I’m so excited to finally share my trip recaps to Las Vegas (again) and Nashville next!! These next couple posts are going to be all about Las Vegas with my cousin, Kir, and aunt Corrine. We went in January this time around, only a couple months after my trip with my mom, during the 4th-6th. Kir wanted to go on a trip for her birthday, which is the 5th. I was so grateful she asked me to tag along!! We invited my mom, too, but she was already heading back to school at this time and couldn’t take any more time off. I think she was content after our trip, too.

We would also end up spending a ton of time with one of our relatives, Aimee, a cousin to my aunt Corrine and mom, who lives in Las Vegas! Aimee is one of the sweetest people around and made our trip so special; she did so much for us and we had a wonderful time with her!

This would be a much shorter trip compared to my mom’s and my five-day trip, but we flew in EARLY on Friday and left late Sunday, and I’m glad Kir booked the flights that way because you pretty much need that time to be able to explore fully. We did a lot of things that my mom and I did but were still fun and unique because we went shortly after Christmas, so a ton of stuff was still decorated for the holidays, and we also did some new stuff, too! I thank God for every experience I get to travel and see new things in life, and I can’t wait to recap this trip for you. I won’t take *quite* as long as the previous recap; I hoped to knock it out in one post, but with the number of images I have, that is impossible. There will be three posts for basically three days out there, but some days we did more than others. Here’s a breakdown of each post:

• Part 1: most of day one, recapping driving up to Kir’s, our super early flight where we got to see a SUNRISE that was beautiful, Aimee picking us up from the airport and taking us to In-N-Out and then Red Rock, driving down to the Strip and exploring the Paris hotel and Bellagio conservatory decorated for CHRISTMAS!
• Part 2: the end of day one and most of day two, recapping checking in at our hotel, the Mirage, walking the Strip at sunset, shopping at The Forum Shops, which were also decorated for Christmas, walking the Strip at night and seeing the Bellagio fountain up close and personal finally, walking the Strip the next day and shopping at Fashion Show Mall, exploring the Bellagio shops, eating at Eggslut and exploring the Cosmopolitan hotel, and Kir’s birthday
• Part 3: the rest of day two and day three, recapping eating at Gilly’s, a ridiculous purchase I made, walking down the Strip the other way at night and exploring a newer hotel on the Strip, the incredible Luke Bryan concert Aimee took us to, exploring the Wynn hotel, eating at Secret Pizza, designer shopping and shopping at a Ross on the Strip, exploring the New York hotel and its chocolate factory, going to the airport and flying home at night, and getting back to the Twin Cities—I also will be sharing what I’d like to still do in Las Vegas in the future and what I bought this time around and a brief note on what this trip taught/meant to me

Alright, let’s jump into it and I’ll explain more as we go!

The Night Before

Leaving for Kir and Corrine’s in Minnesota

Corrine and Kir live in Minnesota so we would be flying out of Minneapolis. I drove up to Corrine’s house, left my car there, and then we drove to Kir’s since she lives around the Cities, and I didn’t want to go through traffic up there. My mom thinks I’ll die, and I guess I don’t want to risk that. I know it’s not pleasant driving, though, ’cause my dad and grandpa, who drove through it a lot, hated it. It worked out well because Corrine’s is only a couple hours away and she needed to get up there, too. I was so excited but it didn’t feel real until the next morning! I was happy to take my new Kate Spade purse along for this trip I got on sale in the fall.

I said goodbye to my precious pets!!! This is how they were as I left.

Driving to Kir’s

The drive up there was good and uneventful. Thankfully, the roads weren’t bad with snow or anything, but it ended up being a gloomy day as I drove. I ended up calling several people along the way because I got so bored; it was about five hours from my house to Corrine’s. I followed GPS the whole way, which went well. I filled my car up with gas once I got into Corrine’s town, too, since it was almost empty and so it’d be ready for my drive back. Corrine was ready to go when I got there. We helped each other get our stuff into her car; I didn’t have too much besides my carry-on. She worried she was going to forget stuff, which she ended up doing, but it was fine; we didn’t realize it until later, and she got the essentials.

