Gone to Vegas

We headed off to Vegas this past weekend for a family wedding. It was a first trip for all of us except DH who is an old hand at Vegas. First off - it is a crazy long drive. Or maybe that is because we missed a turn off and went waaaay out of our way and travelled 352 miles instead of 316 miles (but got to see Edwards AFB) Yikes. We fixed it by the time we were headed back though. No fools we!

We got there later then we intended therefore and weren't able to hook up with the family that night. Instead we took in the sights of Paris and even went to the top of the Eiff-faux Tower. Gah! Don't look out the windows as you are going up in the elevator. Just saying. At least we chose to eat dinner afterwards.

Saturday morning after breakfast we headed out to Red Rock Canyon for a little hiking/letterboxing. This place is truly amazing. The boys watched some climbers in full gear climbing some of the rocks there and even practiced a bot of rock climbing themselves. We then took the 13 mile scenic drive and stopped off around mile 7 so Z and I could hike into ice box canyon after a letterbox. And when they say Ice Box Canyon, they aren't kidding. It must've been 15 degrees cooler there then at the car and we found a waterfall that was iced over. Z was so amazed that he couldn't stop talking about it and lists it as the very best part of the entire trip.

We raced back to the car and then back to the strip because we didn't want to be late for the wedding. We made it with minutes to spare and then proceeded to have a wonderful time and I reacquainted myself with relatives I hadn't seen in more than 2 decades. Turns out my cousin and I have most everything in common! Except that she has girls.

Sunday we hit the Shark Reef at Mandelay Bay. What a fantastic place. And then we joined the family again for a little Superbowl time. By the time we were done there, the boys had bonded with their cousins and Great aunts and uncles and we had all had a marvelous time and were exchanging contact information.

Then Monday, as if we hadn't had enough fun, on the drive home, we hit the Calico Ghost Town outside of Barstow and the boys and their dad had a blast. The Mystery Shack was the pronounced favorite, but I think they liked the rock shop pretty well too!