I thought I would carry on the theme of long-ago trips since there are more photos to spare. In 2005, we went to Vegas for Boy’s sister’s 21st birthday. It was another weekend expedition. The family met up with my mother-in-law’s good friend Denise who lives in California. Boy and I quickly learned that we hated Vegas. Yes, you read that correctly – we are definitely the black sheep of the American culture. It was generous of Denise to lend us her Jeep so that we could explore the region instead of being cooped up in the most tacky and resource-guzzling city known on Earth. Oops, did I say that out loud?

The first day we spent with the family touring the common sites: the hotels, the shops, the casinos, and the strip. If we were into consumerism, gambling, and drinking it might have hooked us. But alas, we are boring old souls. We did check out Cirque du Soleil though, which was amazing. I had no idea the super cool things that can be accomplished in plays. No photos allowed of course:(

The next day we discovered the vast expanse of the desert. We stumbled upon the Valley of Fire State Park and some super cool petroglyphs.

We also found some desert dwelling lizards and the silliest looking rabbit you ever did see, the jack rabbit. I learned first hand what a real echo is like. That was awesome. We found an oasis, too. These are things I had only ever heard of in theory but seeing them in real life was so very cool.

We spent the last full day checking out the Hoover Dam and its area. It was more of Boy’s thing than mine – cool to see how big it is and all that but the touring of the turbines and such did not do it for me.

I’m glad Katie got to celebrate her birthday in a big way just like she wanted with all the family, but I’d be happy never going back to Vegas. That’s just me. The region was fun though, so I’m not at all sorry we went:)