On the way up, Corrine told me how she’d actually had a busy, long day at work and then Kir said she had, too, so they weren’t really in vacation mode yet. I was blessed that I was on my LAST month-long holiday break from school…but the drive wore me out. You can see the Cities on the tip of the horizon here. We didn’t actually go into them, but there is a way you can go through them to get to Kir’s house. The drive was good, and I enjoy talking to Corrine.

At Kir’s House

When we got to Kir’s, we relaxed for a little bit and spent time with her dog, Cannon, a Corgi. He was full of it and happy to see us! That’s when Corrine realized she forgot the bag she was going to use as her carry-on because she’d just thrown what she needed in trash bags and was going to transfer it tonight. Kir’s boyfriend had a big duffel bag he thought would suffice as a carry-on because he’d used it flying this airline before. We also made plans for dinner; they wanted to get pizza at a local place they like, and I was disappointed because I was craving Chick-fil-A from not being in Ames anymore, but the pizza was good.

Going to Target and Picking Up Pizza

We ran to Target to kill some time before picking up the pizza, and the girls had to get their mini toiletries for the flight. They had tons of Valentine’s Day stuff out, so I had to buy my favorite gigantic Reese’s peanut butter heart for a snack later. We also found a sale shelf with tons of cute journals and blankets; we all got this same fuzzy pink blanket that was only a couple dollars, and then they hit some of the other stuff hard, too. I really haven’t wanted to shop at Target anymore ever since what happened last summer, but I really liked this blanket—I’m always cold, I need them—and couldn’t resist my heart.

Back at the house, we watched The Holdovers, which Corrine saw in theaters not too long beforehand. That was a cute show, and I enjoyed eating the pizza watching it.

We kept going back and forth on if we should even go to bed or not since we’d need to get up literally around three. They finished packing and I got my pajamas on to get ready, even if I just laid on the couch. Cannon kept going crazy and sprinting all over the house, and Corrine, who was laying on the futon next to the couch, kept getting trampled by him—he literally almost made her fall out at one point, which was hilarious; he really likes her. I had Kir take my picture with my matching luggage! I’ve always thought someday it would be fun to walk through an airport in these pajamas with my luggage, but I don’t think I could garner the nerve to do that.

Kir bought this new satin pillowcase while we were at Target so we’d have covers for our pillows, and I slept on this couch in the living room.

I was tired after a full day of driving so I was ready to lay down. It ended up being one a.m. when we all decided to try and sleep for a while, meaning we’d only get like two hours of sleep!

Kir left her Christmas tree on out there, so we had a nice golden glow lighting the room that was comforting. I had a little bit of trouble falling asleep because I didn’t take this pill I normally do that helps me stay asleep during the night since I knew we’d be getting up in only two hours, and that pill can have a “hangover” effect where it would continue to make me tired. Here’s Corrine under her blanket!

Day 1: Flying to Las Vegas at Sunrise, Meeting Aimee, Welcome Sign, Red Rock Canyon, Exploring the Strip & More

Getting the Uber

I woke up when Kir came out; they both set alarms. It was a little after three in the morning. I laid on the couch for a little bit as they were discussing when Kir should place the ride for an Uber to take us to the airport because we’d need to factor in the time it would take for them to come over. I gradually started getting up once she placed it and we had about 15 minutes. Well, next thing I know, I’m just pulling my jeans on when Kir says he’s here and they start taking stuff out. I had no top on and they started going out the door; I thought they were leaving me. I’m always the last one to get ready even when we get up at the same time! I quickly pulled the rest of my clothes on and just threw a hat on since I hadn’t brushed my hair or teeth or anything; I figured I could do all that once we got to the airport. I only took my luggage with me and hurried out with them. Our guy was pretty nice; Corrine sat up front with him and I sat in the back with Kir. Here’s the first pic of the day from 3:39 a.m.:

Driving to the Minneapolis Airport

It was so eerie how dead these normally INSANE streets were! There’s hardly a vehicle in sight here!

