Vegas: The Logistics

Since we were gone for a week and I took over 500 photos, I knew I would have to split up the blog posts to make it easier to get through. This first day is going to focus on the logistics, and then I will share about our activities (hiking, museums, shows, etc.). That may end up being 2 posts because we did do so much. Finally I will also share the delicious food we enjoyed because food is an important part of our vacations :)

So, logistics. I know this is normally not that exciting but since we were flying to Vegas on our actual anniversary, we decided to upgrade our seats to first class! This decision really ended up working out well. Normally with domestic flights the first class doesn't seem too terribly different than coach (i.e. a little bit more leg room, a free meal, free drinks), but we somehow got one of the newer planes and it had the seats that were basically lazy-boys! There was nothing better than sitting back, putting our feet up, and reading for a few hours. Great way to start the trip!

You can see our feet propped up in the background. And
my feet are covered by a blanket. I was also freezing.
I highly recommend that book (and author), by the way. 

Our delicious breakfast. Seriously. It was pretty good!

We knew we would have to get a rental car, so at my parents' suggestion we looked at Costco's website and again lucked out. The cheapest car was a convertible. It was at least $50 cheaper than the compact sedan! We of course jumped at that opportunity and were able to rent a Mustang for $200 for an entire week. Definitely a great deal and a really fun car! It is not practical for day-to-day life by any means (only one of our suitcases could fit in the trunk), but it was perfect for the trip.

Outside Battlefield: Vegas

I am quite a focused driver.

At Valley of Fire State Park

And then our lodging. My grandfather very generously gave us a week from his timeshare and we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations on the Boulevard. We got a 1-bedroom condo and it was a perfect home-away-from-home! We loved having a full kitchen to make meals easier, healthier, and cheaper. It also had a washer/dryer so we didn't have to bring a week's worth of clothes. (This was a lifesaver since our hiking boots + running shoes + dress shoes took up half of our suitcases!) The hotel featured an amazing pool and fitness center, both of which we took advantage of. Finally, the location was ideal as it was at the far north end of the strip so while we could walk to the strip (assuming it wasn't hot), we never had any noise issues.

We loved having the living room to stretch out and read in the afternoon heat

Our view of the mountains!

Mountains + Stratosphere

We really enjoyed our accommodations and it very much contributed to our relaxation on this trip!