Man...all the days are running together now and I started to think I need to start taking notes while we do things so I can keep it straight!
Our day started in Kingman, AZ with a wonderful continental breakfast followed by swimming. Then, off again. 2 hour drive or so to The Hoover Dam. It was impressive, but we were so hot and sweaty (about 100 degrees and mostly in the sun) so we were having some trouble appreciating the magnificence of this man-made work of art. We took a tour down under - the shorter version because Emma barely met the cut off for the other tour (you have to be 8) and she was still pretty physically tired from hiking the Grand Canyon only the day before (I guess that would be yesterday....). We went out over the bridge as well.
If you're into all the technology and mechanics, then the tour is right for you. If you're claustrophobic and couldn't care less about caves and such, don't bother. I'm sure the longer one would have held my attention more...but knowing we were so far down under all that water was a bit difficult. Honestly, for me, seeing it from the car and doing some research on the internet about it would have been sufficient. Schuyler seems incredibly interested and he was Sean's shadow the entire time, talking about lots of things. Emma and I read some placards (but surprisingly not all of them...shows how tired she was!). We talked about lots of things like the people who went there to work and such. She's more humanitarian where Schuyler is more about the technology. This was right up Schuyler's alley, so I'm super glad we incorporated that into the trip!
Then back to the van, and off again, on the way to Las Vegas (with a stop at Subway 'cause we were starving and out of bread for our typical PB & nutella).
Finally arrived amid lots of crazy traffic. Valet parked the van (where we forgot the sunscreen, but fortunately for pasty boy Sean, he married a control freak who wants to be prepared for all, and even though things are unscheduled and no lists were made, she still managed to have extra sunscreen tucked into her purse AND into one of the bags that she usually carries with the kids to various places....again I ask...how do you like me know? )
Got to the room after a lengthy check in and confusing path to elevators. I get that they want people to gamble, I just wish it was easier to bypass the casino part, especially since this hotel was geared toward the family clientele. The casino wouldn't actually be that bad if it didn't smell...I just don't handle smells very well, especially cigarette smoke. Oh well. For the most part the room doesn't smell, except for the room with the toilet (yes, I didn't say bathroom, because the toilet is separate and someone was hiding in there to smoke, apparently). The hotel is swanky! The room is large, a shower with separate deep tub, double vanity with sinks. Pretty neat :) 27th floor, overlooking the strip.
The water park area is pretty neat - there's sand like it's a beach, and a four pools. The first is a kiddie pool, second is a regular pool they call Laguna and it's salt water. Third is a wave pool, which is pretty neat, you can body surf and stuff. Fourth is the lazy river, which was by far Emma's favorite. She enjoyed the waves too, but with so many people she had some trouble because she shouldn't have actually been in there - she isn't tall enough.
For dinner, since we were pretty hungry, we decided to spend the money to do the buffet right here at Mandalay Bay. It was really nice - all kinds of different foods so everyone was pretty catered to. Sean had all the meat and seafood he could eat and I had lots of deserts (because I am the one who knows what's truly important...). Emma was thrilled to find cooked carrots - she loves carrots but can only eat them cooked now because of the braces. Schuyler found corn on the cob and had seconds.
Then it was on to the strip. We didn't go too far...in terms of the strip, but we were gone for hours and walked a LOT. We saw Excaliber - the hotel that is a fairy tale/castle theme, but it's horribly stinky which is why Sean didn't get a room there for us - the reviews online were pretty poor in terms of the smell in the rooms. Again, sad, being a 'family friendly' hotel. We saw they one shaped like a pyramid all lit up with the light shining into the sky. We saw lots of others all lit up because it was dark out. We did two trams and still walked through many casinos (Monte Carlo was by far the worst smelling, it made my eyes water to walk through!). We were aiming for Bellagio, which was quite nice, and the water show out front with the fountains, set to music. It was pretty cool! Highly recommend that if you're in Las Vegas.
Going back to the room Sean finally had to put Emma up on his shoulders. Poor thing is just wiped out! Within about two minutes of hitting pillows both kids were sound asleep! Sean went out to play poker downstairs, so he's pretty happy with that. We plan to get up at 7:30 so we can hit the water park when it opens at 8, then be done by 9:30-10, get ready to move on and check out at 11. Looks like we're doing Death Valley tomorrow, but we haven't come up with a solid plan yet. Likely we'll skirt the northern part and move on toward Yosemite. We'll see in the morning.
Mileage today: 115 miles
Ave temp for our day: 100 F
Bottles of sunscreen: 1 wiped clean.
Sunburns anyway: all of us!
Will Sean ever get me back to Las Vegas: No. No. Not my cup of tea.
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