Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hoover Dam

Usually when we go to Las Vegas, it's just the man and I, and we're usually there for a baseball tournament, or a grown up weekend away, so it's rare that we do any real touristy things.  On this trip though, we were meeting my mom and aunt who were on their way home from a trip to Idaho.  My mom was lucky enough to get a condo for the weekend, so she invited us up to meet them.  Since we had the whole crew, we decided this was the perfect time to visit the Hoover Dam.

The man, kid and I had never been there, and I was excited to see it.  Unfortunately, on the day we decided to go, they weren't giving tours, so all we could do was wander around and take pictures. 


Jackelope!  These cute? weird? things were for sale in the gift shop.  I'm pretty sure I checked the price, but I can't remember what they were.  They were really soft, but those antlers just make them look mean to me.



The whole place has a very art deco feel, which is fitting because it was completed in the 1930s.  It's always amazing to me that something like this that is so huge and complex could be created without all of our modern conveniences.  It was awe inspiring.


I don't remember what these winged men represent, but there are two of them - one on either side of the flag that flies at the monument to the dam.


This is a close up of one of the men.

All in all, we were there for about an hour, and it cost us less then 10 dollars to park.  I know I didn't get as much out of the visit as I would have if we had been able to take the tour, but I think I'll go back.  It was definately worth it.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Viva Las Vegas!

We went to Las Vegas for the weekend a couple weeks ago and one thing I love to do is visit the atrium at the Bellagio.  They change out the display for the seasons, and in March, they were all ready for spring.  The room was covered with all types of flowers. 

These two bicycles were leaning against the fence like someone just left them there while they went to have a picnic.

There were umbrellas painted like flowers hanging from the glass cceiling and bumble bees were flying among them.


They almost always have at least one water feature of some sort and this season they had this mama swan and her two babies floating through a river . . .

 and this boat full of flowers.

If we didn't like to gamble so much, I would love to live in Vegas.  Unfortunately, I think that the man and I would never see each other, and we would end up living in our cars :(.

On this trip, we also went to the Hoover Dam. The man, kid and I had never been there and two of us really appreciated it.  One of us liked it, but didn't appreciate it as much as the other two.  She was more interested in getting to the gift shop and back to the car with her grandma.