It was snowing a little bit, too. We were glad to be going somewhere a little warmer!

At the Minneapolis Airport and Checking In

Overall, it was a relaxing, quiet drive, but the airport wasn’t as dead. At first, when we got to the Sun Country gate, there weren’t too many people, but it was all opening up. I’d never heard of or flown Sun Country before; I guess they’re a Minnesota airline that is supposed to be along the likes of Allegiant with being “lower cost.” I don’t know how true that is because you get a “cheap” ticket initially and then pay for literally everything else. I had to pay $50 to check my bag, so in hindsight, I think they’re comparable to any other airline. Our agent actually did give Corrine a hard time about her bag and didn’t think it would fit, so they had to scramble out of line and try to get some stuff in Kir’s bag because she didn’t want to pay that. They were able to squish it down enough to get it to pass, but that got them frazzled.

It felt so surreal to be back in an airport again! I’d never been in the Minneapolis airport before. It was definitely much bigger than ours, and they still had some Christmas decorations up! I couldn’t wait to get going.

We started taking pictures! I’d seen photos of friends traveling together like this before and always wanted one myself, so it was cool to get to take pics with Kir like this. I’m so fortunate we have similar interests and that I’ve been in a position where I can travel a little bit more and she wants to take me on trips with her!!

I loved that my bags matched!

The line to go through TSA stretched clear back over a skywalk. I couldn’t believe how many people had early flights, but when you think of how early you have to check in, it makes sense. The line moved fast overall.

It’s interesting to see how airports do things differently. Our Des Moines airport doesn’t take long to get through, but this one had an area where a canine sniffed you as you walked through this open square-like perimeter, and there would be two people walking at the same pace, and you weren’t supposed to slow down or anything. It didn’t sniff me much, and we talked about how we hope they’re treated okay and not addicted to drugs or anything like you hear stories of to be able to detect them. I’m assuming that’s what the purpose of it was, anyway, but I didn’t look into it much.

I always thank God when we make it through TSA successfully because it can be nerve-wracking, but we didn’t have any issues. The airport was a lot less busy than when Mom and I were here last, and I felt nostalgic when I saw the general area where my mom and I had been! We sat down at our gate and relaxed for a while. I got my brush and deodorant out of my bag and tried to freshen up here. It was still dark out and I was waiting for when I could call my mom ’cause she’d be getting ready for work.

On our way to our gate, we stopped for some breakfast. I think Kir had a birthday Caribou coffee drink she got, and then I just found a general food store. I got a chocolate milk, banana, and chocolate chip cookie. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the cookie! That’s remarkable because I usually always love chocolate chip cookies, but I think it was too stale. I couldn’t even finish it, so I just had the banana and my milk, which wasn’t a ton but enough to get me through.

I was tired and wanted to try and sleep on the plane. We wouldn’t have any layovers so the flight would be a couple hours. I was also SO worried about getting sick and run down like what happened to me at the end of my last trip…

I finally called Mom! She was just getting ready in the bathroom and waking the animals up, and I got to see them follow her in there! Look at this angle and the hat, though…

On the Plane

The time went fast and soon we were on the plane! I couldn’t wait. Kir let me have the window seat on the way out.

I don’t know what I’m doing here, just taking a bunch of pictures while we waited, I guess… It did take some time for us to officially take off because of the cold weather; I think they had to hose down the wings or something like that to get the ice off.

Below, you can see Corrine’s duffel bag they had to fit under the seat haha! I’m thankful I only had my little purse to worry about.

We had a great view right behind the wing! We were closer to the back of the plane but still near the middle, which I like. It was still so dark but began brightening quickly as we got ready for takeoff. It looked like evening when my mom and I were taking off!

It was a nice, cozy environment on board.

Taking Off

By the time they got the plane cleaned off, the sky had lightened to grey, but it looked to be a cold, dreary day. City lights from the traffic were still abundant, and we could see patches of snow over the barren concrete. Good riddance!

