New York, Paris, Venice

This last weekend was our anniversary. And as customary we celebrated by going out of town. What an amazing trip. To New York, Paris, Venice and others, all in a three day weekend:) We went to Vegas!
Back in July, I wrote the following post.
I was all excited about the new adventure we would have. I now look silly talking about worldly destinations and ending up in Vegas. I am saying the following, not to brag, but as to not look like a fool. We do have a big trip planned for June but it is a once a year sort of thing that didn't fall on our anniversary date.
Back to my story...
We woke up sooooo early and flew to Vegas, without my sidekick. He stayed with his aunt Rachael. This is the very longest I have left him and up until I boarded that plane, I was not sure I was gonna go through with it. When we got there we had the wonderful buffet at our Hotel. I forgot all about the buffet aspect of Vegas. Crab legs for breakfast and a zillion other things. Yum. We finally got checked into our room around 11 and took a nap. After my nap we met up with my dad to explore the "Strip." No we did not bring my dad with us on our anniversary trip. Crazy coincidence, he ended up there that same weekend. He lives in Orange County so it's not like we knew the other was going. He was there for NASCAR. I'm laughing as I type the word. So the entire trip Josh and I played this game. It was called "NASCAR fan." It was simple. Whoever sees the NASCAR fan first, shouts or whispers it wins. I kicked trash, except the last day when I was in my wheelchair. From down there I couldn't tell and Josh did much better. But the NASCAR fan either had on NASCAR gear, hats, jackets, shirts, or totally looked like a redneck, or my favorite was cowboy boots, tight jeans and carrying his own case of bear while walking down the "Strip." He was too cheap to buy drink from the bars, he went to the local Wal-mart and brought his own case.
My dad is not the typical NASCAR fan but his boss gave him the tickets and paid for the trip.

As we were out exploring, I had several disappointments. 1) M&M Factory. Not what it used to be. It used to have huge tubes of every color of the rainbow M&M's. Not so much. Just a giant overpriced souvenir shop. 2) Coke Factory. Used to offer a tour for $2 that let you walk around learn about Coke and sample all the different products, including drinks from other countries, not found in the USA. No longer do that. Another crappy souvenir shop! Almost made me turn into a Pepsi fan.
However in the Caesars Palace F0rum Shops, there was an aquarium in which a man was scuba diving. There was this Shark he was holding. I was sure the shark hated it. Until the man tried to let him go and the shark didn't want to go. After a few minutes the shark did swim away only to come back moments later and swim right back into the mans arms, to be rubbed. That was the highlight of my afternoon.The other highlight of my day was the guys, hundreds of them, on the streets passing out nudey pictures. Another aspect I forgot Vegas had. Boy were Josh's eyes opened! Anyway they were my favorite for 2 reasons. 1) they had this cool technique of snapping the cards macking a loud rhythmic noise to catch your attention and I loved the noise. 2) When we were headed back we saw police cars with two of these guys in handcuffs on the ground. On top of the nudey magazine dispenser was quite a bit of marijuana in baggies and some coke. Not the kind from the afore mentioned stop. I saw a drug bust up close and personal and it was neato:)
So we explored and then Josh and I went to the Excalibur for the "Tournament of Kings" show.
It was super dorky and Josh loved it. He could not stop watching. It's dinner and a show and Josh couldn't take the time to eat. I finished my food and looked at his plate and he's maybe 30% done. It was too cute.
I had us sit in Norway's section, Since Josh is a big fan of Norway. What a wuss! Norway didn't last 2 seconds in the jousting or any other battle. Next time, Viva la France!

Here's our King. The king of Norway. Didn't know he was a 12 year old!
Great fun, just the same. We sure cheered our hearts out for this weakling.

I however really loved the muscle men put into the show.

At the end we got our pictures with some pretty ladies.

Then we went down to the carnival and Josh won me a stuffed tiger. I was very impressed! Me, not to be out done, won him a wizard hat. Mine was not nearly as hard of a game to win.
If you look closely, I'm holding the tiger he won and he's wearing the hat I won. Both have since been claimed by Aiden:)
Walking back after the show we stopped at the Mirage and watched the FREE water show. This was a must since nothing is free in Vegas! Well I guess this was...
And if you thought the party was over, you have never been to Vegas. It had only just begun. On we headed to the Stratosphere. WOW!
See at the top of that there tall building, are the 3 craziest rides ever! And I know because I seek out these types of rides.
Here we have "Insanity" This one was the worst for me. I hated it. Josh did much better on it. I will NEVER ride it again. I thought I would die or vomit. We have a picture of us on this ride but I can't get it to upload, and as if this post wasn't long enough!
"X-Scream" was a giant teeter totter over the edge. Also pretty big rush. I think it would have been better in the front seat. It is that little green thing to the right.
Last but certainly not least, My ALL time favorite, the "Big Shot." I am in love with this ride. Rode it 6 times this night. Could have kept going but they closed at 2am. Also have some pretty great pictures from that ride but my computer must know I scanned them from copy righted images ;) Thus ends our first day in Vegas!!!!