Las Vegas - Day Five

Day Five in Las Vegas we rose early to head to Hoover Dam for the day!  We were both excited about the tour and it didn't disappoint!  Hoover Dam was built back during the great depression.  We took a 45 min. bus tour to get to the dam and heard all kinds of history along the way.  Hoover dam currently provides power and electricity to primarily California, as well as Arizona and Nevada.

Amazing view of Lake Mead.

Down in Hoover Dam.

The powerful engines that make the dam work.  They were HUGE.  

Matt enjoyed seeing all this since he works on plane engines every day.

View of the dam on the Nevada side.  Notice the "bathtub ring" on the left side of the pic right above the dam.  Lake Meade is at it's 3rd lowest level to date.

Matt & I in front of the dam.

A view down below.  That's alot of concrete!

More views down below

Check out all those wires and cables.

The bridge in the upper left hand corner is the new suspension bridge that will be part of the new interstate connecting Nevada and Arizona.  The new interstate will make is possible for big trucks to cross near the dam.  Since 9/11 no big 10 wheeler trucks are allowed to cross the dam, plus busses with anything in their bays.  Right now trucks must travel 45 min out of their way instead of going across the dam.  With the new bridge and interstate it will improve transportation greatly!

These round concrete things are collecting the water from lake meade to produce energy.

These were a little special treat we saw near the dam.  They were so cute!

Beautiful view of lake meade.

Matt & I in front of Lake Meade.

Downtown on Freemont Street.  Check out the OLD Golden Nugget.

The famous cowboy neon sign.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see Freemont Street at night and see the canopy show but it was still neat to see.

Had to visit Hard Rock and get t-shirts, a must for a Deepe vacation!

The Forum Fountains in front of Caesar's Palace.

Bally's and the Paris at night.

The spectacular Bellagio hotel and fountain show!  It was my absolute favorite "attraction" in Vegas.  They were absolutely AMAZING!  They run every 15 min from 8pm - Midnight.  This night I made Matt watch 3 different fountain shows!  Simply Amazing!!!

View of Caesar's Palace at night.

View of Paris and Planet Hollywood at night.

Ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio!  Beautiful blown glass.

A miniature version of the Bellagio and it's world famous fountain!  I want this!

Fountains in front of the Paris.

Beautiful view of the strip at night.  This was my favorite time to see the strip!  Plus it was much much cooler.  

View across from the Bellagio.

Las Vegas - Day Four

Day Three we traveled down the strip to the MGM Grand and New York, New York Casino and Hotel.  We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe' in the MGM Grand.  Funny story, we went to Cirque de Soleil this night and of course at the beginning of the show they say no cameras, no flash photography or filming allowed during the presentation.  This crazy woman on the other side of the isle from us decided to take a pic anyway and immediately, within 10 sec. a security person came down the isle, took her camera and handed her a business looking card and stated she could pick up her camera after the show!  Matt and I looked at each other and said "Wow, these people don't mess around"!  Security was intense and it actually made you feel safer!  

This is one of the two lions that visit the MGM.  They are only there about 5 hours a day then taken to their habitat.  The guy on the right in black in really in there with the lions.  He was NUTS!!!  Apparently he was one of the trainers.  I was waiting to see a lion attack but they were chomping on their toys and didn't mind the trainers inside!  The people at the bottom are walking through a glass viewing tunnel.

View of the Excalibur.  We didn't visit the inside.

View of the New York, New York.

Mini version of the Statue of Liberty.

The MGM Grand.  The largest hotel in the world.

View from the New York, New York.

The giant Bellagio sign.

The beautiful Eiffel Tower outside the Paris.

The Luvre outside the Paris.

Cirque de Soleil - Mysteire.  It was AMAZING!  I recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas.  It was 100 times better than seeing it on TV.  Those people are so talented.  I couldn't stop saying "Wow, how do they do that".  It was thoroughly entertaining.  I loved it!!!

Las Vegas - Day Three Cont.

Matt and I eating at Canter's Deli for lunch!  It was yummy but was soooo much food!  

Me in front of the rainforest waterfall in the Mirage.

View of the Venetian from the Mirage.

The Mirage.

The Venetian offers gondola rides, just like in real Italy!  

We didn't get to do it, maybe next time.

The ceiling in the Venetian is painted this beautiful blue sky.

Me in front of the Venetian canals.

Las Vegas - Day Three

Day Three we visited The Venetian and The Mirage. We also went to dinner with Matt's Aunt Teresa's sister Brenda, her husband James and daughter Erin, who live out in Vegas. They are distant relatives but we were so excited and grateful to have some family to visit with on our trip. They picked us up on Monday night and we headed east of the stip. We ate at Lucille's BBQ! We all know I never turn down BBQ! This time was no exception! It was super great and my favorite part was we drank out of mason jars! Reminded me of my grandparents who always drank out of mason jars! We also visited Green Valley Ranch were the show American Casino was filmed. It was a very nice casino. Lots of locals go there since it's off the strip!

Matt and I in front of the "canel" in the Venetian
The beautiful ceiling in the Venetian
Out Hotel, the TI, once again
View of the strip, the south side. You can see the Stratesphere in the background and the new Encore and Wynn hotels.
View of the stip, the north side. You can see

Caesar's Palace in the background on the right.

This was Matt's dinner at Lucille's. These were the biggest ribs I had ever seen in my life. He wasn't able to finish them so we sent them home with Brenda and her fam.
Lucille's BBQ

The famous "Welcome to Las Vegas Sign". Honestly, we never would have found this sign if it wasn't for Brenda, James and Erin. Thanks guys! They were gracious enough to stop and let us take a pic after dinner.

As you can see, it was hotter than hades in Vegas all week!!! During the day it was basically unbearable with the sun beating down. We stayed indoors mostly during the day. At night it would cool down to the 90's which was alot more bearable! We loved staying up late and sleeping late! Just our kinda schedule!

Las Vegas - Day Two

Our second day in Vegas we went to the Rio to see Penn & Teller.  It was awesome!  We loved it and would love to see it again!  It's amazing how they do all those tricks!  Pretty Neat!

Outside the Rio Hotel

Matt & I before the show

Penn Gillette and Matt after the show

Joe Teller and me after the show (I had no idea he was making that face in the picture, haha)

These are pics of the view from our room!  We had a great view of the strip and pirate ships below!

The Venetian and new building going up.

The new Wynn

Part of The Palazzo and The Venetian

Side of the TI 

The Palms Hotel (view from the Rio)

Las Vegas - Day One

Matt and I had an awesome time in Las Vegas last week!  We weren't ready to come home but we definitely want to go back.  Our hotel, the TI, was fabulous and I would definitely recommend it to anyone traveling to Vegas.  It had a great location and good accommodations. Our first night in Vegas consisted of eating at the TI buffet!  It was sooo good.  My fav was the mini-doughnuts!  After dinner we hit the casino floor at the TI. 

Just in case you forget where the Casino is, 

it's in HUGE letters in the elevator!

Our Hotel - Treasure Island (TI)

The beautiful Bellagio Hotel

Treasure Island pirate ship

Busy and Exhausting Week

I know you are all eagerly awaiting pics of our awesome trip to Las Vegas!  I had to wait for Matt to name all the 300 pics before I could load them on my computer.  Also, Matt's Grandfather sadly passed away Saturday night so we have been super busy this week with family.  Please keep Matt and his family in your prayers as he will dearly miss his sweet Grandpa.  

I promise to post pics VERY soon, so stay tuned!