Vegas & LA

So last summer, I booked a trip on my parents' airmiles for me, mom, dad and my middle brother Goob. We were going to fly to the east coast, but instead we booked Vegas from Feb 25 - Mar 5th.

We flew into Vegas on the morning of the 25th and checked into the Sahara. Being in Vegas actually feels like you are in a completely different world. I think it's something everyone should experience. It blew my mind. The city, the people, the vibe, the lights, architecture, everything! We found a restaurant called the Peppermill... it was weird, but quickly became our favourite place to eat all three meals!

The first night we went to see a Beatles Tribute band. They were pretty awesome, I wished the sound was better, but the show itself was great! After dinner, my brother and I got tickets to that same theatre to see Marc Savards Hypnosis show! I absolutely love hypnosis, so I knew we were in for a good time. My brother hadn't been to a show before. Plus, Marc Savard is an extraordinary Canadian guy, so I was excited to see his work. If you go to Vegas, make sure you look him up. He performs almost everynight in the V theatre inside Planet Hollywood on the strip!

I had a momentary lapse in judgment while I was packing for this trip. I'm so low key in general, I wear comfortable and practical clothing for the most part. One reason is that I'm just laid back and care more about how comfortable I am than how I look... and 2nd is because I have this habit of running everywhere. I don't mean I run everywhere instead of driving... I just mean I have sudden urges to run, or sometimes I prefer to run instead of walk. This poses some problems with what I packed for footwear. I figured, since I'm going to the city, I would take my uptown clothes. I'm always wearing flatshoes of some sort at home, so I took high heels with me... and various other pieces of clothing that you wouldn't see me wearing in Comox. So here I go, in Vegas, with no flat shoes... back to real time!

So Goob and I get ready to go to the show, and then we hop on this Bus called the Deuce. If you've been to Vegas, surely you know the one I'm talking about. If you haven't, BEWEARE OF HOW SLOW THE DEUCE IS!!! It's warm, and it's better than walking if your feet hurt and you arent in a rush... otherwise, find another method of travel! We realized when we get to the crowded part of the strip that the bus is moving too slowly for us to make the show on time... so we get off the bus and start running. As cute as my shoes were, I had instant blisters. 2 on the pads of my feet and one on my 3rd left toe. Not a good start for night 1!

We made the show on time... both my brother and I went on stage and tried to get hypnosis. We were both half way there, but not fully out like some of the characters on stage! Hypnosis produces some of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. The show was fantastic and we bought a DVD of it as a souvenir. It is unreal!

On Day 2 we rented a white Kia minivan. Normally I wouldn't get excited about a minivan, but I have to admit... it was perfect. Fit all of our stuff, we had our own controls for windows, heat, air conditioning etc. Lot's of leg room. :) My brother did all the driving, and he brought his GPS so it was perfect. Outside Vegas we stopped at the outlet malls, which were pretty big and sweet.

I don't remember how long the trip was, eventually we made it into Anaheim and found a nice Holiday Inn to stay at. After we checked in, we went for food... I decided I wanted Italian and everyone was game for it, so we punched "Italian" into the GPS. It took us to a place called Demiceli's. We drive up and the GPS is telling us to make a right hand turn, so we do... into a strip mall. There is a blockbuster, some other stores that were all closed, an empty parking lot... and across the way we see a red sign with the name of the restaurant. My brother drives up beside it, no one is saying anything, the restaurant itself is empty... then out of nowhere my Mom says "hmm I dunno, it looks expensive".... so I looked over at her thinking it was for sure sarcasm, but she was dead serious! I laughed so hard and said "Goob! She isn't joking"... it was for sure the best ab workout I had all trip. I had the giggles for the next four hours. Turns out, even though the place was emtpy.. it was cheap and incredibly good food!!! Import beer was $3.25 in the bottle, not that I drink beer, it's just a reference point, hehe.

Day 3 consisted of visiting California Adventure Park! We had a lot of fun. Goob and I went on the front of the big rollercoaster, California Screamin'. It was a blast! We got pictures with lots of the characters, went to 2 different 3d shows. "A Bugs Life" was the best, it was so well done! You wear 3d glasses, they always look so good on me haha. We were tired after a full day at the park but we had such a great time!

Night 3 we stayed in Carson. We couldn't believe how immaculate LA was as we drove around it. We really couldn't FIND garbage on any of the roads, it was amazing. At first we thought it was just Anaheim because of Disneyland being there... but everywhere we went was like that. I laugh at people who try to tell me that Vancouver is a "clean" city. Obviously they haven't spent much time in it!

Day 4 was our beach day! I was so excited to check out all the beaches that you hear about and see pictures off. We started at Long Beach, and ended up seeing the Queen Mary vessel across the bay. We drove over to get a better look to see that it had been turned into a hotel. Beside it was a Russian Sub, so we went on a tour of that. It was very interesting and fun. We got lots of neat pictures!

