ready (or when I wanted to sleep in and Adam couldn't sleep...). 

It was probably 10 before we were up in our room. We sat down for a few minutes, and then went out to see The Strip.

It was my first view of The Strip, and I was amazed. Adam never made it this far up on his last visit, so a lot of it was new to him too.

I was most excited to see The Bellagio. I still wish we would have just stayed there, but I was feeling kind of cheap after all the trips we've taken this year. Next time for sure!

I was OBSESSED with the lobby ceiling - Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como. It's made up of over 2000 (!) hand blown glass flowers. Amazing.

We also walked through the Conservatory which was quite odd. We walked out the front right when a fountain show started. It was "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" from The Beatles. Loved it!

While we waited for the next show, I of course took some photos. That's when I looked around and thought, "Wow, we're really in Vegas!"

 The "dancing" water fountain synchronized to music goes off every 15 minutes. It was really neat.

 Then we walked back along The Strip.

On the way, Adam got a beer at Bill's, and then we went up to bed. It was 12:30 Vegas time, but felt much later to us Central time zone folks.... No partying for us; we must be getting old.


Highlights of the day:
Stef - Bellagio ceiling and fountain show, driving part of The Strip at night in the convertible (top down until Adam got cold!)
Adam   - In N Out Burger