From New York, New York to the Hoover Dam

Posing across the street from the roller coaster they bravely rode just moments before.

I haven't posted for the past couple of days, as every time I've had the time to do so, the Internet has been unbearably slow.  Finally, here I am on Saturday morning, our last full day in Vegas, and we have no immediate plans and the web seems to be cooperating, so.... time to play catch up! :)

We've had a very fun few days here in Vegas.  We arrived after our morning trek on the narrows, which I will speak just a bit about.  The highlights: the tram to the bottom of the river leaves the visitor center at 6:00 AM and arrives at the starting point of the hike at about 6:40.  From 6:40 AM until maybe 9:00 or so, we had only two other people (two women who were also hiking it for the first time and who kept their own pace) on the river at the same time as us.  This gave us many, many moments on the river where it seemed as if we were the only four people in the universe.  Since we are not the camping sort, this is not a typical sensation we've experienced, and it is quite powerful.  That's not to say I'm going to invest in camping equipment, but I sure am glad that we took the Zion Outfitter's advice to start the day early, as it made all the difference.  We were able to watch the sunrise as the light caught the tops of the rocks and slowly inched down the cavern walls until it finally just started to touch us as we made our way back to the starting point around 11:00 or so.  We each took turns leading the way, allowing our walking sticks to find the best crevice in the rocks to place our foot, in order to keep mostly dry.  Daniel and I each fell in once, and I sacrificed my new and beloved sunglasses to the Virgin River just as we were about to turn around to make our way back.  Still, it was a perfect hike, and I'm so glad we did it just as we did.  Oh, and we're pretty sure we saw Carly Rae Jepsen making her way up the river just ahead of the mass of people following her, as we were returning to the start.  I've had "Call Me Maybe" in my head ever since :)

So... we cleaned up, packed up, and headed out... with one last delicious brunch in Springdale and a stop to pick up a new pair of sunglasses (which I very much needed for the drive to Vegas)  By 5:00 PM, we were in our Hilton, looking over the Vegas Strip and getting ready to head out for a night on "the town."

We've seen three shows since we've been here, all ostensibly Cirque du Soleil shows, though the Criss Angel magic show "Believe" has no trappings of a typical Cirque show.  We had seen The Incredible Burt Wonderstone before but had no idea just what an uncanny parody Jim Carrey was doing of Criss Angel. Watch this clip to get a sense of the show we saw: Criss Angel parody  The first night we saw the wonderful Michael Jackson "One."  The thing Cirque shows do so amazingly well is to immerse you in sound, so fans of Michael Jackson's music will love this show.  Last night, the kids and I saw "O," while Dana gambled in the Bellagio.  He was disappointed not to see what is probably the most magnificent of the Cirque shows, but he was the one who decided that he would rather gamble than be "some sort of Cirque junkie" :)  Luckily, he didn't lose! :)

Our days - a mix of activities to keep us cool (while Dana spent some time working in the hotel room)/  We spent a few hours by the pool (but only a few - at 108 - 110, it's difficult to be out there for too long), dined at Serendipity for lunch and then enjoyed the shopping and amusements in some of the more spectacular hotels on the strip, such as the Coca Cola store in front of MGM and the New York, New York roller coaster (I sat that one out!)

Yesterday, we drove into Boulder City to take a tour of the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam.  While we were a bit concerned that it might be too hot on the river for this excursion, we decided to take the chance and are so glad that we did.  The day was just overcast enough to provide the much needed relief from the sun, and the trip was wonderful.   Brian, our captain and guide, was a wealth of information on the history of the Hoover Dam and all things Colorado River.   The several miles we rafted are among the 12 most pure miles of any river anywhere, as all of the silt for which the Colorado River is somewhat infamous is caught up on the other side of the Dam.  I took what I thought were the most gorgeous photos of all time only to come home last night to discover that my camera had once again "flaked out," overexposing the majority of them.  Still, I have the pictures in my mind, so that will have to be enough.

The dam is behind the kids, not that you can tell :(

It was a beautiful trip, where we spotted a dozen big horn sheep in the rocks on either side (one side being the "Arizona side") of us throughout the journey.  The 55 degree water was refreshing, and Brian often created some "white water" in order to get all aboard wet.  The other families on board were from Holland, Spain and England, which Brian told us is quite common.

Overexposed but still gives you a sense of  the start of our rafting trip

This trip through Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon, and yesterday's visit to the Hoover Dam, has once again got me started on my Birthright idea.  If Israel can have a "Birthright" policy that any Jew has the right to visit Israel once in a lifetime, I don't know why we can't create a similar program for every American.  I'm going to have to get in touch with Bill Gates to get this whole thing started :)

So... that's a snapshot of our past few days.  We have one day (today) left in Vegas.  Tonight we see Penn and Teller, and then we're off to Los Angeles tomorrow morning.   We're trying to stay away from some of the more unseemly parts of Vegas, as our one foray onto Fremont Street, to get a glimpse of the "Fremont Street Experience" (complete with ziplines down the middle of the street, I kid you not!) left Maddie despondent for the future of women's rights :)  Nothing like a walk past Vegas showgirls the summer after your college bound daughter has completed a Women and Gender's Studies class to pour a bucket of ice water over the whole sin city vibe ;)  Today, we are escaping the heat in a cold air conditioned movie theater, where we will see Lucy, the new film featuring an empowered Scarlett Johansson as the title character.  That promises to be the antidote she needs :)  Here's hoping Penn and Teller don't tell any sexist jokes tonight! (Well, that Penn doesn't.  Teller isn't likely to offend ;)