After that, we continued onto the rest of the beaches. Next was Huntington Beach, which happened to be my favourite. The pier was awesome. There were some nice restaurants, tons of beach volleyball courts, lots of people surfing. The atmosphere was really awesome, I cannot wait to go back!

We dropped by Newport Beach but didn't stay long. It was my moms favourite. There were a lot of really nice little shops and cafe's really close to the beach. Next was Laguna Beach. That whole area has more Art Galleries than I've ever seen in all the cities I've been in combined! It was insane! The main street was so beautiful, gallery after gallery of different types of art. We ate at a Mexican place there, it was neat. By the time night rolled around, we made our way to Santa Monica.

The hotel we stayed at in Santa Monica was right downtown called the Carmel. It was more expensive than some of the other ones, but the location was great. It was Goobs 28th birthday, so we got ready, had a few drinks, and started walking! The atmosphere there was really awesome as well. Some of the streets are blocked off from cars so you can shop... people play music in the street too. There are lots of nice little cafe's to go into, and we were only 3 blocks from the Pier! That night, we ended up catching a cab and going to a club called Circle Bar. We had some drinks, did some dancing, and then went back to the hotel.

The next day was a lazy one...Perhaps I consumed a bit too much alcohol the night before and definitely didn't get enough sleep. We had breakfast at a little cafe around the corner, and then walked the streets to check out the shops. We went down to the pier, I got sun burnt. It was fun. Later that day we drove to Hollywood. We parked part way up the Hollywood Hills so that we could get pictures with the sign! We hiked a little bit and took a bunch of fun pictures. The view from up there was spectacular, looking down at the city. After that, we drove onto Hollywood Boulevard. It is a neat place, we parked the car and walked up it. Had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen - I love thin crust pizza!

We decided to get out of the city that night, since my brother was flying home from Vegas a few days early to play hockey. There was a cheap motel we stayed at, like a truckers stop. It was hands down the ugliest part of anything we saw that whole trip. In contrast, it was about 1.5 hours out of LA... there was garbage EVERYWHERE! It was in the desert. I slept quite well that night and went for a run in the morning.

That day we traveled back to Vegas, we stopped at the outlet malls again before we got into the city though.. hehe! But sadly, the Nike shirt I wanted in another colour just simply didn't look as good as the blue, so I couldn't buy it.

We got into Vegas and stayed at the Riviera that night.Mom, Goob and I went to another hypnosis show which was absolutely priceless as well. While in Santa Monica, my Dad decided to change his flight to an earlier one... so he flew out the night we arrived back in Vegas on a red eye, and my brother flew out the next morning at 7 am. They met in Vancouver that day and traveled home to the island with Judi.

My mom and I stayed on for the full time. We had lots of fun together, shopping, checking out Vegas. We watched the water show outside the Bellagio, it is so awesome! We ate lots of food at the Peppermill and just enjoyed our time in the city together.

I have a friend in Vegas named Steve. He came and picked me up one night, and it was incredible. He took me to the Hard Rock, which was awesome. We went into a club there for a short time then we jetted to where his friends were at the Wynn. There is a club called Blush on the bottom floor and his friends had a table there. We skipped the line (that city is all about who you know, so it was good to be with someone who had connections for sure!) and got in. The club itself was beautiful, and the DJ was amazing. It was probably one of my best ever experiences in a night club. Good music all night, a bunch of wicked people. Once we got inside, Steve ended up knowing 2 more tables of people so I met lots of them and they were awesome! We danced all night until 2 am and then headed over to Fremont Street. That is another place that you must see! I didn't get to see the light show, but I will next time. Fremont street is in the old downtown Vegas, not the new part which is the Strip.

It was a late night for me, but really awesome to see Vegas with someone who knew all about it. I had a wonderful time! My mom and I continued our shopping for the remaining days until we jetted.

The weather the whole trip was wonderful. It was always suited for t-shirts, warm breeze. I got a bit sun burnt on two occassions, its weeks later now and I still have my tan lines. I love the sun! To be able to walk outside with no humidity and just warmth was such a nice change. LA has my thumbs up as a city - I really enjoyed everything about it... and it made me decide that climate is a big deal! Vegas is a party place, so it would be a hard place for me to live. It's certainly not as health conscious as LA!

If you are on facebook with me, these are all the stories that go with my photo albums there! :) We had a really wicked trip all around and I'm so glad we got away as a family. We did miss Mike, Judi, Danika and the kids... but someone had to hold down the fort while the rest of us were gone!

I've also decided that I'm taking a road trip down the coast. There is a lot I want to do and see in LA that we just didn't have time to do...one of the top priorities is going to the six flags and Magic Mountain. I love rollercoasters! Wooohoo! :)