I’ve always loved the sight of city lights. It reminds me of when we would go to Hunter’s doctor appointments at the crack of dawn in Des Moines, too, and I’d still be able to catch glimpses of them.

While we lingered over the cities for a minute, soon we went through the cloud cover and then…

…we were above all the cloud cover, almost in an atmosphere of our own, and we got to see a beautiful sunrise! I’ve always wanted to see a sunrise from an airplane, so praise God for this glimpse at His beauty!

I think we were traveling away from it, but looking back, I could see the most magnificent pastel colors I LOVE, like this bright, peachy pink and turquoise blue.

I’d never been above “the sky” (or what the sky looks like down below, anyway) like this! Seeing the tops of these clouds and feeling like we were literally riding on top of them and their texture was so awesome! They almost look like mountains!

Eventually, the pastel colors lined the entire horizon around us and grew in saturation and size. It was beautiful.

Like, look at this color palette. These are some of my favorites: the light and neon pinks, minty blue, butter yellow…

I got a glass of water and this cute napkin with swans. Corrine had no problem falling asleep; Kir and I were being evil and putting objects in front of her face to see if she’d wake up and laughing our heads off. Kir also put a body lotion with the cap off under her nose—that still didn’t wake her up, so then she stuck her arm out and moved it in front of her, which finally startled her…I don’t think I got her best reaction on video, but we did that several times.

Colorado

Going over Colorado, we saw some neat sights with mountains and canyons—this time covered in snow. This reminds me of the Grand Canyon!

I had a hard time falling asleep because of the light streaming through the window, and I didn’t want to shut it in case any spectacular views showed up. Plus, Kir kept talking to me because she said she couldn’t sleep. Nevertheless, I did nap for a little bit when Kir took this picture, but I had to laugh because I startled awake when my head kind of fell, and I always laugh when that happens to my mom or grandparents while they’re “resting their eyes.” I didn’t fall asleep after that even though I tried.

Arizona

The mountains and rocks are starting to get more red! It was quite sunny as we headed west.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

We’re approaching the city below as we descended over the Lake Mead recreation area.

I could actually see the lake this time as we flew over! It was crazy to see the water sprawling between mountainous junctions since it’s supposedly drying up. It is a big lake!

I couldn’t wait to land. Even though it was only around 10 their time, I was starving and ready to get off the plane. I kept seeing things in the distance that looked like the Strip but weren’t.

There it is! I didn’t get to see the Strip from the air when Mom and I flew in because it was so dark.

Las Vegas Airport

So much of this came back to me once we landed! I kept feeling melancholy without my mom since we had been there last! I remembered all these slot machines out in the center. We started walking for a little bit as Kir got in touch with Aimee, and I can’t wait for you to “meet” her soon!! She was so kind to come pick us up from our flight; other transportation costs like $50. We started walking around while we waited to find a meeting spot and then got lost, too…but Aimee was not rude like that guy Mom and I had, thank God! I wasn’t a big help directing them because this airport still confuses the crap out of me. We got a nice walking tour of it while we tried to find the spot.

I love this sign!

We took a tram again or whatever those little cars are that move within the airport. That was fun.

I didn’t see this part of the airport before down by the baggage claim, but it was neat.

Seeing this painted on the floor was so cool!

Meeting Aimee and Going to the Las Vegas Welcome Sign on the Strip

We did finally make it outside where people were picking up passengers, and Aimee was able to find out where we were and ask one of the (thankfully nice) employees around how to get to us, so it wasn’t too bad. We were all so excited to see her! I had seen Aimee several times at my grandparents’ house growing up, but it had been numerous years since then. She is one of the sweetest people ever who will do anything for anyone as evidenced by all she did with us on this trip. She is so fun and we had a wonderful time exploring with her. I couldn’t imagine this trip without her! Even though she lives in Vegas, she said she doesn’t always get to explore the Strip much because locals try to avoid it and the rest of her family doesn’t always want to go down there, so she was happy to take us around and visit the tourist attractions with us.

