Vacay-tastic

Okay. We are back from vacation. Had a great time. Missed the kids, nice to be away but also nice to get back to real life, even if that means following the dog around with the squirt bottle while he chews up kid toys, and taking away dessert for kids who don't eat their dinner. I guess my point is, I loved the vacation but I am also very grateful for my kids and husband and our daily existence, even though it is not nearly as flashy.

So, we flew out to Vegas, got to the hotel at midnight-ish, and decided we might as well immerse ourselves into the atmosphere and so we walked the Vegas Strip and did a little gambling. Now, understand, neither Ben nor I are hard-core gamblers by any stretch of the imagination, but we also wanted to make the most of our time and enjoy the Vegas experience. So we plunked $20 in a penny-slot machine. By some stroke of dumb luck, I pressed the "max bet" button (which, for idiot gamblers like myself, means the 1-cent bet per "line", times 20 lines, times 25-cents per line. Equals a bet of $5.00 on a penny-slot.) That one bet won us about $170. After that, we gambled randomly here and there, but with no intention of piddling away our winnings, and probably ended up about $140 to the good.

The downside to winning so much so quickly (I mean, this was our first 2 hours in Vegas) is that one assumes that winning is always so easy. I, not having much exposure to slot machines, certainly assumed so. Thankfully, I had Ben with me, who was the much more realistic gambler of our little twosome, who kept reminding me that such luck was not likely to continue, and that the casino was essentially betting on us to stupidly bet away all our winnings. So, the smarter voice won out, and I grumpily only gambled away another few dollars or so instead of wasting it all.

Here's me at a random slot machine. Not the one we won on. Just some random machine. Come to think of it, I don't think we even played on this one.

Me and Ben at the fountain at our hotel (MGM Grand)

On Wednesday night, the date of our actual anniversary, Ben scoured the review pages and Vegas insider guides and decided upon the Venetian for our dinner reservation. The Venetian is a hotel on the strip that has a mini-Italy setting. It was fabulous. The ceiling was painted sky blue, with clouds, to give you the impression that you're outside. There was a river running through the interior with little gondola rides; and little shops lining the "streets" as if you were dining in Venice. We ate at a very nice Italian restaurant, drank nice Italian wine, and generally enjoyed the unique environment.

Later on in the week, we went up the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel. About half the size of the real tower, but still pretty cool.

Eiffel Tower from the street

Us at the top of the tower. Not that you can tell. We had someone take a picture of us (instead of this self-portrait courtesy of Ben), but it turned out horrible. In a decent twist of fate, I took a picture of them as well, which also turned out horrible. I tried three times and got nothing but a blurred mess. Thank goodness I was not the photographer for this picture or it would have turned out even worse.

Some of the Strip from the Eiffel Tower. MGM, our hotel (in green) in the back right.

The Bellagio water show from the Eiffel Tower

And again

The highlight of our trip was the Grand Canyon excursion. We signed up for a guided tour that picked us up from Las Vegas, drove us the two-hours-ish trip to the Canyon in a double decker bus. Now, understand, we did not take advantage of the second-decker, mostly because I suck. We had about a 15-minute drive to the tour-guide main office where everyone confirmed their individual trips, and we rode on top deck of the bus for that time. I subsequently informed Ben that there was essentially no way we could continue on the top of the bus unless he wanted me completely miserable for the rest of the trip. Thankfully, trooper that he is, Ben happily agreed to follow me to the first-deck of the bus, where very few other tourists ventured (top deck is apparently very prestigious). As it turned out, the bottom deck came equipped with tables, so I think we rode in more comfort than most.

Now, prepare yourself for some interesting pics, and some gratuitous pics. This is more for my own benefit so that I catalogue the memories of this vacation before they disappear; but feel free to follow along.

We stopped briefly at the Hoover Dam. I didn't get a good picture of the Dam itself, but this is a picture of the bridge at the dam where you cross from Nevada to Arizona. Each of these "towers" has a clock with "Nevada Time" (left) and "Arizona Time" (right). I thought that was cool.

We stopped at a little mini-mart for bathroom break, drinks, etc. I adored it. I decided I absolutely love the desert. It's so.......there. While I love a breathtaking mountain-view as much as the next guy, there is something very natural, very calming, about standing in the middle of desert-land, nothing in sight but tumbleweeds and sand. And giant skulls.

Once arriving at our destination, we checked in at our helicopter tour. I don't think either of these are our actual helicopters, but it was one that looked like this.

View from the helicopter. Holy crap I loved the heli-tour. I thought I would be a nervous wreck, and I was for a few minutes, but even during my near-panic attack, I loved the helicopter. I have never flown in anything besides a plane (and I have a hard time believing it is natural for people to fly in planes), so the helicopter was amazing. It was like a hummingbird, just flitting and flying wherever it wanted, leaving laws of gravity and physics in the dust.

More heli-pics

Upon landing, we made our way to a little hut to await our next adventure, a hike down to the river. Note that this entire trip took place on an Indian reservation, owned by the Hualupai Indians, who ran the show and made the rules. These people knew what they were doing; they ran a fabulous tour.

Bye-bye, helicopter!

Ben, videoing the surroundings

view from the Indian hut

Here's our pontoon, getting ready to drop off another tour and pick us up.

Pic from the pontoon on the Colorado River. And some random guy. I think he was German.

Another pontoon pic. And another random German guy.

Lunch at Guano Point. Yes, that means bat droppings.

My favorite picture. We didn't do the SkyWalk (which you see in the background) but the sights were amazing nonetheless.

Me at Guano Point.

The teeny-tiny panoromic

Authentic Indian tepee

Almost dropped my water bottle down the canyon. Here's me retrieving it.

Peering down the canyon

I liked this rock. I tried to climb over it to the other side, but Ben started to freak out on me. As in, "yes, I have an insurance policy out on you, but I'd still prefer that you not climb over that rock."

Okay, this picture is staged. I was trying to pretend like I was clutching the rock and retrieving a water bottle at the same time. Come on, humor me.

Ben, videoing some more. Another of my faves.