October 24, 2018 Las Vegas, NV–Fort Collins, CO

Travel day! We checked out of the hotel and took Uber to the airport. Worst Uber ride ever!! The driver didn’t get out of the car – no assistance with luggage – barely acknowledged us when we got in – didn’t ask which airline or terminal we were going to – played RAP music loudly all the way to the airport. Needless to say, no tip for him.

We spent several hours in the Priority Lounge while waiting for our flight. They had a nice lunch, so that was good. We both caught up on some reading.

Our flight home was great, then we were off to the shuttle to pick up the car and head home. We got back home about 9:30 pm and were greeted with happy cries from our Penny dog. We had a great time, but it is good to be home.

October 23, 2018 - Las Vegas, NV

Today we went shopping – Tobey’s least favorite thing to do! He was a good sport and humored me by going into three stores and helped me find a dress. It didn’t take too long – less than an hour – and I rewarded him by treating him to lunch at the Earl of Sandwich at Planet Hollywood. We actually shared a sandwich and had plenty to eat.

We spent some time looking at different casinos and working our way north along the Strip. One of the gondoliers at The Venetian was singing to his guests on the gondola. Fun to see and hear. We took a break back at our hotel before heading back to Fremont Street for the night. We had decided to eat at Bomb Tacos not far from Fremont Street. They advertised a special of five tacos for $12 on Yelp, but when we arrived, only one of the tacos we wanted to try were on their special. The staff there was really great, however, and offered us a discount on our order. We had two rock shrimp tacos, a potato taco, fish tacos, and a carne asada taco. They were all yummy and we were happy campers. To top off their awesome service, they brought us a complimentary dessert – delicious vanilla ice cream and warm churros! We were stuffed and smiling as we left the restaurant!We checked out some of the sights along our way back to Fremont Street. At Container Park there was an amazing, to scale, moving sculpture of a praying mantis with lights and spouting fire! It was built by aerospace engineer Kirk Jellum to be 150 times the size of a real Mantis, and burns about 50 gallons of propane each night. Flames can reach six stories high. Jellum and a team of 20 built The Mantis just outside Zion National Park in 2010. Five hundred hours of design work and more than 3,000 labor hours went into its construction.

This is a link to the mantis spouting!https://youtu.be/z8qt7PU24Ng

The Mantis actually drives! On two occasions it drove to and appeared in the annual “Burning Man” summer festival held in the Black Rock Desert of Norther Nevada – to this day it is still a street legal kinetic mobile fire art vehicle.

There were several other interesting art sculpture pieces at Container Park. Boys will be boys and Tobey just couldn’t resist taking a peek!Our funny sign for the day:We had fun seeing the sights and sounds along Fremont Street once again. Most of the street is decorated for Halloween and the bands all are joining in the fun by dressing up in costumes. We listened to two sets of music by Alter Igor,  a local rock band. They were really good and had the crowd dancing and singing along to their 70s/80s rock music. Tobey said we should make this an annual trip!

It was close to midnight before we got back to the hotel. Tomorrow we pack and head back to Colorado.

October 22, 2018 - Las Vegas, NV

Today we checked out some of the casinos along the Strip. In the Venetian, we saw the end of an Italian music show – opera singers and court jesters. We somehow always manage to get lost wandering though the “streets” of Venice – not unlike the time we were actually in Venice! The inside of some of these hotels and their shops is amazing. The ceilings make it appear as if you are really outdoors!In-n-Out Burger called my name at lunchtime. We usually try to eat at places we don’t have at home and since we don’t have one in Fort Collins, eating at a chain restaurant was okay. Their milkshakes are so thick and yummy!

Even though I didn’t partake, here is today’s funny sign:Back at the hotel, we attended the required presentation at the Hilton this afternoon and said “no thank you” to their offer to buy into their vacation club and were back on our way to our time!

We spent some time deciding on a dinner location and ended up at the Thai Street Food Café. It had high ratings and great reviews, but we were disappointed. It is actually located off the Strip about a half mile, in an industrial area strip mall. We broke our own rule of not eating at a place where there were no other people, but we thought it might have been too early. ANYWAY, a few other people did come in later, but it was still a so-so meal. I had pad Thai with shrimp and Tobey had the orange chicken. Neither were remarkable and we wondered what the people in the reviews had chosen!