We started making a little game plan for what we wanted to do throughout the day because she would still need to pick her kids up from school—all the more reason why she was so kind to make time for us! Her husband is a pilot and was coming back from a long flight. I definitely wanted to eat right away, and we were going to try In-N-Out, which I was so excited for, but then Kir wanted to see the Las Vegas sign at the end of the Strip, so we decided to do that first. It was fun driving into the Strip again and seeing what I remembered!

The sign is at the beginning of the Strip (I guess it’s beginning in my mind, down by Mandalay Bay, but from a directional standpoint, I don’t know what side it is haha). I was shocked how much of a line there was for it! It’s actually a very interesting area that’s embedded between the road almost. On opposite sides of these green gates is the road, and they had this enclosed parking lot between it, too. My first reaction getting out of the car was dying in the cold…it was in the 50s and sunny, thankfully, but it was windy! I only had a shacket, a very flimsy button-up sherpa jacket from PINK, that I brought. That’s usually what I wear when it’s 50-something, but I wished I brought my winter coat. Kir thought it was beautiful because it was better than Minnesota, but I missed the signature desert heat. I just tried to hold myself and willed the line to move fast…

It is a neat sign! I’m glad we got to see it. Mom and I didn’t come down because it was a long ways from where we were, and neither of us thought it was a necessity, but I’m glad we got some cool pics with it this time. The line did move at an okay pace. If the weather is nice, then I think it’s worth the wait; otherwise, there are all sorts of cool trademark sights to find all over the Strip.

Yep, here I am with my arms crossed.

I’m shocked we got a picture without any people in the background because there were certainly people milling all over! Everyone was pretty respectful, though, which was nice. Someone even took our pictures so all four of us could be in them, which I’m grateful for. There were even some police officers in line on their break, I think!

I LOVE the filter Kir put on this photo!

From left to right, if you haven’t already, meet Kir, me, Corrine, and Aimee! I’m so grateful to God for this experience with them!!

Lunch at In-N-Out Burger

My favorite part—I couldn’t wait to eat!!! Especially here; Mom and I ran out of time to eat here. Aimee put it in her GPS and we went to one off the Strip because I said you have to walk to the one on the Strip; it’s on the Linq’s promenade. This one was across one of the main freeways going along the Strip by Allegiant Stadium. It is such a cute place reminiscent of McDonald’s but more retro and west-coast feeling.

THIS is where Mom and I should have ate instead of dumb Wahlburger’s!!! Look at this price! No other fast food restaurant can beat it!! I stuck with a simple cheeseburger and fries meal.

It was WONDERFUL! Of course, I love fast food, so it’s hard to disappoint me there. The fries weren’t the softest if I remember right, but I still enjoyed them, and the burger was great. If only we had them here!

I love the background of this! We weren’t far from the Strip at all; that’s New York in the background.

Red Rock Canyon

Since we couldn’t check into our hotel until four, we had time to do some stuff. Aimee was happy to take us out to Red Rock Canyon, which is about an hour from the city, I guess. This is what I confused the Grand Canyon with. This is a national preservation area with beautiful mountainous terrain that looks red, hence the name. We didn’t drive too deep into this—I imagine there is SO much to see, but I loved the little bit we did.

We all had a good time talking and catching up on everything new in our lives. I told Aimee about welcoming our new cat, Binx, which I still need to tell all of you about! Suffice it to say that he is one of the most precious animals on planet earth alongside my dog. We also started seeing some fancy houses on the way out that reminded me of the types of houses you see pictures of in Los Angeles!

It was crazy seeing the mountains so close on the horizon again like in Alberta!

It was also crazy seeing residential life so close to the mountains in the valley, like this student driver and nice gated community. Aimee said she lives in a community similar to the one pictured near the mountains, and she told us how dusty it can be being that close to the mountains! I wouldn’t have guessed that but it makes sense. It’s so fascinating to think about living in different climates and around different sorts of nature.

