Las Vegas - Final Full Day

Wednesday, December 10
On our final full day in Vegas (see days 1-3 below), we decided to walk the strip and see what kind of free entertainment we could find. We started out by going south, to the New York, New York hotel. This is where we originally had planned to stay, so we wanted to check it out and see if we were missing anything. But really, once you get inside a casino, they are all pretty much the same! They do have the roller coaster that winds around the casino, but it was closed for maintenance, so we didn't get to do that. Instead we spent a few dollars on some slots. Not much luck in NY NY!

NY NY's Brooklyn Bridge

Steve in front of NYNY Hotel

We then crossed the street to the MGM Grand, to see the lion habitat. We got there just in time to see 2 lions and their trainers come out to play. They are such beautiful creatures!
After the MGM, we made our way back to our hotel, for lunch. We also did some shopping in the Miracle Mile Shops, which are attached to our hotel.

(view inside the Miracle Mile shops. The hotel used to be the Aladdin, so that's what the theme of the shopping area is like.)

That afternoon, we headed to the north, on our way to Treasure Island to watch the pirate show. Unfortunately, once we got there, we found that the show was closed for maintenance (a common trend in Vegas during the month of December). So, again, we fed our money into a few slots instead, and left the TI with less than we went in with!

On to the Mirage to see the volcano. THIS attraction, fortunately, was not closed, and was an awesome display! We could feel the heat of the volcano from where we stood.



(some views from the strip)

After the volcano, we meandered along the strip, stopping at Cesar's fancy Forum Shops, and then the Bellagio shops, where I got to visit my first Tiffany's store. Even though I didn't leave with a little blue box, it was fun to dream as I looked at diamonds, silver and gemstones in all of the beautifully lit cabinets. After Tiffany's, we continued to make our way through the Bellagio to the Conservatory. They had a beautiful Christmas display, which was made up of all natural elements (kind of like the Rose Bowl floats).


(This is the ceiling in the Bellagio lobby - made completely of blown glass. Stunning!)

After viewing the fountains again outside the Bellagio, we made our way back to the Miracle Mile shops for dinner, and then retreated to our room (after spending my last $10 on a slot machine!)


(This isn't the slot machine I'm talking about...but it's the first one I tried & won $15 on my first pull!)

Overall, it was an excellent trip! We can't wait to make our way back to Vegas and the NFR soon!

Las Vegas Day 3

Day 3 - Tuesday, December 9
(See days 1&2 below)
This day was a bit more relaxed & slow-going...which was nice after all the excitement of Monday. The day started out after breakfast at our hotel's buffet. It was good...but not worth the hefty price they charged for it! We then took the monorail to Harrah's, and then walked from there to the Venetian, and then on to the Sands Convention Center, where another Country Christmas shopping area was held. (Can you believe that Steve CHOSE to go shopping for 2 days in Vegas?? I can't!) It was a good thing we did though, because there was a Twisted X booth, and they had the boots in stock that Steve has been wanting to try out. We didn't get them while we were there because they were likely marked up, but guess what Steve's getting for Christmas??? (once we get them ordered from our favorite western store!)
As we walked along, we found some fun picture opportunities...

Kim & the Blue Man Group

We found a friend!

Steve & the Travelocity Gnome...If I would have backed up, you'd see that Steve has his hands in his pockets just like the gnome. If only he had a pointy hat!

As we made our way back to our hotel, we strolled through the Flamingo and looked at the...Flamingos! :-)

We also ate at Jimmy Buffet's Cheeseburger in Paradise, aka Margaritaville, which was SO good! I had a strawberry-banana drink that was out of this world! As we ate we listened to Jimmy Buffet tunes, and viewed some Parrothead videos project onto ship sails throughout the restaurant. When the song Margaritaville was played, the room went dark, and a volcano above us started to erupt. It was really fun!

After resting up in our room, we made our way to the Imperial Palace to catch the shuttle to the rodeo. It was another exciting night of action! Lots of fun! We also picked up our rodeo souveniers on the way out. Can't wait to go again soon!

Grand Entry of the rodeo participants.

Cody Ohl praying that his tied-down calf stays tied!

Las Vegas Day 2

Monday, December 8, was our second day in Vegas. (see day 1 below)
We started out the day by viewing a beautiful sunrise from our hotel room.

After getting ready & grabbing a bite to eat, we headed to the Monorail and rode to the Las Vegas Convention Center on North end of the strip for the Cowboy Christmas! Basically it was a convention center full of cowboy clothing, supplies, furniture, and even stock trailers! For Steve, it was probably comprable to the Arkansas craft shows I've attended in the past! :-)

While we were there Steve met Stran Smith, a tie-down roper who ended up being the National Finals Champion! We got his autograph and he let me take a picture of him & Steve.

