So, I decided to do an actual report vs. gumming up the other threads. Not sure how this is going to go, since I was my usual self and took a ton of pictures (and handful of vids) and I feel like I'm being pulled in a million directions, but I'm going to try...since I usually enjoy the process.
Where- Vegas/Death Valley/Grand Canyon
When- Dec 23-28
Who- Me, Hubby, and the kids
*ooops- I thought you could see the hubs in this pic, but apparently not. ehhh...he'll come up later in the report.
I tried incorporating something with Death Valley into the title, but everything just takes it to a rather morbid sounding place. LOL
December 23rd-
After getting past my boarding mix ups with the dog (not the brightest thing around Christmas) and finding out that the government shutdown shouldn't impact our dining and lodging plans in the parks, we waved good-bye to our snow-flaked ceiling and were off...
(Girls surprised me with this Christmas snow a few weeks earlier)
Parking reservation went smoothly, as did airport security (never before had a TSA agent so interested in our destinations). We saw a ton of dogs traveling for the holidays...some more freaked out than others, but it was a good primer for all of the dogs we'd see in Vegas. We even got a decorated gate!
(saw it lit up on the return trip)
In fact, the only bothersome point was a girl who took out my shoulder and laptop screen with her LV tote. I was just sitting in a chair, so not like I was out in the middle of the floor. Thankfully, the laptop is OK...but no apologies or acknowledgement. I guess at least she was on a flight to Cleveland and wouldn't be joining us on the way to Vegas.
Things were running on schedule and I was the lucky one to get a window seat on the right side of the plane. There's always some peace of mind seeing all of your bags get loaded onto the plane (you don't need to see all 5- ha!).
The kids hate me for it, but I usually take pics through the flight. I waved good-bye to Houston...
Saw some neat terrain near El Paso...
We saw White Sands in NM from the air...
Waved hi to all of the passing planes heading east...
Got a preview of the Grand Canyon from the air...
And then we made our way into Vegas.
Our wheels for this trip were not as nicely appointed as our Jeep was for our summer trip was, but the Santa Fe we got fit the 9 million things we all packed. We were offered our choice of three different Jeep Wranglers as an alternative, but there's no way our stuff was fitting in that. Also funny, we wound up in a vehicle with TX tags. Speaking of driving, David had the crazy idea of driving the strip vs following navigation. So, we took the strip...
Even more fitting...Frank Sinatra came on the radio just before we turned onto the strip. Love me some Frank!
The kids knew about our lodging for the first half of the trip. I picked the Venetian because the price was the same, regardless of the number of occupants and they didn't charge for parking. Ooooh...and room size!
The check in line was crazy when we got there. I at least did a good deed while in line and hoped it would pay off in our favor. The guy in front of me needed to find his wife and asked me if I could hold his spot. He was gone for 5-10 minutes, but I waved him down when he got back. We were still only at the halfway point anyway. I also took a few pics as we waited...
I still only had my phone out at this point...so limited to the camera of an old iPhone 6s. May get a new phone in 2019, but I hate replacing something that works.
The line moved much more quickly than I thought it would. I have having flashbacks to a 2003 trip where we waited in line for over an hour at Caesar's and there were only a handful of parties in front of us. The girl at the front desk who helped me was very friendly, but had some problems getting me a room. Turns out, they were hosting a convention and all rooms in the category that I booked were locked. She asked me how I felt about a room on the 11th floor...I was fine with it...but it too was locked. Then, in an apologetic tone, she offered me something on 6...which I was good with as well...but that too was locked. Honestly...I just wanted a room in the room type that I booked...nothing more. Finally, a room up on 21 would let her in for room assignment. Whew! It wasn't ready yet (that's probably why), but promised me I'd get a text when it was and to find her before 5:30 if we hadn't heard anything. Oh...and a warning to the kids about touching things in the minibar fridge (we'd already had that discussion).
We were nearing 3:30pm PT...which was 5:30pm at home...and I hadn't eaten all day. The kids and David had crackers on the plane and breakfast before leaving home, but me...nada. We didn't want to journey far, so we went to the Grand Lux Cafe on the casino level.
