LAS (Fall 2024 Western Adventure)

(I'm documenting this trip through several blog posts for my future reference. Feel free to read along, or if you're not interested come back in a few days.)

You didn't even know that I was gone, but this morning Hubby Tony and I returned from a whirlwind two weeks out West. We had a great time visiting family, historical places, and natural wonders.

The main purpose of the visit was to spend Thanksgiving with the California kids and grands. Because air fares take a huge price jump for the holiday we decided to leave substantially before and come home substantially after. For several reasons we chose to fly into Las Vegas, which is approximately eight hours from where our kids and grandkids live...but we weren't going to drive all that distance at once!

Our trip got off to a rough start. The flight that was supposed to get us to Vegas at bedtime got delayed....then delayed....and delayed even more. At that point we wouldn't have gotten in until long after midnight, so we rebooked for a flight that would get us there at lunchtime on Friday. After the flight was rebooked Tony canceled the Thursday hotel room and revised the rental car reservation. I contacted the cat sitter about the change, and let our downstairs neighbor know so she wouldn't be freaked out to hear us moving around.Then we went to sleep in our own bed.

On Friday everything went as planned. You  know exactly what city you're in when this is the first thing you see when you walk out of the gate:

After picking up the car we got lunch and explored Downtown (the primary gambling district of Las Vegas prior to the Strip), and the Fremont Street Experience (a five-block pedestrian mall, most of which is covered by the world’s largest LED canopy screen). We popped into a couple of the stores and casinos, but didn't gamble and passed on any tacky tourist experiences.

Next, we drove to the Strip. Parking was horrendous, so we switched gears and headed out of town. Tony was navigating. On Google Maps he saw a green blob for the Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden and we decided to visit. Later. I found out from the website that it's the largest cactus collection in Nevada.

Ethel M is a chocolate manufacturer, so we were also able to see the production line at work and have a sample before wandering through the cacti. The area was decorated for the holidays, and if we had been there after dark would have been lit up. However, we had places to go so we headed on. 

To be continued...

Five years ago: From Me To You. You're Welcome.