What happens in Vegas….gets blogged about.

Pre-story – All work and no play would make anyone a dull boy (or girl).  And though I’m a fairly practical person, ask those who know me and they will tell you I have a sense of adventure in me.  I knew I had to get out of St. Louis this weekend.  I just took a chem final, a calculus test, and work is going to be action packed until the end of the summer.  In addition, I have been having a hard time dealing with some things in my life, and I thought a nice thing would be find an adventure.  I posted a story on my facebook wall asking if anyone wanted an adventure this weekend.  My high school classmate Brooke commented I should come out to Vegas.  That was exactly what I needed; an adventure.  I called her up to make sure she was serious, and I purchase my trip.

Las Vegas – My flight to Vegas was without incident and I arrived ready to have an experience.  I thought the trip got off to a good start when the car rental guy offered me a free upgrade to a convertible.  I took off to Brooke’s house and didn’t have any issues finding it.  I was welcomed by Brooke and her husband Scott.  I hadn’t seen Brooke in 11 years, and we started off the visit by watching a special on 90s music they had TIVO’d (granted, that is what they were watching when I got there, but it was a nice way to start a blast from a past trip).  I went off to bed and woke up the next morning with plans to see Louella, who happens to live in Las Vegas (see here).  Louella and I had breakfast at IHOP and had a great visit.  I left there and went back to Brooke and Scott’s house and we took off for the Hoover Dam.  It’s hard to describe the scope of a man made project like this dam, and it truly was a sight to behold.    After the dam, we went back to their house and took a small rest break.  We then took off for the Las Vegas strip.  We decided to eat dinner at the Bellaigo, and what a dinner it was.  An all you can eat buffet with about everything you could imagine on it.  I commented that if Jesus would have ate his last supper at the Bellaigo buffet, he would still be eating.  After dinner, we walked over to our show (also in the Bellagio)…Cirque du Soli.  The show was simply stunning.  It incorporated feats of gymnastics, comedy, and water.  They had a stage that alternated between a solid stage and a pool in which they would fly into.  After the show, we walked over to the Bellagio Fountains and took in a water show.    We then walked up and down the strip taking in all the sights.  My favorite picture was of me with a Stormtrooper.  I also had my picture taken at the Las Vegas sign.  We were pretty much spent by the time we made it back to the house, so we crashed.

The Journey Home – I know what you may be thinking…”Why Dan, this trip sounds so nice and awesome, when does your knack for getting into “only Dan” situations come into play.  Two separate ones will be written about in the next couple of days (most likely on Wednesday).  I've embedded my entire trip album at the end of this post.  Simply click on the Las Vegas sign to see my pictures :)

Vegas Trip

Update:  Here is a video of the Bellagio fountain show I shot.