Welcome to the LAST post of my mom’s and my trip to Las Vegas!!! I’m ready to write about something new, but this has been a joy to relive. 😂 I hope you’ve enjoyed following along, and after sharing the photos from the gondola ride the night before and the trip home, I’ll be sharing the main things I learned from this trip, a roundup of all my travel posts as promised and *brief* takeaways from each trip looking back, all the candids of me bossing my mom around, and photos of the merch I bought.

Real quick, before we get into the post, I wanted to share that I started a mailing list! I’m going to be creating some FREE printables that only subscribers will have access to, and I’d eventually like to share more exclusive content there, too, so I wanted to share that right away! You can subscribe here! If you subscribe now, you’ll receive a body image printable where I round up some of the best things I’ve read about biblical body image and being encouraged about that in Jesus put in a list format so you can look at it whenever you need a boost. We talked about that a bit in this series, and I’m going to be doing a video blog on it in the coming months, so definitely subscribe to receive that sneak peek now.

Now, let’s get right to Vegas so this post can be short(er)!

Day 4 Continued: Gondola Ride at the Venetian

As I left off in part four, we made our way back to the Venetian after we ate Subway nearby. After Sketchy Story #2, I was still rattled and said I’m not taking any pictures because I just wanted to focus on not getting killed. I was even telling my mom what to do, as if she needed that, on just walking like we’re on a mission. First thing I did when I stepped outside: TOOK PICTURES! Look at this deep blue night sky! AND THE PLANE STREAK!

It made the Strip look so pretty.

The Venetian is another one of those places that is so photogenic; everywhere we walked looked amazing, and I wanted so many photos with the different views.

The soft glow made the water look so aquamarine, and the little string lights here and there created such a romantic mood. We didn’t see that guy again, by the way, so praise God for that.

I really wanted to go to Black Tap as pictured below (the VIEWS if we had been able to sit outside!!) for their amazing-looking shakes and how Instagrammable they look. We didn’t get to, though, because it was so busy inside, and we couldn’t get the shakes to go, which I thought was stupid since they seem to be known for them. Mom wanted to get back, too; she didn’t want to wait super long. That was okay; we got some ice cream sandwiches from our hotel that night instead.

On the gondola, the employee (I don’t remember their technical term…) is dressed a certain way (you’ll see) and sings while they steer it! We were seated across from another sweet couple. I loved it! It was very relaxing and serene; the lady had a beautiful voice, and I made sure to tip her for that. You know me, I love water, so going for a short, lingering ride around the glimmering blue pool while seeing all the lights at night was a joy. Mom enjoyed it a lot, too!

This is one of my favorite pictures of us from the trip! I also paid $40 at the end to get a printed copy of a “professional” photo they took of us while we were coming back in; the lady had a legitimate camera so I thought it would be super quality, but it actually wasn’t any better than these photos we took. But they put it in an adorable, themed frame that will always remind me of the gondola ride!!

Here’s a glimpse inside the Venetian casino when we were trying to find Black Tap.

After that, we called it a night! Or headed back to the hotel, at least.

This was inside Harrah’s Hotel at the back to get on the monorail.

It was really an elegant place with these super LONG hallways and escalators! We met a nice guy out here on business we were chatting with about things we did either on our way back or out here.

Sketchy Story #3

I thought I had three sketchy stories to share with you all, but I was only remembering two until just the other day thinking about this part of the trip where another instance occurred—nothing ended up happening, but it made us feel unsettled, and we were definitely ready to be done with Vegas and go back to sheltered Iowa, which is not a bad thing. I pray for everyone to be sheltered in a way where they always feel safe. An older kid jumped over the bar to enter the monorail where you scan your ticket and set off an alarm, but nobody came and did anything about it… It reminds me of the lawlessness in so many cities…and it’s not right. He kept to himself, though, but we definitely wanted that train to come fast.

We had another great view of the Sphere! It was so cute looking like an emoji!!

This is such a beautiful pool… I really don’t understand why pools in Las Vegas (that aren’t specifically nightclubs) aren’t open into the evenings.

We really loved where we stayed and enjoyed everything we got to do, which was pretty much everything I’d wanted to. I am so thankful Mom went with me and was such a good sport about everything! I’ll always cherish these photos. She even got us these matching shirts before we left!

Look at her enjoying the view one last time. 😂❤️

Day 5: Flying Home to Iowa

Leaving the Flamingo Hotel

We had to get up early the next morning. Unfortunately, as I was taking a shower the night before, my throat started feeling super scratchy and sore, and it only worsened the next morning. That’s a way to end the trip! We got up early around seven to be at the airport before our flight around 9:45. We would have a little less than an hour for a layover in Denver, which I was excited to see briefly. We used our new bags as personal items, and we needed them for all the stuff we bought.

