Day7/8

After leaving the Grand Canyon, we headed to the Hoover Dam. It was pretty cool. Lila was super excited because she recognized it from Transformers. It was huge! We got to see some Rams grazing below the dam which was an unexpected surprise. I tried to get some pics, but i am not sure how good they are, as it was a long way to the bottom.

We spent the last 2 nights in Las Vegas and we had a blast. It isn't necessarily the most family oriented place around, but we made it work. We all had a blast. We stayed at Excalibur and Lila loved staying in a castle. It was a very nice resort. When we first walked in and through the casino, Lila was like, " Wow, I see lots of games to play!" she was disappointed when she found out they were adult games. Luckily, there was a huge arcade downstairs so she did get to play some games.

We drove into Vegas in the dark and you could see the strip from miles away. You came around the mountain and then all of a sudden there were lights for as far as you could see and in the middle was the strip. I could not believe how bright all the lights were. The traffic was crazy, of course and when I first walked into the casino of the hotel, the lights and activity left me feeling lightly overstimulated and disoriented.

We fit as much as possible into our day and a half, including so much food that I barely fit into my pants. Someone should have warned me about all you can eat all day buffets! WHOA! It was delicious, though. After breakfast yesterday, we went to see the Bodies Exhibit, Lila has been wanting to see for a while, now. It was very interesting and didn't even faze that kid of mine. After that, we spent some time exploring the Strip. I was honestly glad I was traveling with a girl and a baby boy as opposed to the other way around. We'll just say that prostitution is alive and well in Vegas. The escort services were passing out "business cards" complete with pictures of naked women with stars over their girlie parts. Luckily, Lila didn't seem overly interested other than, "gosh mom, more naked women, really?" I have a feeling a little boy might have paid more attention. We did make sure to see the fountains at Bellagio which were stunning. Both of the kids loved them.

Now, we're back on the road headed to San Francisco. We're over half way to our destination. We will probably spend two nights and then up 101 to the Redwood Forest and Oregon Coast.

To all of our family and friends we miss and love you.