After dinner, it was off to the gaming tables! Tobey played hold-em poker and I am always drawn to the roulette table. Tyler had told us earlier in the evening about a study by some Harvard professor about the odds and placing bets on red vs. black at the roulette table. Apparently, if the one color hits six or more consecutive times, you should bet on the opposite color. The table I was at was going crazy with red. This is when it had gone 10 times red. On the 15th roll, I finally bet on black and it was! Even money bet, and I am not a big gambler, but I won $5.00. Big spender! I should have splurged, but I would rather play longer!I did go away a winner after going back to playing numbers (which I usually do). Tobey wasn’t as lucky, but he still had fun. Tomorrow will be another day!

October 21, 2018 Fort Collins, CO to Las Vegas, NV

We’re in Vegas, baby!

We are forever getting phone calls inviting us to visit this property or that for a discounted price, and you only need to attend their presentation. We hadn’t been to Las Vegas for a few years, so we decided to go ahead and take the Hilton Grand Vacations up on their offer.

Our 8:30 am flight meant getting up at 4:15 (in the morning!!!) so we could arrive at the airport on time. Gosh, that is SO early! We both slept on the plane and arrived safely, even though it was a pretty bumpy flight.

Tobey had checked out some food reviews before coming and we took the bus (using our 3-day pass) to the Season Buffet at the Silverton Lodge and Casino. We had read that if you got a players card, you would get a $2 discount, so we thought, why not? After signing up for their Players Club, we both got a coupon for 50% off your entire order at the buffet – so it was an even better deal – both of us for $19.95! We grazed our way through the peel and eat shrimp, stuffed crab, Eggs Benedict, sushi (Tobey), egg drop soup, and other goodies and finished up with ice cream. It even included mimosas, and other assorted champagne drinks. I guess getting up at 4:15 this morning was worth it!There was a Bass Pro Shop connected to the casino and we took a while and looked around. They even had a mermaid swimming in the huge aquarium at the entrance!

After our lunch, we took the bus back to the transfer station and made our way to the Hilton. After checking in and getting settled we both took naps. I didn’t wake up until 6:15, but I felt so much better!

We headed out to Tacos El Gordo for dinner because it was supposed to have the best street tacos in Vegas. There was a long line out the door when we arrived – and mostly local Hispanics. There are three or four locations here in Las Vegas and one not far from our hotel.We ordered two carne asada tacos and two tacos al pastor. Not 7 pesos – about 35 cents - each like we pay in Tulum, but $2.50 each. They were pretty good and the place does a booming business. We would go back again!After dinner we went downtown to Fremont Street. What a wild and crazy place! There were three bands playing and the Mighty Mighty Boss Tones drew the largest crowd.We watched as folks were doing the zipline down Fremont Street. We have ziplined before and I much prefer going through a jungle than the idea of zipping over a bunch of people!The laser light show is always fun and we enjoyed watching the people as much as the show!This guy was posing on this bike for the longest time without moving! I don’t know how they do it, but it was interesting to see!We took the bus back to the Hilton around 11 pm after a busy day. Day 1 in Vegas a success!

October 9, 2018 - Cabo, Mexico

Today was our last full day in Mexico, so we made it a beach day. We went into Cabo San Lucas to hang out at Medano Beach, one of the swimmable beaches in the area. There were quite a few people  on the beach because a Disney ship was in “port” today. The cruise ships that stop here have to anchor offshore and shuttle the passengers in because the marina cannot accommodate the large cruise ships. It was actually fun to see so many families traveling together. It certainly kept the beach vendors busy!

The water was pretty calm and warm. We had fun cooling off in the water then soaking up the sun.We walked back into town for lunch at Restaurante El Pescador. I had the shrimp tacos and Tobey had the fish tacos. Both were a disappointment. After lunch we both remembered that we had wanted to try Tacos Gardenias, a place we had eaten at 4 years ago when we were here. Oh well! After lunch it was back to the beach. We met a couple from California on vacation with their kids and enjoyed visiting with them for quite a while. After deciding we had been toasting in the sun long enough, it was back to the main street and the bus home. On our way, we passed today’s funny sign.For dinner tonight, we opted to eat at Mama Mia’s Restaurant here at the Coral Baja. Tobey had the red snapper almandine and I had the red snapper with garlic. Both were delicious. They also served some yummy dinner rolls with a cream cheese filling. What a fun taste surprise! As we were finishing our dinner, we watched as a group went by the resort on horseback. While it looked like they were having fun, riding horses on the beach is not on my bucket list of must do activities!So our trip is coming to an end and we need to pack for our return to Colorado tomorrow.

