We're leaving Las Vegas

All good things must come to an end and so ends our Wild West Adventure.  Over the last 15 days, we have seen so much of this big beautiful country and realized there is so much more to explore.  While we truly enjoyed all we saw and did, we definitely did it at warp speed and have a bit of advice for anyone wanting to visit the places we did on this trip.  

Spend two weeks doing the first half of our trip (the Dakotas, Montana and Yellowstone/Grand Teton) and then spend another two weeks doing the second half of our trip (Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon) plus throw in Arches so you have time to enjoy the parks and the cool towns you'll stumble across along the way.  We wanted to go to Arches but it was just not logistically possible...especially given how we would get side tracked and a 7.5 hour drive turned into a 14.5 hour drive one day.

As in typical fashion, we were already planning next year's adventure while on this year's trip.  It is looking like next year will find us returning to England and Scotland...probably a week in London and a week in Edinburgh. 

A little bit country...a little bit rock n' roll

Our final day of vacation was a pretty relaxing day.  After a late breakfast, we headed over to Bellagio to check out their current lobby garden.  It did not disappoint as it was Indian themed with big elephants draped in flowers, tigers made of seed with wheat stalks as whiskers, an Aladdin lamp of flowers and so much more.

We tried our luck at the slots...we will both return to work if that is any indication of how we did.  As people watching is definitely a fun pastime in Vegas, we found a spot to enjoy some gelato and the parade of people.  The rest of the afternoon found me napping and Julie getting a pedicure at the hotel spa.

This evening we had tickets to Donny & Marie at the Flamingo.  After 11 years, the Donny & Marie show will close in November.  We were lucky enough to score two of the last few seats for tonight's show.  This time we were way in the back nose bleed section but still a great show.  I forgot how much fun the Donny & Marie show and how they played of each other so well.  Donny sang "Puppy Love", Marie sang "Paper Roses" and of course they sang "A Little Bit Country / A Little Bit Rock n' Roll".  Can still remember sitting in my bedroom listening to Donny & Marie on stereo (you know before iPods, Pandora, etc).

Dam...Mr. Las Vegas!

We start our final leg of our Wild Wild West Adventure and head to Las Vegas...first we have do do our daily debugging of the windshield. 

You know you are officially out west when you

see In-N-Out Burgers so of course we had to stop!

En route, we swing by Kingman, Arizona and the Hotel Brunswick.  In 2002 when I moved from LA to Boston, this was the first stop on the 8 day trip.  When Marriott moved me to LA, they moved my car so I didn't get to do the cross country drive.  As I didn't have a job waiting for me in Boston, Daddy came out to LA and we drove cross country using World's Largest Objects and six hours driving as our route.  While there was nothing big in Kingman, it was a five hour drive from LA.  I found this hotel online and it looked interesting and was right on Route 66.  When we arrived, we decided the only thing missing was Miss Kitty and Marshall Dillon and we could have been in Gunsmoke!  We should have known we were in for an interesting stay when we had to schlep up 3 flights of stairs to a room that had a window A/C but not on and ear plugs.  We discovered what the ear plugs were for around 5am when the train came rolling into town!  Back then, the hotel did have a fabulous French restaurant and Daddy and I still remember the delicious meal we had.  Today, the hotel is sadly closed up and the building up for sale.

Julie had never been to the Hoover Dam and since it was on the way to Vegas, we popped over for a quick visit.  As we are both delicate petals that don't fare well in the sun or heat, we didn't stay very long.  If  we're ever this way again in say, December - February, we'll spend more time and take the tour.

Once again, the scenery was fascinating and different from other areas we seen on the trip.  Even saw a crazy burn...fortunately it was a controlled burn.

 

After 12 days, 3,415 miles, $418.39 for gas, new set of tires, an oil change and windshield wipers replaced, we were so ready to turn in the rental when we arrived in Vegas!

As we were heading to Vegas, we started talking about Wayne Newton when Tom Jones came on the radio and said it would be pretty cool to see him if he was performing.  A few clicks on the button on the Ticketmaster app and we had two seats to this 8pm show this evening at Caesar's.  We opted for the cheap seats as it was a small venue so imagine our surprise and delight when we arrived and the hostess told me "we had two seats open up with a better view so we're going to move you".  Even better, those 2 seats were at the table directly in front of Wayne!  

His new show is called "Wayne: Up Close and Personal" and it lived up to its name.  First he walks through the audience singing, kissing the ladies, shaking hands, posing for selfies as he makes his way to the stage.  Once on stage, tells stories about his career and family, sings, plays a couple instruments and answers questions from the audience.  I must admit I didn't know much about him other than he was a great performer.  Throughout the show, we learned so much about how he got his start and all other other Vegas legends that helped him along the way.  I will say, Wayne Newton is a very humble and appreciative man.  Fun fact: Wayne can play 13 different instruments but can't read a single note.