Birthday in Vegas!! A Plan Begins..
Last summer while I was sitting in the sunroom at my friend Carol’s house, enjoying a glass of wine, discussing our plans for a future trip to Peru (officially leaving July 27, so more to come on that trip) it came about that we both are huge fans of Van Morrison and that he was going on tour. We immediately whipped out our computers and tablets and started searching for locations that we would be interested in visiting where he would be playing. Come to find out my world traveling friend had never been to Las Vegas, so low and behold in about 30 min we had tickets to the show, a place to stay and plane tickets for our birthdays which are only 2 weeks apart.
We ended up choosing American Airlines since they were inexpensive, as far as flights go, and they had a flight from our hometown so no extra driving and we were going to have a friend drop us off so we didn’t have to pay for airport parking while we were gone. Yay!! More money for the SPA!! Next, we started looking at hotels. We knew we wanted to stay right on the strip, that way we could walk wherever we went and since it was Carol’s first time in Vegas we wanted to be right in the middle of the action. We choose the Flamingo since it was right across the street from Caesar’s Palace which is where the concert was taking place. They also had a nice spa that had lots of great reviews and many different room types to choose from.
Flight, check! Room, check! Next,
Tickets to hear Van play……we scored 2nd row mezzanine right in the middle of the Coliseum at Cease’s Palace. Tickets, check!
While we eagerly waited for the next 7 months to pass, we started our search for activities to do in Las Vegas. We investigated trips to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam and white-water rafting on the Colorado River, even helicopter tours and train tours. There was so many great options, we struggled making a decision. Then we had a thought….it will be February. So possibly snow and cold in the canyon. We hated to spend hundreds of dollars on tour that we might not get to take so we decided to wait before booking a tour. We kept checking around for ideas of great things to do that were closer in to a Las Vegas and wouldn’t be affected by unexpected changes in the weather. I was talking with another friend who recommended that we go the Valley of Fire. Only about an hour away from Las Vegas, with several different hiking and driving options. Sounded perfect.
One tour option decided upon, check!!
Next important decision…. the SPA. We began looking at the different SPA offerings in or near our hotel. Which one? What options? How much time to spend pampering ourselves? Oooh, the possibilities are endless in Las Vegas. We settled on the SPA at the Flamingo. The convenience along with good reviews convinced us to give it a try.
SPA day confirmed, check!!
All ideas and plans confirmed…. the waiting game begins….
Finally our departure day arrived…..February 2….
