{"id":686,"date":"2009-07-22T00:11:26","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T04:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/?p=686"},"modified":"2009-07-22T00:14:14","modified_gmt":"2009-07-22T04:14:14","slug":"life-changing-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/2009\/07\/22\/life-changing-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Changing Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hotel

Hotel New York New York<\/p><\/div>\n

The past two and one half weeks have brought us some of the best and most memorable experiences of our lives.\u00a0 However, we had reached the point that Dennis and I were having a hard time motivating the kids to be excited about another red rock or funky tree or deer on the side of the road.\u00a0 Las Vegas was exactly the right place at the right time to shake things up again!<\/p>\n

Before we left for our trip, a friend of mine joked that I should take a picture of the boys before they go into Vegas because they won\u2019t be the same after they leave!\u00a0 There was more truth to that statement than he realized, a truth that lied beyond the billboards of scantily clad woman and postcard sized advertisements for the nearest gentlemen\u2019s club.\u00a0 The truth they experienced lied more in the realization that there is an expansive world out there filled with promise and hope, despair and loneliness.\u00a0\u00a0 In Vegas, you see the highs of the promise of glory and wealth and the lows of poverty and homelessness.\u00a0 Las Vegas is without a doubt a life changing experience.<\/p>\n

Much to my surprise, that Monday in Sin City brought out the families.\u00a0 Kids under the age of 15 with their extended families made up the bulk of the foot traffic on the strip.\u00a0 We were no exception.\u00a0\u00a0 The casinos sang their songs of winning jackpot but many of the seats remained empty in lieu of roller coasters, ice cream and buffets, lots and lots of buffets.\u00a0 Strictly by accident, we discovered a delicious money saving tip that I would like to pass along.\u00a0 In trying to decide which buffet to enjoy, we noticed the Bellagio <\/a>offered the best seafood and sushi selection which was exactly what Cam and I had hoped to find.\u00a0 Lunch, ended at 4:00PM was $10\/head cheaper than dinner.\u00a0\u00a0 We got there about 3:45 and found no lines, no waiting.\u00a0 We paid the lower price and within 15 minutes, all the glorious higher-end items like lobster ravioli and sashimi tuna were there for the taking!\u00a0 If you can time it right, you can eat like kings but at the price of a commoner.<\/p>\n

\"Old

Old Vegas Nostalgia<\/p><\/div>\n

After some R&R at the hotel pool, we got dressed and headed out for the bright lights of the city after dark.\u00a0 Dennis and I wanted the kids to see Old Vegas.\u00a0 One of our trip \u201cguidelines\u201d was to try to experience things unique to the area we were visiting.\u00a0 The Fremont Street Experience<\/a> fits that to a tee.\u00a0\u00a0 You can take a taxi there for about $25 each way from the strip or feel free to hop on The Deuce<\/a>, public transportation for $3 per person per way or $7 for a 24 hour pass.\u00a0 The kids had a field day with the name, dropping every potty joke they could think of to kill the time waiting.\u00a0 (For the slower crowd, deuce = 2\u2026number 2\u2026get it?)\u00a0 Most folks were heading across town with us.\u00a0 The buses were filled and the stops were many, but it gave us a chance to see the strip from a unique vantage point.\u00a0 They ran every 7 minutes, so if you can\u2019t get a seat, hold tight and jump on the next one.\u00a0 After an hour plus ride, we arrived at Fremont Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fremont Street Experience<\/a> aims to capture the nostalgia of Old Vegas with a modern twist.\u00a0 The canopy of lights overhead that runs the length of the street was dark.\u00a0 Most nights there is a theme or tribute created for the audiences\u2019 viewing pleasure.\u00a0 Our night was a tribute to the rock band Queen.\u00a0 We timed it perfect. \u00a0\u00a0Much to our delight, within the past year the boys have discovered classic rock.\u00a0 AC\/DC, Led Zeppelin and Queen top their list of favorites so we knew when the show started, it was going to knock their socks off.\u00a0 We walked around; checking out the old neon signs and listening to an Elvis impersonator rock the house.\u00a0 At the end of his set, he told the folks dancing in the street that he\u2019d be back shortly.\u00a0 Dennis and I looked at each other knowing the time had come.<\/p>\n

\""Wow!"\"

"Wow!"<\/p><\/div>\n

The hotel lights went dark, the street lights dimmed and this huge lightning bolt complete with thunder sound effects raced from one end of the street to the other, shockingly loud.\u00a0 The boys eyes popped open and their jaws dropped to the floor.\u00a0 Perfect!\u00a0 Queen\u2019s “We Will Rock You” filled the streets and the canopy of lights flooded the boulevard with everything from the British flag, to Freddy in concert to the lyrics pounding overhead.\u00a0\u00a0 It ended too quickly; I could have watched the kids watch the lights for hours. \u00a0\u00a0When it was finished, Cam picked his jaw off the ground and said slowly with purpose \u201cThat\u2026was the coolest<\/em><\/strong> thing I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The kids nabbed front row seats on the top deck of the bus ride back to the hotel.\u00a0 Honestly, the best view of Sin City I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 Although we missed the dancing fountains at Belliagio, we did see the pirate ships, the volcano, the circus tent and the New York skyline before we called it a night.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t exactly put my finger on it but the kids did change after that.\u00a0 The last remaining childhood habits and comforts were abandoned and new, more adult attitudes are starting to rear their heads.\u00a0 My boys are growing up.<\/p>\n

\"Hoover

Hoover Dam new bridge<\/p><\/div>\n

We headed out the next morning for Sedona Arizona.\u00a0 As we were leaving the city limits, Dennis commented on how he had never seen the Hoover Dam<\/a>, wondering if it would be that far out of our way to drive by to see it.\u00a0 We were resigning ourselves to the fact we\u2019d have to catch it on the next trip when we noticed signs for Lake Mead.\u00a0 Our faithful companion Betty plotted our route to cross over the Hoover Dam on the way to Arizona.\u00a0 Since 9\/11, security has been very tight at the Dam and we were required to pull over and be subjected to a minor search.\u00a0 We gladly obliged and within 10 minutes we were driving across this miraculous man-made tourist attraction.\u00a0 The new bridge across the dam was in process.\u00a0 Tourists lined the streets taking photos from every angle.\u00a0 I did my best from the window because we were informed that any vehicle over 15\u2019 in length is not allowed to stop until they have passed over the entire structure.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad we got the opportunity to see it, again nothing else like it in the world.\u00a0 See, our luck in Vegas wasn\u2019t all bad.<\/p>\n

To see our entire Vegas <\/a>or Hoover Dam<\/a> photo albums, visit Snapfish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The past two and one half weeks have brought us some of the best and most memorable experiences of our lives.\u00a0 However, we had reached the point that Dennis and I were having a hard time motivating the kids to be excited about another red rock or funky tree or deer on the side of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[63,104],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":698,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions\/698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}