We had stopped at this super cheap magnet/clothing store they have a bunch of throughout the Strip. I seriously got a cute shirt for like $5!!

Ride to the Airport

Arranging a ride that I had booked round-trip with a private sedan went much better this time. I actually freaked out when we got back from the Grand Canyon because their site was down and we hadn’t received any information about who would be picking us up. I was able to chat with their customer service, though, and we got it resolved beforehand. We didn’t have any issues finding this guy, haha. He was nice and quiet, and we enjoyed taking in our last sights of Vegas. It looked beautiful at sunrise, too.

Seeing the Strip from the back showed just how massive the hotels are. I also thought this hotel was interesting with how the windows and rooms curved inward!

This tunnel we went through was cool!

Flight from Las Vegas to Denver

Navigating the airport was much better this time, but I felt like complete crap. We hadn’t ate anything yet so once we got settled at our gate, we searched out some food.

We saw the bunny in a much more pleasant context this time! If only I hadn’t have felt sick.

Mom loves Auntie Anne’s pretzels, and I tried these birthday confetti ones, but I wasn’t a huge fan. I ate some but just didn’t feel the best, which probably played a role, too.

Mom let me wear and then gave me one of her new jackets ’cause I was cold, of course!

I love that her Vegas bag matched her carry-on!

Another TV! I ended up watching No Hard Feelings on the flight there, which I didn’t quite finish since it was a shorter flight, and I don’t recommend it because I lost brain cells.

I had a really good window!

I’m posting the below photo for Kirsten!!!!! Kirsten, text me when you see this and die laughing 🤣

I have the coolest videos of us taking off and getting such an incredible view of the Strip. I’ll save it for the vlog!! In the meantime, I tried to look out my window periodically—I was really hoping to see the Grand Canyon and/or the Hoover Dam, and I could have for all I know, but everything looks different from that high up. I wanted to try to relax to a movie and get settled, too.

It was great seeing the mountainous terrain in the daylight.

Here we’re over Lake Mead. I’m not sure which part is the lake and where it connects with the Colorado River.

Now we’re over Arizona.

This actually could be the Grand Canyon according to the photo coordinates. The winding ravine is so cool.

We’re sandwiched in between the national park and along the west rim, so I can’t tell if we’re slightly aways from the ravine of the canyon or not.

I think we’re still aways from the canyon itself, but this looks like it could be.

We are over the Grand Canyon right here, I believe!! It definitely looks that way with the ridges and grooves and slight river running through the bottom.

We’re around Horseshoe Bend right here! I definitely want to get out there someday, too. This is also next to Lake Powell.

This is over Glen Canyon.

This says it’s over Utah!!

Now we’re over Colorado. The snow-capped mountains were gorgeous.

I can’t believe how the mountains have little lakes atop them!

Look at that bright green lake off to the right and center of the photo.

Here’s Denver!!

I was surprised how rural and like Iowa it could look.

What the heck are these?! Crop circles!!

Layover in Denver

We were hungry by the time we landed in Denver, so we decided to sprint our way down to a McDonald’s. We only had 50 minutes to find our connecting flight, which wasn’t far from where we entered, but the McDonald’s was still a good walk away!! It’s such a beautiful airport.

We would walk along these to get there as fast as possible. 🤣

This was so cool!

Flight from Denver to Des Moines

The McDonald’s hit the spot, even though that probably wasn’t the best for my throat. It made me feel good, at least. We did make the flight just in time to board, and it was nice not having to wait long. I watched another movie on the way home that was kinda bizarre and creepy, so I felt like I lost even more brain cells.

We saw a lot of rural countryside flying out of Denver.

I still can’t get over the circles. I need to research them and their purpose.

Back in Iowa with all our dumb windmills!

I can’t believe how low we got to the ground as we came in for landing!

We had to wait for a shuttle, and I was MISERABLE by this point. I couldn’t wait to go home, see my pets (and the rest of my family…😉), get in bed, and make a nest.

The planes do come in low! This freaked us out as we were leaving ’cause it seemed to land almost on the road!

WILLY LAID IN BED WITH ME!!!

Here’s Binxie rifling through my room.

Wow, what a journey! Thank you SO much for following along! I thank God for it.

Trip Takeaways and Round-Up

I’m going to make this brief and concise since you’ve all been troopers to read this far. The biggest thing I learned is that you HAVE to live in the moment and not compare to anything to enjoy life. This has been a long time learning and will probably never go away completely, but the more I obsessed about my expectations for the trip versus reality or worried about getting photos as nice as what I’d seen on Pinterest, the more my joy was shaken. It’s key to be flexible in life. There may be unexpected surprises that blow you away in the best ways. You won’t enjoy anything if you hold onto it so tightly.

