What I did on my summer vacation...

So, I was gone for a little while recently, did any of you notice? Noooooo...(warning: this is going to be a long post...as usual). :P

Sunday (September 18th) my mom and I headed out to Las Vegas for a week-long vacation and came back this past Monday morning. We stayed at the Sahara Hotel and Casino which held particular significance for my mom.

When we arrived we went to the desk clerk and asked for an upgrade. My mom figured she may as well give it a shot. My mom asked and the clerk in a somewhat snotty way asked 'Why do you want an upgrade? Is it your birthday? Let me guess, it's your first time here.' My mom responded 'No, I was here with my late husband almost 42 years ago for our honeymoon.'

Ten minutes and one upgrade later, we had a nice room with a view of the strip. ;)

We unpacked and went to the Wynn Resort and were duly unimpressed with the inside of the hotel. The grounds, however, are spectacular. There's a stunning pool, but you could only go down to the pool if you're a guest. We had a nice view of the pool since we ate dinner outside at one of the restaurants. A few couples tried to walk down to the pool, but a security guard popped out of nowhere and chased them away like they had the plague.

From what I've heard there's a golf course on the grounds that has unbelievably high green fees. If you're a guest at the hotel, the fee is $500; if you're not, then the fee is $1000.

Monday was spent shopping...what else? My mom and I hit an outlet mall and I got a nice blouse at Chico's . At least I think it's nice... Comments? . I also got a couple pair of running shoes at the Nike outlet, I couldn't pass up the price (two pair for under $70.00).

After that we were kind of tired so we went back to the hotel and changed and went to the buffet at the Bellagio Hotel . After dinner we watched the fountains outside the hotel. If you have ever been to Vegas, you know how spectacular it is. If you haven't, I highly recommend (if you're in the area) to see it. The fountains are set to music and, I believe, go off every 15 minutes starting at 6:30pm.

Tuesday was spent...shopping, we went to the Boulevard Mall and did some more damage. I got a couple pairs of earrings and that was pretty much it for the *several* hours we were there. We went to the Grand Luxe Cafe for dinner and had a nice salad. The portions there are HUGE, so we each had an appetizer size salad and that was more than enough. After dinner we went here and had an *amazing* coffee.

Wednesday we took a break from shopping and instead went from hotel to hotel, looking at all the changes that had taken place since we were there last year. It's unbelievable how much things change in a year. We went to the Bellagio buffet for lupper (lunch/supper) since we both had a light breakfast.

On our way out I heard a helicopter flying low overhead and thought it was odd that one would just be hovering. We then turned a corner and we both noticed several ambulances, fire trucks and police cars lining the strip. Upon closer inspection, the police had roped off a huge section of the strip.

A hotel worker came out and I asked her what had happened. Apparently someone had driven their car (deliberately) into a group of tourists who were crossing the street. It was unbelievable. I don't think I've ever seen that many rescue vehicles in one spot at the same time. It's utterly amazing that more people didn't die.

Thursday we went shopping again! Surprise, surprise. We went to a large mall on the strip and walked around for a few hours. I *almost* bought a necklace to match my criss-cross earrings and bracelet, but that's a story for another day. Never shop here if you want to keep your sanity...or what you have left of it. I was treated *SO* shabbily there that I've vowed never to step foot in there again. We went back to the Venetian for dinner and had a salad again. :P

Friday was spent at Caesar's Palace and walked around the Forum Shops. The shops are amazing, and totally overpriced, but the merchandise is nice to look at :P I think the Forum Shops is the only place where they have a spiral escalator. It was truly breathtaking to see.

Friday night was spent at the Mirage Hotel for a buffet dinner and we went to see Ray Romano in concert. He was funny, but his opening act was better than he was.

Saturday we wanted to take it easy, so we went to a resort and walked around and did...what else but SHOP! I went into another Chico's store and got, yet another, blouse (which, unfortunately I can't find on their site but it's a gorgeous red silk shirt).

Saturday night we went to the Stardust and saw Chicago for almost two glorious hours. They're utterly amazing in concert (and sound exactly as they do on their cd's). Since it was such a small venue, they were mingling with the crowd which was pretty neat.

Sunday was spent packing/eating...packing/eating. Since it was our last day in Vegas we went to the Bellagio buffet again for an early dinner and then it was off to the airport.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:15pm and get into Toronto at 6:37am. Unfortunately our plane was late leaving and didn't take off until midnight and we landed in Toronto after 7:30. We had a bumpy flight in since we came in during a lashing rainstorm, but overall the flight was alright.

I'd make this post much longer, but I'm sure not many of you are actually reading all of this and I didn't want to bore you all to tears. I might add my run-in at Robinson's May at a later date, when I'm not so annoyed about it. ;)