Where- Vegas/Death Valley/Grand Canyon
When- Dec 23-28
Who- Me, Hubby, and the kids
*ooops- I thought you could see the hubs in this pic, but apparently not. ehhh...he'll come up later in the report.
I tried incorporating something with Death Valley into the title, but everything just takes it to a rather morbid sounding place. LOL
December 23rd-
After getting past my boarding mix ups with the dog (not the brightest thing around Christmas) and finding out that the government shutdown shouldn't impact our dining and lodging plans in the parks, we waved good-bye to our snow-flaked ceiling and were off...
(Girls surprised me with this Christmas snow a few weeks earlier)
Parking reservation went smoothly, as did airport security (never before had a TSA agent so interested in our destinations). We saw a ton of dogs traveling for the holidays...some more freaked out than others, but it was a good primer for all of the dogs we'd see in Vegas. We even got a decorated gate!
(saw it lit up on the return trip)
In fact, the only bothersome point was a girl who took out my shoulder and laptop screen with her LV tote. I was just sitting in a chair, so not like I was out in the middle of the floor. Thankfully, the laptop is OK...but no apologies or acknowledgement. I guess at least she was on a flight to Cleveland and wouldn't be joining us on the way to Vegas.
Things were running on schedule and I was the lucky one to get a window seat on the right side of the plane. There's always some peace of mind seeing all of your bags get loaded onto the plane (you don't need to see all 5- ha!).
The kids hate me for it, but I usually take pics through the flight. I waved good-bye to Houston...
Saw some neat terrain near El Paso...
We saw White Sands in NM from the air...
Waved hi to all of the passing planes heading east...
Got a preview of the Grand Canyon from the air...
And then we made our way into Vegas.
Our wheels for this trip were not as nicely appointed as our Jeep was for our summer trip was, but the Santa Fe we got fit the 9 million things we all packed. We were offered our choice of three different Jeep Wranglers as an alternative, but there's no way our stuff was fitting in that. Also funny, we wound up in a vehicle with TX tags. Speaking of driving, David had the crazy idea of driving the strip vs following navigation. So, we took the strip...
Even more fitting...Frank Sinatra came on the radio just before we turned onto the strip. Love me some Frank!
The kids knew about our lodging for the first half of the trip. I picked the Venetian because the price was the same, regardless of the number of occupants and they didn't charge for parking. Ooooh...and room size!
The check in line was crazy when we got there. I at least did a good deed while in line and hoped it would pay off in our favor. The guy in front of me needed to find his wife and asked me if I could hold his spot. He was gone for 5-10 minutes, but I waved him down when he got back. We were still only at the halfway point anyway. I also took a few pics as we waited...
I still only had my phone out at this point...so limited to the camera of an old iPhone 6s. May get a new phone in 2019, but I hate replacing something that works.
The line moved much more quickly than I thought it would. I have having flashbacks to a 2003 trip where we waited in line for over an hour at Caesar's and there were only a handful of parties in front of us. The girl at the front desk who helped me was very friendly, but had some problems getting me a room. Turns out, they were hosting a convention and all rooms in the category that I booked were locked. She asked me how I felt about a room on the 11th floor...I was fine with it...but it too was locked. Then, in an apologetic tone, she offered me something on 6...which I was good with as well...but that too was locked. Honestly...I just wanted a room in the room type that I booked...nothing more. Finally, a room up on 21 would let her in for room assignment. Whew! It wasn't ready yet (that's probably why), but promised me I'd get a text when it was and to find her before 5:30 if we hadn't heard anything. Oh...and a warning to the kids about touching things in the minibar fridge (we'd already had that discussion).
We were nearing 3:30pm PT...which was 5:30pm at home...and I hadn't eaten all day. The kids and David had crackers on the plane and breakfast before leaving home, but me...nada. We didn't want to journey far, so we went to the Grand Lux Cafe on the casino level.