Vegas

Hi

[Blogger's note: I began writing my account of a recent trip to Vegas and LA on the plane ride back home, but never posted it. At this point, it's kinda pointless to do so since I've shown the pics of it and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...]

It's been about a year since I've vacationed with my wife. Our last trip was a nice international trip largely due to the fact that I had to go across the pond for some work and turned it into a little recreation as well. It was a tad bit cold, but still enjoyable.

Anyway, this trip we ensured that the weather wasn't going to be an issue and so we West Coasted it by going to Vegas and LA. The Vegas part was my idea and LA was the wife's, which I'm thankful for because the trip would've been otherwise really short.

Vegas
We get to Vegas last Wednesday late afternoon to the Hilton Grand Vacations Hotel, which is right off The Strip. The hotel has two towers and it's about six years old. The tower we stayed in is the newer part at about 2 years, maybe three. We stayed in a one BR apartment style room. A room that we could've comfortably stayed a week (and believe me, we probably packed for at least a month's worth of clothes). It was really nice and very clean. Initially we stayed in a room that had a view of The Strip but it was a part of The Strip where there's sill a lot of construction. So we switched over to a view of the Red Rocks Mtn. That was much better. The room itself had a flat screen in the living room, a small dining table that could easily accommodate for three or four (= a minimum of ten by desi standards). The full kitchen had granite counter tops and ceramic tiling for the back splash. The cabinetry was a dark wood which was surprisingly filled with dishes for your use. There was also a large closet that we thought was a pantry but turned out to house a washer/dryer unit. That made us feel kinda silly that we over packed but we had no idea of course. As a side note, the wife and I tend to always overpack but this trip in particular was the worst by far. We easily had ten outfits to go by the end of the trip between the two of us! Clearly a reflection of not traveling as much as we'd like.

So getting back to the room: the bathroom was nice and adjoining to it was a closet leading to the bedroom. Directly opposite of the bedroom closet was a huge tub which we never used (except once as a wudu station). So anyway we were sold on the comforts of Hilton and living the Hilton life. (Imagine how Paris Hilton travels...)

After settling in, ordering some room service for drinks and eating my father-in-law's phenom chicken sandwich he had so kindly packed earlier that day, we assessed our what-to-do options:
1) pay $300+ per person to watch Cirque Du Soliel performance of O at the Belagio
2) pay $350 per person to go a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.
3) walk up and down The Strip which was gonna be Heena's first experience and my second.
4) watch cheaper shows
5) pay waaay cheaper than option one to watch Ka by Cirque Du Soliel at the MGM Grand
6) engage in shady activities following the principle of "What happens in Vegas..." [Azubillah!]

We opted for options 3 & 5. Number six was tempting considering the city's nickname (kidding) and the other pricey options were, well, pricey. Though if we would achieve we-live-in-Oakbrook-and-can-afford-anything status, then we will undoubtedly follow up on the first two options inshaAllah. (FYI: helicopter tour picks you up in a limo and you have drinks in the sunset.)

[Blogger's note: Yep, that's as far as I got. Simply for the fact that I started it and had it my email for some time, I thought I'd publish what little I have.]


Cheers