Since we’ve returned to the Cache Valley after the holidays we have been faced with the reality of a consistently dreary and cold Logan winter. Long-term locals are also struggling with the gray snowy weather, so maybe it’s just a harsh winter...or maybe I’m just not the mountain man I hoped to be (see: wimpy). Either way, Susan and I have been eager for a break from the cold and the inversion and finally got our chance this past weekend. An opportunity to be sold a time share in Las Vegas was jumped on last summer and realized over the President’s Day weekend. Basically, we had free accommodations less than 2 blocks off the Vegas Strip behind the Venetian. The catch was that we had to attend a sales pitch on Sunday afternoon…a fair exchange if you ask me. Here’s the recap of our Vegas experience.
Susan and I departed Logan (with Derby in tow) on Thursday evening after work. Our Valentine’s Day evening was spent romantically driving south along the Wasatch Front with a classy dinner stop at Chipotle in Sandy (to-go). This actually was quite a treat since we have no Chipotle’s in the Cache Valley and Susan had just been hit with a severe hankering for assembly line style pseudo Mexican food that just couldn’t be sated by the similar restaurants that are near us. We continued into the abyss that is south-central Utah before arriving at our pit stop for the night in St. George, just before the border. We kept with the classy V-day theme by crashing at the Motel 6 since pets stay free.
The next morning, I got a sunrise run in where I didn’t have to deal with snow or ice. The road I was on also gave me a nice view of the valley that St. George sits in. After stretching the legs, Susan and I loaded up and dropped off Derby at the Red Rocks Pet Resort for the remainder of the weekend…he also gets a vacation.
Only a couple hours after we got back on the road we were arriving in Las Vegas. With the size of the casinos and the flatness of the valley, you can see it coming from a long way off…even in the morning hours (without the lights). We went straight to our resort with the intent of just dropping off bags and parking the car, but they were actually ready for us to check in at 10:30 am. Settling into our 2 room condo, we noticed the headboard in the master bedroom was just lying across the bed. Either previous guests had partied hard, or it was not installed properly. Turns out, it hadn’t been installed at all as we were the first guests in this particular villa post-renovation, so had the honor of hanging our own headboard. Maybe this is a Vegas tradition I’m not aware of. Our room was enormous for the 2 of us and included a modern kitchen and a bathtub built for 6 (or more…we didn’t test the capacity limits).
Condo for the weekend
After unpacking and a quick strategy session we returned to the car and drove to the North end of the strip. This area is kind of a work in progress and includes some new condo complexes, some old casinos like Circus Circus and the Sahara, and big swaths of construction sites. We grabbed a small lunch at Rock n Rita’s in Circus Circus where we were treated to slow service, mediocre food, and a dismal beer selection…not recommended, even with our low expectations going in. From lunch, we hit the street and meandered up and down the north strip mostly just enjoying the sunny, 60 degree weather. We made our way as far as Stratosphere (the end of the strip) before stopping at a large souvenir shop and then returning to the car. Then it was back to the condo for a break before dinner.
Circus, Circus 
Susan’s first time at the slots (with winnings!)
Stratosphere
In the evening, we caught the resort shuttle to Bally’s and walked over to Caesar’s Palace for our dinner reservations at Mesa Grill (a Bobby Flay restaurant). The restaurant was in the midst of the casino, but had its own ambience to not give the feeling of being in a casino. Everything about the dinner lived up to expectations and the honey salmon with spicy black bean sauce was excellent. Other highlights were the queso fundido with goat cheese, the mashed potatoes with queso crèma “gravy”, the tamales, and the blue corn cakes. We also enjoyed listening to the country bumpkin couple seated at the table next to us and clearly unsure of their first Vegas experience.
Ceasar’s Palace for the Mesa Grill
After dinner, the rest of the evening was spent doing more wandering along the strip, catching the Treasure Island pirate show (very risqué) and the Mirage volcano. We checked out the interiors of the Wynn and the Venetian casinos as well before catching the shuttle back to the resort.