October 8, 2018 - Cabo, Mexico

We took the bus into Cabo San Lucas this afternoon and treated ourselves to 90 minute massages. Aahhh – the simple pleasures in life! We spent a little time walking around town and this is the funny sign for today.On our way back to the bus stop, we met a young couple from the Carnival cruise ship and we took a picture of them, so they reciprocated. It is fun to actually be in pictures together!We relaxed for a while after getting back to our resort, then cleaned up and took a taxi over to Herringbone’s Restaurant. We shared the “Sailboat” entrée which included shrimp, crab, clams and ceviche. It usually comes with oysters, but neither of us is fond of them, so they substituted more shrimp – YUMMY! We did a pretty good job of finishing most of it!We opted to walk back to our resort after dinner to walk off some of our dinner. It only took about 20 minutes and was really pleasant. We stopped at the little market just outside and treated ourselves to ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Not bad for a Monday!

October 7, 2018 - Cabo, Mexico

We had a pretty quiet day today. We took a walk on the beach and stopped to watch some of the surfers. The waves aren’t real big, but they were having a good time.There are several trees around the resort they have trimmed into interesting shapes. A couple near the lobby are the rooster and a kangaroo. There are dinosaurs in another area so I will need to get some pictures of those, too! There are some plumeria trees, also. They are pretty, but not quite as fragrant than the ones we have seen in Hawaii.We followed the Broncos game online only to be disappointed with their loss. Then our poor Rockies ended their season with a loss to the Brewers. We’re going to watch a movie and hang out tonight.

October 6, 2018 - Cabo, Mexico

We had a busy day today. We took the bus into San Jose del Cabo to check out the old town. Our first stop was the Mission de San Jose del Cabo Anuiti Catholic Church. The mission was the southernmost of the Jesuit missions established during the colonial period of the Baja. The building as it stands today was restored in 1940 and is the most visited tourist attraction downtown. The first San Jose del Cabo Church was built when the San Jose del Cabo Anuiti Mission was founded in April 8th 1730 by Jesuitical Friar Nicolas Tamaral.The plaza across from the mission was deserted today while we were in town. Actually, almost everywhere we went in the old town had very few visitors. From the mission we walked to the estuary to check it out. We spotted a few egrets and other waterfowl, but not many. We did watch as one egret chased the black bird around for a while. That was the excitement at the bird sanctuary!We stopped at the public market which was very small and had lunch at Loncheria Sonia. I tried the chicken mole and Tobey tried their fish tacos (no surprise there!). Lunch was filling and pretty good. From the market we headed back to our condo for a rest from the heat and sun.

Around 4, we headed back into Los Cabos for a sunset dinner cruise to Los Arcos (the arches).We were on the Oceanus. It was a pretty large boat, but not overly crowded. We had nice views looking back at the city.There were lots of boats – all sizes cruising around the arch.We bought a photo that the ship photographer took of us, but of course, we have no way to scan it, so we will settle for our selfie for this blog!We also spotted a sealion catching the last rays of sunshine on one of the rocks.Views of some of the resorts on the Pacific side of the peninsula were lovely as the sun was going down.We were treated to a beautiful sunset before our boat turned around and headed back toward the marina.We enjoyed a leisurely stroll through town before catching the bus back to our condo.

The funny sign for today:We are both beat after walking so much in the heat today. Plans for tomorrow include a walk on the beach, then trying to catch part of the Broncos game and the Rockies game.

October 5, 2018 - San Jose del Cabo, Mexico

Another day in Mexico!

We had some pool time and lunch at our condo before taking the bus into Cabo San Lucas. We spent some time walking around the marina before dinner. I am always (or easily!) entertained by the signs we see during our travels. I found this one funny!We had dinner at Barracuda’s. Tobey had the shrimp ceviche and I had garlic shrimp. They served a delicious mango salsa with my shrimp that we both liked! We certainly enjoy the seafood here!We took the bus back to our condo and watched a couple people singing karaoke at the Mama Mia Restaurant. One was a young boy – maybe 10 years old. He did a great job! You won’t find either of us singing, but we had fun listening. I managed to beat Tobey at a game of gin – always a bonus for me!

We also spent over an hour with our mobile phone carrier trying to straighten out why my phone is not connecting with our data. URGH. When they FINALLY connected us to a tech person, it only took about 5 minutes to fix. Now we know and the vacation resumes.