Las Vegas Vacation -- Day 1

Last Friday, we left in the wee hours of the morning for just after 7 a.m. flight to Phoenix and on to Las Vegas.  This was a trip that had been planned a few months ago, using vouchers we received after an eight hour delay in our flight to Seattle last summer.

Connor was pumped about his second plane excursion, as you can see by the video below:

He was the perfect passenger, yet again.  I just knew that after our wonderful experience last summer that something would surely go wrong, but he loved the plane, the clouds, and the people just as much as before.

This was Jared's (first cousin) first ever flight.

For the first leg of the trip (Louisville to Phoenix) Connor slept nearly all of the 3 hours, 50 minutes.

This was our view coming into Phoenix.

For the second leg, a less than one hour flight, Connor watched the first half of Cars and devoured some Twizzlers.

This was my first view of the city once we landed:

Our next stop was to park at our hotel, the Luxor, although check-in wasn't until later in the afternoon.

The view inside the lobby of the Luxor.

After we parked, we headed for our first stroll up The Strip, to find a spot for lunch.  We had beautiful views of Excalibur and MGM.

We were all pretty famished, so we hit one of the first spots we saw, New York, New York.  The scenery inside was beautiful, and Connor especially loved the roller coaster which periodically made its way past us while we ate.

The lunch part of my meal was not particularly memorable, but dessert was.  It was a yummy tiramisu in a cup fashioned out of chocolate.

After stuffing ourselves, we walked back to the hotel, checked in, got unpacked, and then broke out Connor's new swimming trunks so he could try out the pool.  The water was a bit chilly, but he splashed around on the steps with Jared and would've gone completely in if one of us could have endured the frigid temperatures.

After relaxing a bit more in the hotel, Jason called to let us know that his bus would be arriving in Old Vegas shortly, so we all loaded up to pick him up (long story, but the gist is that Jason doesn't like to fly, so he took a Greyhound).  The plan was to eat in Old Vegas, see Fremont Street, and enjoy the night, but Connor was already asleep, I was feeling sick from the plane ride and jetlag, and Jason's parents graciously took us back to the hotel to rest.  I am so grateful.

The rest of our gang had a good time, and actually ended up eating dinner at  In N Out Burger, so I didn't feel as though I missed out too terribly.  Connor was restless for most of the night, so it wasn't the best start to the vacation, but things rapidly improved.

Still to come: Days 2,3, and 4 of our Vegas adventure.