Reflections of My Travel

Today was a very lazy watch-TV-in-bed hotel day. The only time we got out was to meet one of hubby’s employees and her husband for lunch. Happily, we managed to avoid most work topics so it was a nice social visit. Which is good because we’ve only got a few more hours of vacation and one more day of stress-free ease.

fluffy red flowers outside the restaurant

We slept in this morning and then started the long drive back to Phoenix. Sadly, we decided to grab breakfast down the road, only to find that there was nothing down the road. And then we sat in traffic forever trying to cross the Hoover Dam. Fortunately, it appears that they are building a bridge

new bypass bridge

that will hopefully allow the commuters to bypass the tourist trap in the future.

bypass from the dam

I’m not saying that the dam isn’t impressive – it is –

backside of the dam

but if you’ve seen it once, there’s really no need to see it again. The huge slab of concrete really doesn’t change. So, several hours after leaving Las Vegas, we finally found a little town with a little food and I ravenously devoured a sammich. And not much further down the road, we pulled over so that hubby could get a nap and I could finally get some postcards in the mail. We finally rolled into Phoenix around 19:00 and are preparing for the intrusion of the real world.

We came to Vegas for rest… Ironic, right? We must have needed it though since even the hubby slept until almost 10:00. We took our time getting up and around, grabbed the camera bag, and headed out to find breakfast on the strip. After eating, we made our way down the strip walking through the various casino resorts. I am amazed by the detail that they put into the themes of these casinos. I remember being especially impressed by New York New York and Paris

le tour eiffel

hubby hanging at the leg of the eiffel tower

last time we were here. Strange that I didn’t take any indoor pix of these this time. This time we got to go into several that we didn’t see last time. While I had a great appreciation for the Venetian’s gondoliers,

gondola ride at venetian

lovely

inside the venetian - the gondola stops and the gondolier belts out a tune then turns and goes back out

I didn’t feel that the theme was carried through as completely as Paris. While walking through the Venetian, we ran up on these gorgeous umbrella displays

waterfall flanked by vines and umbrellas

umbrellas hit the glass ceiling

another display, with glass statues

but I soon figured out that they were actually a part of the Palazzo which we had unknowingly crossed into.  

bath time!

All in all, I think Caesar’s Palace has a more Italian vibe throughout than the Venetian. 

inside caesar

caesar's ceiling

But my favorite place to hang out a while is still Bellagio… more specfically, the Bellagio conservatory.

glass ceiling garden

look into my crystal ball

giant ants and shrooms

giant ladybug, ant, and jumping water

giant rose snail

giant froggy

I want to live in there. All of the beauty and fragrance of a spectacular flower garden without the terror of bees!

i heart fringed tulips!

red fringed tulip

rogue

self portrait amongst the flowers

I absolutely love that place!!! After several hours of walking around, we finally made our way back to bed for a lovely afternoon nap. It was good to be able to elevate my feet to get my throbbing toes to quiet down a bit. I am very proud of the fact that I managed to do all that walking today without stubbing/banging my toe or having someone step on it. I am concerned though about the outrageous size of them and the fact that my right big toe is now completely numb. Oh well, it will pass. After resting up, we went for dinner and then walked over to the Luxor which I’ve never been in.

inside the luxor

The pyramid is actually pretty cool and I’m glad we saved it for night so that I could see it and the sphynx fully lit.

bright enough to be seen from space