Tag: Las Vegas

Our 25th anniversary in California & Nevada

Reading Time: 12 minutes
California & Nevada, USA (April/May 2017)

After seeing an airfare sale we decided at short notice to take a trip to the USA to mark our 25th anniversary of being together (we left our children at home with their grandparents since it was during school term).

We have been to the USA a few times so planned our itinerary with a combination of places we have been before which we enjoyed (like Universal Studios and Venice Beach in L.A.) and also added in some new places we wanted to experience for the first time around Las Vegas and Palm Springs. We had a really enjoyable time and fortunately everything went smoothly, thanks to some good planning and resources such as the TripHobo app.

People travelling: Two (me and Steve)

Trip duration: 12 days / 11 nights

Total cost A$5,250 (Flights, accommodation & rental car) plus spending money Continue reading “Our 25th anniversary in California & Nevada”

Las Vegas with the family

Reading Time: 6 minutes
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (July 2015)
Las Vegas, Nevada (July 2015)

In July 2015, the whole family – my husband, two children (11 and 7 at the time) and I – took a two & half week holiday to the USA. I planned and researched our itinerary for months in advance as I wanted this to be the trip that the kids would remember for a lifetime.   We started in L.A. for a few days then rented a car and drove to Vegas, then did the Grand Canyon, stopped over in Phoenix on the way to San Diego and finally ended up in Palm Springs.

This post is dedicated to our Vegas segment (I will post about the others later).

Let me start by saying: I love Vegas! Though I haven’t always felt that way. I’d been there with the hubby three times before this trip. The first visit in 1994 I was overwhelmed with the intensity of the place, the constant noise and lights of the machines, lack of exit signage (got lost several times in different casinos), and was happy to leave after a one night stay. But we did return, warmed to the place, so much so that we chose Red Rock Canyon as our destination to get married at, on our third visit. I’m not into the gambling, not for any moral reasons but simply because it bores me after 5 minutes and I can think of much better things to spend money on (shoes for instance). However, I love the bright neon lights on the Strip, the extravagance, the opulent themed buildings, the food and entertainment, all surrounded by colourful desert and mountainous scenery.

As this was our first time to Vegas with the children we weren’t too sure how this would go. We need not have worried – we all had a great time and one of us even conquered some fears (read on)!

Here are my tips:

Continue reading “Las Vegas with the family”