Viva Las Vegas!

So surprise, surprise...this is Abby writing the latest post! Mike thought my description of our vacation might come better from virgin Vegas eyes. We headed out to Las Vegas last Saturday for a 4-night, 5-day vacation, with my parents flying in on Sunday to meet up with us. The 4 1/2 - 5 hour drive was dominated by true desert - lots of cacti and very few cars on the road. About 30 miles outside of Vegas we stopped and visited the Hoover Dam. An impressive site - especially considering how long ago it was built. It looks as if they are building a bypass bridge and the construction equipment was amazing - they are building the bridge over a huge canyon and these cable-care looking things were hanging across the canyon so the workers could go back and forth. Finally we pulled in to Vegas - luckily it was turning dark so my first views were with the lights on! I'm not exactly sure how to put Vegas in words. I'm just glad I wasn't driving as I would have surely wrecked - I'm pretty sure I sat in the passenger seat with my mouth hanging open. So we get to TI (Treasure Island for those of you not in the know), checked in, went to our room and realized we had an amazing strip view - looking straight down Las Vegas Blvd - it looked postcard-esque.

First lesson I learned in Vegas....food is extremely EXPENSIVE (and not always that good!) We went to a restaurant in the hotel the first night - Kahunaville. It was decent - not great, but not bad. We had one of those gigantic drinks that comes in a fish-bowl sized glass and washed that one down with another (smaller) drink. At this point I'm ready to see the town. We meandered up the strip all the way to the Bellagio and back down. I was astounded by many things - a. the grandeur of Vegas b. the number of people out and about and c. the amount of kids that were in Vegas and out so late! I was very hesitant to gamble straight away as Mike and I succeeded in losing on a video roulette table in a matter of minutes. So we walked around some of the casinos and he explained craps to me as we watched a man making and losing hundreds of dollars at a $100 minimum table. We also wandered through the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace and the Shops at the Venetian. Dang - the shopping is incredible in Vegas, but really only for those with deep pockets. Overall, an awesome introduction to Vegas.

The next day was spent with some time at the pool, a little gambling, and dinner and a movie before we went to pick up my parents. Did I mention how phenomenal Vegas is for people watching?! That actually may have been my favorite part (seeing as how I lost a disappointing amount of money - more about that later.) There are definitely all types in Vegas - the drunken guys looking to pick up some booty, the drunken girls looking to do the same (in much less clothing then the boys), the old couples who love to gamble, the families, and the high rollers. We watched one guy drop $5000 in about four minutes at a $10 blackjack table. We think we overheard him on the phone saying he was down seventy thousand!!! What?! Some people have entirely too much money! Anyways, we picked my parents up around midnight and it was fun to watch my mom's face as we drove down the strip. My parents had a little trouble checking in and ended up getting a suite for the night! We crashed out after that and woke up the next morning to start some serious gambling!

My mom stuck to Wheel of Fortune the whole trip. And darn if she didn't get addicted to that slot machine! Every morning we found her playing Wheel of Fortune and one night she stayed up past us to play! Even at the different casinos, Mom stuck to Wheel of Fortune. Too bad there wasn't much fortune with the game. Mike tried to introduce Dad and I to craps, but we lost miserably everytime we tried to play so it didn't stick with us. I became a fan of 3 card poker. I was able to win little bits of money that I inevitably lost. Mike lost money at craps, roulette, poker, and slots. Let's just say Vegas wasn't too good to him. Nor was it to any of us - we all lost our money. I have to say, gambling is fun. I think I liked 3 card poker so much b/c I could start with a reasonable amount of money and play for a long time before I lost it.

Aside from losing all our money, we did enjoy some other draws of Vegas. We saw Mystere (a Cirque de Soleil show) on Monday night which was incredible. I don't even know how to explain how those performers did what they did. And of course we caught the Sirens show at TI. And you can't go to Vegas without seeing the Bellagio fountains. We also ate (and ate and ate...) - even made a late night trip to McDonalds! And of course, if you know the Jones' - we did some shopping. Mom and Dad gave us a wedding present - a beautiful globe we picked out - we'll have to attach a picture so you can appreciate this globe! Thanks so much Mom and Dad!!! I think that pretty much sums up our trip. I hope to return to Vegas sometime - I've got some money to earn back!

Other than that we've been trying to figure out where our next assignment will take us. I think we've decided to stay in Phoenix for another 8 weeks (til beginning of October) and then possibly head to San Diego or Littleton, Colorado. We have interviews/possibilites with both these areas. We are going to move to a different apartment. We found a one bedroom condo close to where we live now and will move after our beach trip in August. The roomate is just getting weirder and we are having to be conscious of air-conditioning use which is frustrating (and hot!) living on a second floor surrounded by windows and french doors! It will be nice to live on our own (finally!) We are headed to the Jones/Lowe beach trip the beginning of August - we can't wait to be home for a little bit and see some family! And then in October we are heading to New York - a few days in the city and to see the Giants game and then up to the Catskills to spend some time with Mike's grandparents and his aunt and uncle!

We hope all is well with everyone. Being away is definitely getting harder as we miss our family and friends more and more. Please keep in touch - we love hearing from you....and haven't heard from some of you in entirely too long....
In His love,
Abby and Mike