Strip at night
Waiting for the volcano show 
During the volcano show at the Mirage 
After the Treasure Island pirate show 
Winn Chinese New Year dislplay & The canal in the Venetian
Saturday morning began with a run out to the Welcome to Vegas sign, then back down the strip. It’s basically a rite of passage run in Vegas and there were plenty of other runners out on similar routes. Of course it’s also a terribly inconvenient run since the strip includes winding sidewalks with lots of pedestrians, catwalks (with stairs) to cross busy intersections, and lots of crosswalks. I had fun with it though and one time tried to sneak across the street sans catwalk, but ended up getting caught out in the road before jumping a fence back to sidewalk safety…good fun.
The majority of the day was spent exploring the strip near the South end. Areas seen were the New York, New York casino, the new City Center area including the Aria casino (very nice and spa-like atmosphere), and the Bellagio with a fountain show. Susan was offended by the Faith Hill accompaniment to the fountains. After missing our return shuttle at Bally’s we walked back to the resort for a break. Luckily it was another beautiful sunny day.
New York, New York 
Jeff at M&M World & Susan in front of Paris 
Fountain show 
Another Chinese New Year’s display. This time at Aria.
Saturday night we ventured back to the strip and to the MGM grand for the Cirque du Soliel, Kà. This show has less of the mind-blowing acrobatic tricks, but has a linear story-line with stunts and acrobatics worked into the plot. The stage for the show is on a giant mechanical arm, allowing the stage to orient in nearly any direction. At times it was used vertically as a wall or a backdrop, while other times it was flat and even recessed into the ground a bit. Watching the performers gracefully navigate the stage amidst it moving was impressive. The story was hard to follow at times since there is no dialogue, but we kept up pretty well. Overall it was definitely worth the price of admission.
Post-show, having walked our legs off throughout the day, we just ventured across the street to New York, New York where we played around on some penny slots, grabbed a casual snack dinner, and basically killed time before catching our shuttle back to the resort for the night.
In “Times Square”
Sunday morning, we slept in. Originally, we had planned to venture out to Hoover Dam in the AM, but just weren’t feeling up for it. Instead, I went for a late morning run away from the strip to the convention center and we hung around at the resort pool for a little bit until lunch time. In the early afternoon was the dreaded sales pitch. We grabbed some food and made our way to the sales center for our “three hour tour.”
At around 4pm, we emerged mostly unscathed and with $200 cash (our reimbursement for the money we paid up front long ago). Not wanting to waste the whole day, we immediately hopped in the car and drove to the far south end of the strip and parked at Mandalay Bay. Here we took in the aquarium which is small, but includes an impressive shark tank as the main attraction. After the aquarium it was back to what we do best, wandering. This time we toured Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur before returning to the car and venturing off-strip for dinner.
Susan with the Vegas sign 
Mandalay Bay Aquarium 
Luxor 
Excalibur
Our goal was to have Thai at the recommended Lotus of Siam, but we were unaware that it was a reservations necessary kind of place. We walked in to a 2 hour wait at 8pm on Sunday…it must be good. We weren’t into that kind of waiting though, so instead ventured in the direction of the resort before stopping at Mint Indian Restaurant just across from UNLV’s campus. It was delicious, on par with our favorite Indian establishment in Cincinnati…so we were no longer lamenting missing out on the Thai goodness. We wound down the evening relaxing at the resort.
Monday arrived and it was time to venture back to the winter. We checked out and left Vegas, but before long stopped to take in the warmth one last time. Our stop was at The Valley of Fire State Park, a red-rock preserve NE of Vegas. We drove a portion of the scenic byway and stopped to climb on the rocks at a few places, basking in the sun. There weren’t many regulations about where you could venture on foot, so it was kind of like a natural adult playground. I did a lot of scrambling up rocks while we were there.
Before long though, it was time to hit the road for the long drive back to Logan. We grabbed a tired Derby in St. George where he behaved wonderfully according to his report card. We arrived back in Logan around 8pm to 20 degree weather, rejuvenated somewhat to begin looking forward to spring…hopefully not too far forward though.
