I just came back from a 5 day trip to Las Vegas. I had a great time. There are many things to do there besides gambling, however most are based around getting money from your pocket and putting it into someone else’s. :)

While I was there, I took the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon. That was really nice and I took a whole lot of pictures. I went for the helicopter tour. We landed inside the canyon for a “champagne lunch”. I was just happy to get off the helicopter for a while because it was making me sick. Before leaving I wasn’t sure I would go to the Grand Canyon because it is actually pretty far from Las Vegas. Bus tours use up your whole day (10-12 hours) but the helicopter gets you there and back in half a day and I am sure provides much better scenery. There are also tours by plane if you really don’t like the idea of a helicopter.

I also went to pick up some trekkie souvenirs at the Star Trek Experience. Unfortunately they don’t carry the souvenir I really wanted, a small phazor with sound and lights, :( but I did pick up some other stuff. So geeky!

Another important thing about Las Vegas is everything is larger than life. What that really translates to is: Girly girls, leave your fancy sandals at home. Las Vegas is not a place for those shoes you wear and say:”Oh, these should be ok, I’m not going to walk too much; I’m just going across the street.” Everything is far! Going to the next casino can take a good 20 minutes.

What really surprised me about Las Vegas is how wheelchair-accessible it is. Every escalator has an elevator right next to it. You don’t have to go looking around for an alternative entrance, it’s right there! It’s amazing how there seems to be no limit on the budget used to build all the huge hotels/casinos.

Enjoy the pictures!