After spending hours at the Cowboy Christmas, we headed back to our hotel room to get ready for the RODEO!

We took a cab & got there pretty early, which was great because we were able to walk around and check stuff out, as well as get in early & grab a great seat for the Academy of Country Music Pre-Rodeo concert featuring Crystal Shawanda. She is really a great country artist - I'm guessing we'll hear more from her soon!

After listening to a couple of her songs and grabbing some hot dogs & Steve's beer, we made our way to the rodeo arena and found our seats. Even though we were fairly high up, we still were able to see really well. The opening ceremony was awesome! It included fireworks, a recognition of rodeo legends, and a grand entry of all the riders. The National Anthem was very moving, and was sung by Reba McEntire's sister, Susie Luchsinger - she sounds just like Reba!
[Legends L to R: Dean Oliver, Roy "The Super Looper" Cooper, Joe Beaver, Fred Whitfield (raise the roof!), and Cody Ohl] Roy & Fred are 2 of Steve's favorite ropers!

Here are some pictures from the rodeo, including some good pix of Stran Smith!

Above: Tuf Cooper (Roy Cooper's 18-year-old son) is an awesome up & coming tie-down roper.



Stran Smith - pix of him after tying calf & of the jumbo-tron as he prepares to compete.

Day 3 is on the way...

Las Vegas - Day 1

Our trip to Las Vegas was FABULOUS! I can't believe it's already over! Here's a rundown of our first day of trip, along with some pictures...

Day 1 - Sunday, December 7

We arrived Las Vegas around 2:00 Vegas time. We hopped on a shuttle that took us directly to the lobby of our hotel, the Planet Hollywood. As soon as we saw our HUGE room (on the 31st floor), we were out the door to find our way to THE STRIP! After taking a few pix in front of the hotel...

...we stopped at the first restaurant we saw, The Harley Davidson Cafe - which served up some of the best BBQ I've had (or maybe I was just REALLY hungry!) The inside and outside of the cafe was really neat - they had a giant American flag made of painted chains. There were also actual Harley's hanging from the ceiling on a track that are supposed to move above us as we eat. Unfortunately the track wasn't running...but it was still cool to see Harley's hanging above us!

After dinner we continued to the south end of the strip. We stopped in a few shops, like the Coca Cola store & M&M's world. I've never seen so many M&M products!

I think my favorite part of the store was the wall of M&M's! They had the little chocolate candies in about every color you could think of! YUM! After a little browsing through the shops, we decided to cross the street and head back to our hotel. We arrived at the Bellagio hotel just in time to see the fountain display! It was choreographed to Frank Sinatra's "Luck Be a Lady". It was incredibly beautiful, and oddly serene in the middle of the craziness of the Vegas Strip!

After taking some more pictures of our hotel from the Bellagio walkway, we headed back to our room & lounged for the evening...

...preparing ourselves for a full day of activities on Day 2!

To Be Continued...

It's been a fly-by November!

Can you believe that November is already almost over? Did you check the ticker above...we have only 16 days (from the date of this posting) until our LAS VEGAS trip! We are both SO excited! We just got tickets for the second night we'll be at the National Finals Rodeo yesterday...I've done most of my shopping for "Vegas-wear"...I've stocked up on rechargeable batteries so that I have plenty of charge time for pictures...so I think I'm about ready to go! Of course, all Steve has to do is throw his Wranglers into a suitcase & he's pretty much ready to roll! Ha!

It's just starting to get frigid up here in the North to the point where I cannot go outside in the evening without gloves and a hat (according to my computer, the current temp is 13! BRRR!) I am not looking forward to snowy weather, but I'm afraid it's coming soon.

Since I haven't posted in a little while, I thought I'd include some fun pictures of Steve, me and the dogs that were taken earlier in the month. I just received prints of these pix from Snapfish, so I'm looking forward to doing something creative with them!
OH! Speaking of being creative...this weekend my plan is to spend some time figuring out my new Adobe Creative Suite software - particularly Photoshop! I am excited to put it to work and start doing some digital scrapbooking. I'm sure I'll share my creations as I learn how to use it!

JASON ALDEAN!

Back in September, Steve, our friend Erica and I traveled up to the Clay County Fair, in Spencer, Iowa, to see my FAVORITE country artist: JASON ALDEAN!!!! (Eric Church also performed...and was really fun, but I was there for Jason!) Ha! Here are some pictures I took of him...as close as I could get!

Aren't we cute?? A pic of Steve and me as we wandered around the fair before the concert started. I tell him this would make a good Christmas card...he doesn't agree. :-)

Erica and me before the concert started. Check out my new Justin ball cap! I picked it up before the concert. It's got blingy pink & white rhinestones on the bill! PERFECT for a bad hair day in Vegas!!

Can't wait to see Jason when he's in the area again...hopefully soon!