Vegas, Take 2

Ah, Vegas. Last time we saw you we were down on our luck and the wheels were definitely off the Happy Bus. Now, we might be a motley bunch in this here RV, but one thing we're not is quitters. We decided we needed one more crack at it to put the bad memories behind us (and, ok, the RV had some unfinished business with the repair shop) so back to Vegas we went. And this time we did it right!

After dropping RV Rin Tin Tin off at the shop, we all piled into the van and headed out to Red Rock Canyon. Wow!, pretty much sums it up. The sky was blue, the rocks were red and there was still snow on the ground which is like crack to Chloe. She can NOT get enough of snow! We hiked out to the Keystone Thrust and took a look back down the valley. Unbelievable that the Las Vegas Strip is less than 10 miles away. It seems like another planet!

If you haven't ever visited Red Rock Canyon and you're a nature lover, GO! Put the poker chips down, walk away from the cocktail waitress and get your butt out there. It really is worth losing a few hours of gambling to clear your lungs of the stale smoke and stretch your legs on some of these trails. And the good news is the lights, the action, the noise and excitement of Vegas proper will all be waiting there for you when you're done.

And of course, we then took full advantage of it. We ate at great restaurants, indulged in some retail therapy and even took in a show. Neither of us had seen a Cirque du Soleil event before so we checked with the discount ticket place and managed to get tickets for Mystere. Again, Wow! Who knew humans were even capable of some of the stunts they pulled? I guess a better question would be, And wouldn't you love to be there at the beginning when they think these things up? Like, who is the sucker who gets to be the first to try it? "Yo, Joe, I've got an idea. We'll dress you in some weird costume and then you can stand here and I'll jump on this thingy and shoot you into the air. Yea, yea, we'll work on the landing later." All I can say is better Joe than me!

With all the fun being had by the humans, the canine contingency decided they needed to get in on the action so off to the dog park we went. We just discovered this amazing dog park right around the corner from Sam's Town and it was all we could do to get the canines to come home. They would have stayed there the whole weekend if they could have. They made new friends, ate things they shouldn't have, peed on anything that stood still and ran, and ran, and ran.

And to make the weekend absolutely perfect......Chocolate Cake! Yum, yum, yum.... I'd say the wheels are definitely back on the Happy Bus.