Vegas Vacation, Part 1

I haven't posted any reflections on 2013 yet, nor have I made any resolutions or reflected on where life will lead in 2014, mostly because we took a fabulous trip and met up with Mark's side of the family in Las Vegas for the second half of Christmas break. It was the first vacation we have taken since having kids (so that's almost 6 years!) and we had so much fun. Mark and I have both talked about the fact that we will look back on this trip fondly for years to come.

Now that we have been back in the daily grind for a week, and battling illness on top of it (influenza for Karamea and a cold for me), I appreciate the getaway and family time even more. It has been a little challenging to get back into the groove, but it was worth it! Somehow, the six days away seemed to make the two weeks of break seem even longer. It was wonderful to escape to warmer weather and make memories together. While we were there, the high temperatures were in the 60s and it was sunny every day. I loved seeing palm trees, especially ones that were decorated with Christmas lights!

Here's a brief rundown of our itinerary:

December 29th: Flight to Las Vegas, finding our way from the airport to Lake Mead RV Village, where Mark's parents stayed

December 30th: Hoover Dam

December 31st: Day Trip to the Grand Canyon's South Rim

January 1st: The Las Vegas Strip

January 2nd: Valley of Fire State Park

January 3rd: Packing and hanging out at the hotel with Mark's parents until we had to leave for the airport

As I look through photos and reflect on things I want to write down and remember about our trip, I am coming to the realization that it will be best to break this down into a series of posts so that it is not incredibly long.

Day 1 - December 29th, 2013: 

In order to get to the airport for our 9:30 flight, we had to leave our house about 6:30 am, and there was a dusting of snow, so we got on the road a bit earlier, around 6. Everything went well and the girls did a great job with the carry on suitcases they got from Santa.

Once we made it to Vegas, everything went smoothly getting our luggage and the rental car, but I did a poor job navigating at first and it took us a while to get on the right roads to head out of town to Lake Mead. Luckily, this was probably the biggest problem of our trip, so we can't complain too much. We were blown away by the views from Mark's parents RV spot and enjoyed a few hours of visiting with the family before heading back to the hotel to check in and get the kids down for a nap.

Day 2 - December 30th, 2013:

We took the advice of a local who told Mark's brother that it is best to arrive at Hoover Dam first thing in the morning, and we were so happy we did! When we arrived, we were the only cars at the security checkpoint and we were able to find free parking easily. By the time we left early afternoon, the traffic was lined up for MILES just to get past the security checkpoint.

On the way to the dam, the road goes by this bridge, which was completed in 2010 as an interstate bypass of the dam. Its size and the chasm it spans are almost as impressive as the dam itself. It was enormous! 

After we parked, we took our time walking over the dam and enjoying the views.

After we finished at the dam, we drove up to the top on the far side, to where the road ends and took in the view from this lookout.

 

Even though I had heard a lot about the Hoover Dam before, I went into the day with the mindset that it might not really be that impressive, but I was wrong! It was fascinating and fun to marvel at the engineering feat that was accomplished in the 1930s and the sheer magnitude of the project. It was a fun day with the family and a great start to our trip!

More to come...