Got on the road from California on Sunday, May 30 after a morning of goodbyes and goodies with our friends The Parrals. This family has been our “sister family” since our eldest girls met in TK…while I am so sad at the idea of not seeing them on the daily, I am so excited for our next Chapter together.
The drive from CA to NV was actually pretty smooth – the only traffic was getting out of Gilroy, CA (go figure!!!) and the pulling into the Las Vegas strip. We were all pleasantly surprised with how fast the drive went! A couple of bathroom stops, a Starbucks stop and then a supper break at Subway. When I say pretty smooth, there was only one little hiccup. We are driving our SUV with a Thule box on top…and well, that puts us in the oversize catagory, which means we are in a separate parking area. Unfortunately the parking area at Treasure Island was full and we had to park quite a ways away. It was nice to get out and get some steps after being in the car, but man oh man, was it hot! Definitely not used to the heat that radiates from the pavement!
Our stay at Treasure Island was fun. We spent the morning walking the strip and seeing the sights, kids’ first meal at Denny’s (LIam may be obsessed with Birthday Cake pancakes!) and a dip in the pool.
Mind blown!
This is where it really gets good. Monday afternoon, we decided to hop in the car and head out of the city to check out some of the “nature sites”. Hoover Dam absolutely BLEW MY MIND! IT was massive, impressive and humbling. I will be the first one to admit, I was not excited about “a dam”. As someone who runs a dam regularly in San Jose (love you Lexington Reservoir), I did not have high hopes. The tours were closed at Hoover Dam, but you were able to do self-guided tours and learning about the building of the dam and seeing how magestic it was, was incredible. I highly recommend if you are visiting Las Vegas, hop in the car and go for the drive to Hoover Dam.
If Hoover Dam, isn’t enough, you can follow along our path and then head to Red Rocks Canyon Park, about 25min from Las Vegas. Unfortunately, we missed the part about the park closing early, but were able to pull over on the side of the road and take some amazing photos and enjoy the sunset over the beautiful Red Rocks.
Tuesday morning saw us hopping on the road and heading towards Nevada…via Arizona 😉 lol
Some Thoughts:
- Always get the upper floor hotel room in Vegas – it was sooo quiet. We were able to sleep, remote school and didn’t even know we were in a Casino!
- Not many families in Las Vegas, but those that were there were walking the strip around 9:30am before it got too hot and too busy.
- Check the operating hours of Red Rock Canyon Park.
- SUV with Thule Box should not try to enter parking garages that are 6’10 max. You’re welcome!!
- M&M store looked like a lot of fun, however the line up was long. Maybe getting there before it opens and get in line?