Okay, I don’t actually smile this possessed; I don’t know why I chose to include this photo in the post but here you go… We ended up stopping in this ritzy little neighborhood for gas. I have a video that shows the different kind of architecture, which was neat to see.

These Terrible’s are very common around here, and it was so fun to see! Aimee got gas and we went inside to peruse some snack food.

They had Krispy Kreme donuts inside!! Kir was thrilled, and we got some for breakfast/snacks.

We’re finally starting to drive into Red Rock! Like I said earlier, we started seeing more “Vegas mansions” as I called them off in the distance in cookie-cutter rows as we got closer to the mountains.

For our first stop, we pulled over by the entrance sign to explore and get some pictures. There were other people doing the same thing, but it wasn’t too crowded. You can see some faint outlines of the houses in the distance, but look at this stunning view!!

I think I’m pointing at a tumbleweed I saw skitter across the road! And bless Aimee’s heart for letting me wear one of her winter coats she had in the car—she wore another one she had while we were there, too, so it wasn’t just me dying!

I had a cute white shirt I was wearing underneath my shacket, but this is pretty much the entire outfit I wore on this whole trip because I was too cold otherwise. I hated how it looked with my white Chanel hat (not a real one, haha) because it looked so country, which was fine and perfect for these photos, but then in the city, I didn’t like how it looked, but what are you gonna do? I wasn’t about to freeze for pictures.

Freeze babies unite!

We got back in the car and drove farther into it.

There’s the red!!

It just keeps going! If it had been nicer like in the spring or summer, I would love to go back and go deeper into it. I’m also thankful there were big ditches to park in for pictures; we stopped here, too.

Kir got right to work bringing to life a vision for photos.

This is just the prettiest backdrop.

It’s like we’re out in the boonies!

This reminded me of Montana.

My family watched Yellowstone all fall, and I started getting into it a lot over my break. I felt like a “Yellowstone girly” in these photos… It’s crazy that all this exists right outside of the city! Las Vegas is a neat place; there’s really something for everyone.

I’m thankful we had beautiful weather again!

It would have been fun to hike up here! Kirsten got SO excited when she thought she saw a cactus…

We had fun getting photos here! Corrine does such a nice job taking photos, too; Kir has trained her well.

We had to hurry a couple times, though, as cars would come!

We saw more houses out here! It makes me curious if there are any celebrities out here because I think Corrine made a comment about that once that someone is supposed to have a place around here.

This is SO beautiful and was at the end of this road before it curved. We stopped here, too.

I’m not exactly sure what this little area we came up on was—it looks like a little residential area of some sort. This is as far as went, but like I said, with more time and warmer weather (for me, anyway), I would love to come back and explore and research more on this area. I still want to go back to Nevada numerous times, even to Vegas, and explore different things. At the end of this series, I’m going to share some things still on my bucket list for this area.

We stopped once more on the way back!

Here are some closer pictures of the homes.

We passed a nice hotel resort they have out here by the area, too, that would be neat to stay in!

Kir loves to take pics in my sunglasses.

Back on the Las Vegas Strip: Paris Hotel

We made our way back to the Strip, and since Aimee still had time before her boys got out of school, she decided to park in one of the huge hotel ramps they have and we would walk and explore for a while. I spotted the Flamingo hotel right away!!

We were going to start exploring from the Paris hotel, which is in a good central Strip location.

It’s still mind-boggling how huge and grand everything is.

Of course, it had a MASSIVE parking ramp with these big hills just to get up inside them.

We got a great view of the Sphere! My mom still loves the Sphere; she always sees things on X about it she shares.

I couldn’t wait to explore again! I was shocked how much of it seemed familiar to me after just one visit.

These entryways are massive in their own right. I don’t know how you’d even begin to lay these things out; they can be like a maze.

The Paris hotel is one of my favorites; I love the interior design with the faux blue sky and shops and landscaping inside that makes it feel elegant and chic like Paris.

Corrine loves to photobomb!