And comparison is seriously a waste of time. They’re JUST PICTURES. Yes, wanting them is fine to capture the moments, but you have to be IN the moments, too. You can’t take them with you when you die, and if you want them for the memories, then who really cares how they look compared to someone else’s or how good you look? See, my generation has this problem where we say we want pictures for the memories, but we also want them for the ‘gram (Instagram) and a whole bunch of psychological reasons—to make ourselves look and feel good, to brag about our lives and travels and make others jealous the way we’ve been made envious of others, to keep up with the “good life,” to get attention and praise. That is a waste of your life. There is freedom in not caring what others think and not needing anyone else’s recognition.

Another huge takeaway is how much I thank God for the life I’ve had. I think it is so true that in many cases, you never know how valuable something is until you’re forced to see it from another perspective. Growing up in Iowa my whole life, I never really knew any different. My family wasn’t huge on traveling, mainly because we didn’t have a lot of discretionary income for that. Places like Des Moines and Estherville/Okoboji were considered new and novel to me whenever we’d make trips to them. But there was nothing wrong with that. Again, as I got older, all the crap the devil does through Instagram got to me, making me think I needed to get out to bigger and better cities and things. I still want to travel, but this trip showed me the romance of the quiet, simple, and joy-filled small town life I have. It’s so funny; I realized I’ve always romanticized travel and getting out of Iowa, but the real romance came from where I was—how I have a great home that is relaxed and inviting and I’m blessed to see other sights but ultimately come back to my roots. That’s where the real romance is. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere but where I live, and I’m praying I can stay in this state once I graduate. (I used to be the complete opposite and wanted nothing more than to get a prestigious internship in NYC! God showed me that what He has for me is better.)

This trip was awesome but exhausting. I couldn’t do things like this all the time. And now, to answer Mom’s question, no, I could not be traveling for work every weekend. I’d burn out. Some people enjoy that lifestyle and more power to them, but it’s not for me. I finally don’t feel like I need to travel the ends of the earth to show how incredible my life is. My life has always been incredible and beautiful because God has been with me through it all. It was a blessing to take this trip and come back realizing that. I wasn’t missing anything, but it was a blessing to have experienced.

My Other Trips

Okay, I promised I’d do a little round-up of every trip I’ve been on and some brief takeaways/overarching themes from each. Feel free to click on these links to read about them much more in depth!

Orlando, Florida — My family went to Orlando for Hunter’s Make-a-Wish trip to swim with dolphins at Discovery Cove, and we did several other things, too, like visiting SeaWorld and other Disney parks that were incredible, and we went on a deep-sea fishing trip, which was unsuccessful, unfortunately, especially paying for it out-of-pocket, but it was a special trip!! You’ll appreciate how the posts get longer the more recent they are. 🥲 I learned how big and beautiful the world is and how every moment is a gift.

Ontario, Canada (part 1, part 2, part 3) — My dad has been coming up to a lodge in Ontario for years with different buddies and family to fish. It’s too intense for me now; my interests have evolved, but I loved it the first time we went together as a family. It taught me to trust God with all the unknown and appreciate new and different experiences that might turn out better than I think.

Alberta, Canada (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) — I’ve traveled to Canada more than I’ve traveled my own country, I think, but I don’t intend on going there again. This was the road trip my cousin Kir, aunt Corrine, mom, and me took up to Calgary and Banff, driving through North Dakota and Montana. It was one of my favorite trips ever, and I learned that to experience joy in life, no matter where you are, you have to be content in God and focus on Him, not letting yourself compare or be taken out of the moment you’re in.

Las Vegas, Nevada — Catch up on the whole series! (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)

Me Telling Mom How to Photograph

These photos are great. I thought I’d wait to compile them all at the end. Mom did great as a photographer overall!!

What I Bought

Here are all the pictures of things I bought I didn’t show you in any of the previous posts:

Well…that’s a wrap! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading! I hope more than anything, you know that God is greater than any trip, and He wants you to enjoy the life He has for you right now. There is beauty wherever you are, and He will show that to you as you walk with Him. Trips can be a wonderful blessing, as are many of His gifts, but the biggest blessing of all is knowing Him. None of these things, on their own, make life great or meaningful. He gives meaning to all our moments. I’m praying you realize that if you haven’t already.

I’m thankful planning my first trip went well! I’m looking forward to the next one, but I definitely feel a renewed sense of appreciation for life and all its moments and seasons, even the “mundane.” I want to seek Him wherever I’m at. The busyness of my life lately has robbed me of that, and I miss it. I’m excited to share more posts about Him and things He’s been helping me with over the years, and as far as travel content goes, I will be recapping my second trip to Las Vegas and Nashville in the months to come. Love you all!