Just Kidding...we'll tell you. Viva Las Vegas!

We're not sure what it is about Vegas, the oasis in the desert. We've visited almost a dozen National Parks, countless great American cities, toured both country sides and urban landscapes. But our friends and family crawled out of the woodwork on Facebook and email in excitement for our mid-week visit to Las Vegas :-)

We stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton, a nice throwback hotel to the 6os and 70s. Elvis lived on the 30th floor, playing sold out shows in the Hilton theater for years. It definitely had a retro feel!

After check-in, we headed out to check out the strip. We were starving, so we hit the streets in search of a good Italian restaurant. We enjoyed some absolutely delicious pasta at Maggiano's in the Fashion Show mall. We sampled some truffle tortellacci, Vodka gnocci, and manicotti, while this adorable duo serenaded us with What a Wonderful World. There was romance in the air!

For the rest of the night we wandered around the strip and soaked in the atmosphere.

We watched the volcano erupt in front of the Mirage.

And were astounded by the breadth of Caesar's Palace. Dustin was particularly bothered that the Winged Victory of Samothrace replica was so prominently displayed. Winged Victory, you see, is a Greek sculpture, and not Roman. Alexander's Palace just doesn't have the same ring, I guess.

Dustin forgot about Winged Victory once he spotted Boba Fett walking down the strip :-)

Meanwhile, I enjoyed David Bowie here to the left of the Flamingo sign.

The next day while Dustin worked I went on a celebrity search, having seen two real celebrities on this trip (Chris Robinson-St. Louis & Harry Connick, Jr.-Portland) I was determined to spot a few more in Las Vegas. Well unfortunately this is as close as I could get. I know it's not the "real" thing, but nothing is real in Las Vegas anyway!

After my star sightings I went shopping in the Caesar's Palace Forum shops. I tried to catch the moving statues in the casino, but to the disappointment of all the tourists that had gathered, alas the fountain was broken. I asked someone working in a nearby store if the hotel knew what was going on...he said yes, and that it's a waist of your time even if it wasn't broken. Well, I said that's kind of the entire point of Las Vegas isn't it? To waist time and money, I'm pretty sure everyone knows that, right? I'm not too good for a cheesy tourist attraction, hey I already made that clear at the wax museum. Ah well, next time then. That's why I like Vegas so much you can be cheesy and no one cares because you're all there for the same reason.

Later Dustin and I were in search of sushi so we headed out again further down the strip this time hitting the Paris and Belagio casino hotels. Of all the casinos I've visited, the Belagio is my favorite, it's the classier side of Vegas, most people are smartly dressed and spending lots of money, so it's fun to watch.

They also have exquisite gardens inside that change with the seasons. Here's their take on fall. Pretty magical.

We found a pretty good sushi restaurant, Yellowtail, then since we were in Vegas thought it'd be bad form to not actually gamble, so we gave it a whirl. We were able to entertain ourselves for a good hour or two, but walked away with nada.

We walked back through a few bustling casinos, including Paris and Bally's.

Knuckle-bump, dude.

We were a bit disappointed that we missed our favorite burger joint in California -- In-and-Out Burger. Alas, we spotted one on our way out of Vegas!

Dustin declared then and there that I'm officially recovered from my gall bladder surgery in June ;-)

All in all we had a great time!

-Kim