This crosses right over into the Horseshoe nearby. Corrine tried her hand at gambling here! I even helped a little…

I’m pretty sure we’re in the Horseshoe casino here…but we could also be in the Bellagio casino because we walked through there a lot, too, but not a ton on the first day, and I was only wearing this white hat the first day… I love how I have to be a historian tracing when photos were taken when they don’t have the right date…

I LOVE THESE LIGHTS!

I still think it would be fun to have rooms up here!

This Vanderpump place they have several of in the Strip hotels was BEAUTIFUL! It had that ethereal, whimsical garden decorating that I now envision for my wedding someday (pray I get married soon…I’m struggling having faith with that in all honesty haha).

Even their casino looks elegant.

This reception/check-in area blew me away because it looks like something out of a castle. Have any of you been in a real castle? That’s something I’d like to do one day, too.

Bellagio Hotel and Botanical Gardens and Conservatory—Christmas Themed!

We walked out through the Paris hotel entrance I remembered from being there with Mom (that’s when she got her picture with the streetwalkers, haha) that leads out to the Strip. Right across the street is the grand Bellagio hotel! I told them about the free botanical gardens that are a sight to behold and how they change for each season, so I couldn’t wait to see how they’d look now. We made our way over there next.

Even though it was the beginning of January, the Strip was still busy! I don’t think it was quite as packed as when Mom and I were there, but it was still bustling.

I love this backdrop on the Strip!

BEHOLD! It was still decorated for Christmas!!! I know my mom would have loved this, but I got plenty of pictures and videos for her. It absolutely blows me away how they design every detail to such a grand, beautiful scale.

It was Nutcracker themed!!

This bunny was so cute.

The Bellagio does not skimp on luxury. It looks like a palace in its own right.

I love all the giant ornaments. They had a cute train circling one of the trees, too, that made us think of our grandpa, who has an amazing train room he created after his long career working for the railroad!

This mural is incredible, and I love the holiday, homey feel it has.

We wandered into the Bellagio beyond this conservatory, which Mom and I did not do, and right behind it, there is a gift shop with this chocolate fountain Aimee wanted to see! It was pretty incredible!

I absolutely loved the Christmas landscaping, but I think the fall landscaping is still my favorite. What do you think? Mom and I visited in the fall here. I’d love to see it at every season—I need to see spring and summer yet! You can’t go wrong whenever you visit, that’s for sure.

After that, we walked back to the Paris hotel to the car. Poor Aimee got honked at as we were trying to leave by some dingbat who couldn’t see she was having issues with the machine! I hate when people honk for senseless reasons like that, as if it’s going to change anything. We got out okay, though, and bless her heart for paying for whatever that cost ’cause I know it wasn’t free! We weren’t on the Strip too long, though. She was going to drop us off at our hotel, the Mirage, next, and then meet up with us later after picking up her kids.

And that’s where we’ll end this post! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse into our trip so far; there is much more to come! In the next post, I’ll finish recapping this day by sharing tons of pretty pictures of the beautiful Mirage, which will no longer exist as we saw it because the Hard Rock bought it! Some of my favorite pictures also came from when we walked the Strip at sunset later that evening, and we explored The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, which were also still transformed for Christmas, and then we kept walking the Strip at night and got a stunning up-close view of the Bellagio fountain show! I’ll also begin sharing some of what we did our second day, including exploring the Strip again and Fashion Show Mall not far from our hotel, which I had not been to before and had SO many cool stores, and we also stopped in some Bellagio stores on the way to the Cosmopolitan, where we ate lunch at Eggslut. It was also Kir’s birthday and we bought her a birthday sash, so stay tuned for all that.

Thank you so much for following along! I hope you all have an incredible Fourth of July! I ended up having the day off today because of all the flooding at the Lakes, where I’m working again, so I am able to get this post out. Definitely stay safe with all that’s going on in the world. I’m glad I was finally able to get this series going to reconnect with you all again. Leave a comment letting me know what’s new in your life and any travel/adventures you’ve done lately!