Today was a long and busy day, but that's been pretty much par for the course on this vacation. We left Virgin around 9:30, hoping to stop by the Virgin Trading Post which we missed out on last night because they closed early, but we were unable to get in because apparently they also decided to open late. Mathea was very upset, as there was a toy she was planning to buy (and the rest of us were really looking forward to some prickly pear ice cream). But we had to make it to Vegas. We found out later that the Trading Post is actually for sale, so the current owners are probably not overly motivated to keep regular hours.
Virgin Trading Post (from the outside, at least)
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We stopped for a quick fuel-up in La Verkin and Mathea got a conciliatory Kit-Kat. Then we headed out to I-15 and started the drive South. Mathea had some fun with the camera to help break up the long drive.
The Drive
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We arrived at the Hitchin' Post around 11:30 and checked in. It was about 110 degrees, which was tough after the milder temperatures up at higher elevations. We had a nice simple lunch and headed out to Wal-Mart for a resupply.
After returning, we rested until about 3:45PM then headed down into Vegas. Traffic was horrible, but we managed to get parked by 4:30 or so, then we walked around a bit to get our bearings and find some dinner. We ended up eating at a small restaurant, completely forgetting about the Rainforest Cafe that Melissa was originally thinking about. But we had a nice simple dinner with a very friendly Russian waitress who spoke very little English but was very pleasant.
We then walked North toward the Bellagio, and we ended up seeing two fountain shows. Next was a fairly quick trip into the Bellagio to see their botanical gardens. Our intent was to catch one of the monorails from there down to MGM to see the lions. We ended up walking through the Miracle Mile shopping district and then to MGM from there. But we did see a lion.
Vegas!
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Then our final, and to Mathea most important, stop; M&M World. They have a wall of different colors of M&Ms and 4 floors of shopping. We managed to keep it to about $75, but that only bought us a few pounds of M&Ms, a fancy container of them as a gift, and a pair of shorts with scattered M&M characters on them. The receipt called the shorts "Short Character Scat" (note: check your abbreviations carefully if you run a business).
M&M World
 Mix your own colors, $12.99/lb. |
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 "Short Character Scat"? Really? |
Then it was back home for a late bedtime for everyone.
The Two Towers
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