Salt Lake City, UT --> Las Vegas, NV

**Pictures ARE coming!! We got into Albuquerque late so I didn't get a chance to upload them - SOON!!**

Sabbatical Day 2 | May 29, 2011
Salt Lake City, UT --> Las Vegas, NV

The alarm clock (Matt) went off way too soon this morning. Ugh. Thankfully he was pretty nice about it.  After finally prying myself out of bed, I got up and got showered and dressed and threw in the last final essentials into the suitcase so that Matt could finish packing up the car. And then the hardest part of all - saying good bye to the 'kids'. This trip is by far the longest that I have left them. At least when we got married, we were gone for a week, came home long enough to change out our suitcases and then we were off again. The boys were pretty indifferent to the whole good bye thing - but Jezzy made it hardest. She is usually the most in tune with my feelings and she gave me her sad/depressed act. I finally booked it for the door and we set off.

I also discovered that we had a stowaway:

Frist stop was gas and then we stopped at Matt's parents for a few minutes (Hi Nana!!) and then we stopped to pick up coffee (YUM!!) where I discovered this little gem:

(who REALLY needs THAT much coffee?? Dear God people!!)

The first official stop was in St. George to get gas -- and a lesson on motorcycle gangs. And not like 4 or 5 guys hanging out together trying to act all badass. Like, 20 - 25 guys of the Mongols MC kind. It kinda felt like being in an episode of Sons of Anarchy. From there we went to grab lunch at Subway and then we were back on the road.

Once we reached Vegas we stopped at the Center for Brain Health (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/27718) first. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and has about 199 windows. The designer says: "The mantra is Keep Memory Alive. I'm trying to make a building that people will want to visit, remember, talk about, and enjoy, and ultimately will want to partner with us at the Center to help cure some of the neurodegenerative diseases." (http://www.dezeen.com/2010/06/17/lou-ruvo-center-for-brain-health-by-frank-gehry/ to see some cool pictures of the inside).

After the twisted building, we headed to the Luxor to check into our room and to unload the car. Then, it was off to the Titanic exhibit. Sadly, they did not allow photography so I was not able to get any pictures :0(  Though really disappointed about not being able to take pictures, it was a really great exhibit. It really put the Titanic and the passengers into a whole other light and the way that some of the information was presented gave you a feel of how it was on the ship. It was surreal to see "The Big Piece" which is a HUGE piece of the hull that they brought up from the wreckage in 1994. Absolutely awe inspiring.  I am really looking forward to seeing the exhibit in Branson - I am sure the presentation will be very much the same but hopefully they have other artifacts to see there.

Once we finished the Titanic exhibit, we went to the Bellagio to see the World's Tallest Chocolate Fountain - literally! It's certified by Guiness Book of World Records and everything (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/27622)!!  And oh my god did it look tasty!!! It took a lot of restraint but I managed to not break into the display and stick in my head but I couldn't resist getting a drop of it:

Domo tried to get into the fountain but I was able to stop him -- barely:

After the fountain, it was dinner time so we stopped at:

It was a fight but I was finally able to get Domo to share his dinner with me - I was STARVING:

Then it was time for nuh-nights. OMG did our feet hurt by the time we got back to our room!!  We took a minute to get ready for bed and then light's out!!

Other things that we saw in Las Vegas from Roadside America: 1/3 Scale Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building (We even walked across the scale version of the  Brooklyn Bridge but I didn't get a picture of it this time. I will see if I have one from our last visit), Brain Health Twisted Building, Devil Girl, Giant Motorcycle, Half-Size Eiffel Tower, Luxor Pyramid and Sphinx, World's Largest Coke Bottle (and M&M's World), Stratosphere Tower
 
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14104 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/27109 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/27639 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12548 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/11533 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2676 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14105