Nevada: Viva Las Vegas
While we will only make it into the tip of Nevada, Las Vegas, the “city that never sleeps” and the drivable destination around Vegas had us running/limping like “like our soul is on fire”.
Thanks to Elvis, Frank, Sammy, Andre, Celine and the infamous fight game Vegas is known for shows, fights, celebrities and LIGHTS! There are a few less innocent things 🫣 but we focused as best we could on the lights! It truly is a unique city with neon as its unofficial flag but you need to be discerning of course 😳. The boys now know the difference between a Showgirl and a Stripper 😏 and yes that conversation happened on the street-corner where a few showgirls dressed in full feathered head dress were promoting. Our homeschool curriculum is now compete with a model in traditional Vegas attire and why a free ride for Dad to “the club” wasn’t something to accept from strangers on the strip 🤯
Despite the allure of night lights, we were curious to see Robert’s reaction to the Neon Museum since as many of you know he is completely infatuated with light bulbs. So we started there and watched Robert analyze and try to take some of the Vegas night lights 🤪😂
The Neon museum was cool with many of the signs and marques from TV and movies of old. Robert found a genuine Vegas light bulb for sale in the gift shop for $30 but Dad was… less illuminated by the idea 🙄
The Vegas Strip is all of the spectacle it is referenced to be. We also encountered the black hole effect of a few of the casino hotels trying to navigate in for bathrooms, attractions and food… now how do we find the exit. The maze got us a couple times but Michele, Jayden and Robert were able to make it through to the roller coaster on top of New York New York for a ride on high! Unfortunately they don’t allow non riders or cameras so all Dad and Peyton got was a tiny glimpse from below 🤨
We also enjoyed the Bellagio’s Fountains and really loved a few exhibits inside like the Chihuly Glass Ceiling, a flower deco garden and a WORLD RECORD chocolate fountain. How many movie clips could we remember at the fountains 🤔
The Fremont Street Experience gave Robert a thrill and also a great disappointment. In case you haven’t heard of it, the Fremont has a giant domed promenade with shops and fun but one major attractions is the roof 🤔 The ceiling lights up with coordinated music for quite a party and Michele and Robert got their groove on for a bit while we circled for parking! The disappointment came when Robert saw Superman zip-liners fly overhead along the ceiling… I’M DOING THAT! Unfortunately we didn’t make it back, much to Robert’s dismay.
We also took in Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Hoover Dam, both the Nevada and Arizona sides 😊 Hoover Dam really is an impressive feat of engineering, particularly for 1931. It’s also sobering to see the lake down over 100 feet from its peak but they say it’s on the rise… just another 5 years of snow melt and it should be normal 😳 Lake Mead Rec Area is interesting with a stark beauty across the rocky hills and mountain backdrop but we would recommend Lake Powell over Lake Meade if anyone is hunting for a lake adventure in the area. Still cool to see Lake Meade and drive the coast a bit on a cloudy/rainy day.
Across the desert to Palm Desert, California! Beautiful drive and sobering how far you can see down a straight, undulating road. It’s also crazy driving through the desert in the rain… it’s also crazy dirty and our pull-behind looked like it went mudding by the time we got to a dry Palm Desert in SoCal ❤️
