Day 3

Bryan had to be at his meetings by 7:00 a.m, and so set his alarm for 6:30.  He told me that he would just set his phone alarm so that he didn’t wake me.  I had plans to sleep until 9 and then take along bath in the  whirlpool tub:).  Those plans were botched when I had to get up at 6:30 and lay Bryan’s beeping phone on his chest.  I could not get back to sleep!  So, I was awake and ready for the day by 8:00 o’clock.  I met the other two women down in the lobby at 9:30.  We went to one of the three coffee shops in our hotel for a bagel and cup of coffee.  Then we headed out and walked down the strip.  We browsed in a mall that was absolutely gorgeous.  It was all Grecian architecture.  There were massive colonnades, statues, water features with fire and lights, right there in the shopping center.  Notice I said “browsed”.  If I were in the market for a pair of stiletto heels for $1, 100 or a very cute tutu for Amirah for only $110.00 then I could have done some shopping!  We did eat at the Cheesecake Factory in the mall, which was very yummy.  It was a relaxing morning and afternoon. 

I had to be ready for dinner by 6:00.  This was a semi-formal engagement.  Talk about stressful.  It was a lot of fun, but I am glad that I don’t have to do that regularly.  I am certainly more of an Applebee’s kind of girl.  The food was wonderful (the desserts especially) and we had our own private cabana by one of the 6 pools in the hotel.  We were able to just enjoy the company of the people we traveled with and a couple of sales representatives of Calix.  It was more relaxing than I had expected it to be.  I would like to share some random thoughts before leaving you with a few pictures from the day…

1.  I miss my kids very much.  However, something that has helped with that, is the fact that there is nothing here that I would love for them to see.  So many times when Bryan have gone somewhere without our kids we find ourselves saying, “Oh, the kids would love this”  or  “I wish the kids were here to see this." There is not anything that I have seen that I am wishing my kids could see or experience.  

2.  God’s creativity is amazing…His creativity in the people he has created is amazing!  I am always struck by this whenever I am in the presence of thousands of people, but this week has shown me a whole new level of His creativity.  

3.  I am sad for so many young (and old) people who are empty.  They are trying to fill the emptiness with either beautiful material things or on the other end of the spectrum, alcohol and/or drugs.  I see filthy rich people purchasing 1,500 dollar dresses in the hotel shops and then exit the hotel only to see a young, beautiful, girl staggering around in only her sock, high or drunk at 9:30 in the morning.  I just kept thinking… “She’s somebody’s daughter.”.  Sad. 

4.  Gambling is such a foreign concept to me.  What a waste…in every sense of the word.  Sorry Heather, I haven’t even spent my role of quarters yet.  I think that I might just go have a Pumpkin Spiced Latte and a muffin at the Starbucks across the road and pay it all in quarters.  Breakfast on you, H. 

You could spend two days, just walking through hotels in Vegas.  Because every hotel is full of casinos, they are all very welcoming to any outside guests.  I didn’t realize that part of touring Vegas means touring the hotels.  We started at the Venetian.  This is obviously all Venetian architecture.  Replicas of the paintings in the Sistine Chapel were painted all over the hotel ceiling.  You could even go for a gondola ride for a small fee, like the bride and groom in the picture are doing. 

The Caesar Palace property probably takes up four city blocks.  We did not go inside here.  Bryan and I are huge fans of the “Oceans” movies, so it has been fun trying to remember different movies and scenes and match them with the hotels. 

This is the Eiffel Tower.  We have been told that we have to ride the elevator to the top.  I guess is it quite a sight.  I don’t know if we will get to that or not. 

Speaking of the Ocean’s movies.  This is the lobby of the Bellagio.  Most of Oceans 13 took place in the Bellagio.  This hotel is amazing.  This is just one of the many pictures I took of the lobby garden.  There was a 6 foot apple constructed entirely of fresh roses.  I thought that I took a picture of it, but apparently I did not.  .