Vegas and Grand Canyon

Last weekend I went to Vegas with Kii. The main purpose of the trip was to attend Roger and Ashlee's wedding. The secondary purpose was to celebrate Kii's birthday. Because it was President's Day weekend flights weren't in our favor so we got in the car and drove. We left Friday afternoon around lunchtime. I started out driving, but the phone kept ringing (typical Friday frenzy at work) so Kii took over and ended up driving the whole way. The drive wasn't bad at all and would have only taken approximately 5 hours except for the traffic jam at the Hoover Dam. So apparently on Friday evenings, traffic just backs up on the Arizona side of the dam. It took 2 hours to drive approximately 6 miles. Luckily Kii and I enjoy each other's company even when trapped in the small space of my Civic.

When we arrived to Vegas, it was dinner time. We randomly picked a restaurant before we checked into our hotel. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was an Italian restaurant next to the Liberace museum. It looked like the kind of place Liberace would have loved. The food was quite good too. Then we checked into the Tropicana and found our room. After a couple coctails (yes, we always travel with a fully stocked bar), we grabbed a cab to Treasure Island where we saw Mystere. Mystere is the second Cirque Du Soleil show I've seen, but the first for Kii. It was tremendous and quite the highlight of our trip. After the show, we experienced a little bit of Vegas craziness in a bar in Treasure Island (bartenders juggling bottles of alcohol Tom Cruz style, lighting shots on fire, and pouring shots directly into people's mouths) but quickly decided it wasn't for us. We're old and don't party like we used to. Typical Friday night in Vegas meant getting a cab was insane, so we walked. It was a chilly weekend in Vegas so the walk wasn't quite as enjoyable as it should have been. The funniest part was walking up to a group of women who were huddled together on top of a grate which was blowing warm air. We stopped to warm up ourselves and as we stood there, realized that all the women were "working." Needless to say, we didn't stay to chat.

Saturday morning we went to the Little Church of the West to see Roger and Ashlee get married. Roger is a blogger from Dallas who I've known for approximately 4 years; though I never had the opportunity to meet Ashlee before Saturday. Since Roger is a wonderfully funny, smart, and talented man (if you need a graphic/web designer, Roger is amazing), I knew the woman he was marrying had to be equally as wonderful. Of course, it turns out Ashlee is awesome and I can't wait to hang out with her again. The wedding ceremony was very sweet and the chapel darling. I'm sure it was special for Roger and Ashlee to have their families and friends attend. I felt very lucky to be there too!

After the ceremony, we had a couple hours of downtime in which I hung out with Leia and Tina. It was fantastic because I got to hear about all the things happening in Dallas that no one blogs about. You know, blogs are a fabulous way to keep in touch, but there are always things that aren't written about for various reasons. All the info from Leia and Tina reminded me that I need to call or IM my Dallas friends more often!

The wedding reception was lunch at Wolfgang Puck in the MGM. Everything was lovely - the space was beautiful, the service was excellent, and the food was exquisite. It was wonderful to get to celebrate with everyone. I especially loved the Roger and Ashlee weren't afraid to rub cake on each other's faces and truly laugh about it. It's a special woman who can be in a wedding dress, looking absolutely beautiful, and laugh about the cake on her face. Ashlee explained that both of their parents got silly with cake at their weddings and those marriages were still together. So it was symbolic for them, which I think is wonderful. After lunch, everyone went their separate ways to enjoy Vegas. Kii and I don't gamble so we spend Saturday night enjoying a sushi dinner and people watching.

On Sunday we had brunch with Sparkler, Tina, Alex, and Leia before heading out of town. Due to a rather large nail in one of the car tires, we didn't get out of town as early as planned and missed the tour of Hoover Dam. So now we have a reason to go back. Sunday night we drove through the mountains to Flagstaff. It even snowed on us during that drive! It was a gorgeous night. Then on Monday Kii and I both saw the Grand Canyon for the first time.

The Grand Canyon was not what I expected at all. I felt silly for being surprised at how big it really is. I mean, I know it's big – it's the Grand Canyon. But I was still overwhelmed with how big. It's one of those things that isn't imaginable. I'm looking forward to going back to the canyon when the weather is warmer in order to hike into it. Then I'll be really blown away by perspective.

We got back to Phoenix on Monday night and the week started on Tuesday. It was a short week in the office for me, because on Thursday, I got on a plane to Denver. I'll write more about my Denver visit very soon.

View all the Vegas / Grand Canyon pictures.

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