Viva Las Vegas

Going to Vegas with all girls is an absolute blast and I am sure it is a completely different experience than what you would have with a spouse/bf or family – so I recommend you try to experience it both ways.

I ventured to Vegas last April for a girlfriend’s stagette, there were 7 of us girls, three of us went down for a week and the rest of the girls met us down there for four days.

Me and two friends arrived a day earlier than the rest of the gang,  and we were staying at the Excalibur, while some of the other girls were staying at the Flamingo.  The Excalibur was great, other than being on the south end of the strip making it a bit of a walk to get anywhere (which I guess was a good exercise to make up for all the food and booze), everything else was great about our hotel.  The Flamingo was also great, and is an ideal location as it is right in the middle of the strip.

We arrived on a Tuesday night, which we had done our research before going and had a list of things we wanted to do and see and made sure to check out what days certain places had things going on that we wanted to see.  Tuesday night was ladies night at DB Pong’s at Planet Hollywood – it’s a beer pong bar – it was $10 for ladies to drink all night (the bar didn’t close until after 4am).   We definitely got our $10 worth of vodka cranberries that night while kicking ass at beer pong for the night.  We then ventured off the strip with a few locals and a clan from Calgary for one of the best hot dog’s ever – it was very sketchy and I would not recommend going off the strip!

 Wednesday we chilled by the pool for part of the day with our flippy floppy’s, bathing suits and sunscreen ready in hand – which we definitely lucked out and had amazingly awesome hot sunny weather our whole week there.  The pools at the Excalibur are great!  We did a bit of adventuring down the strip.  For a good cheap meal – Hooter’s – it is across the street from Excalibur and it was great pub food for cheap (probably the cheapest meal we had while there).  We had seen a Walgreens only a couple of blocks down the strip and thought we would walk there to stock up on some water, booze, and snacks – what we thought would be a 10-15 minute walked turned out to be over an hour.  Note: Nothing is as close as it looks on the strip, if you think it will just be a block or two away and only 10-15 minutes it will be a good hour.

The rest of our posse arrived just after supper time and we all met up and walked up and down the strip several times until the wee hours of the next morning.  We found a casino in Harrah’s that sells beer for $1 (it’s a weird name beer but after a few it tasted just like any other beer) which we felt was worth the walk back and forth.  There was also a great outdoor concert outside of Harrah’s  the Carnival Court which we took in, not only was the band awesome they also sure weren’t hard on the eyes and the Flare Bar bartenders were freakishly amazing doing endless tricks and fancy moves serving every drink.

Thursday was the big day!  Morning at the pool, afternoon of shopping and then the surprise stagette (or as known down there as the bachelorette party) began!  We went for an early supper to Dick’s Last Resort - one of my favorite restaurants for atmosphere and service, but the food was nothing special – still worth the experience – we all ended up with hats on with crazy crude sayings (see photo for sayings).  After supper we made our way over to the Piano Bar at New York New York (which after a week in Vegas, New York New York was like home – it was where we spent most of our time and loved it).  The Piano Bar is a must see – the talent is amazing – you must go early to get a seat otherwise it is standing space on the dance floor and they do charge a cover charge.  We had pre-arranged for a stripper limo bus to pick us up at New York New York at 11pm which it was on time and nothing like any of us had expected.  

Let’s just say “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”.  If you are ever planning a stagette and are considering Vegas, ask me for more details!  After being overly wowed from our stripper tour of Vegas and a stop at the famous Welcome to Vegas sign, we were dropped off New York New York where we finished off the night by dancing on the stage at Coyote Ugly’s until the bride-to-be got kicked out so we went and gambled for a bit and some of us had to call ‘er a great night, but some lasted longer.  One of the girls met a boy at the slot machines and they hit it off and spent the next couple of days meeting up and then started dating and as he is a pilot he flies to Canada (as he is from the U.S.) on a very regular basis still to this date (nearly 10 months later) as they are madly deeply in love.

Friday consisted of the majority of us sleeping in, and I believe a few of the girls made it to the pool for the afternoon, but a few of us napped.  We did check out more of the strip and visited the wax museum – it was okay – it’s very expensive and if you are going to Vegas on a budget, I don’t think I would recommend this tour.    A few of us went and did the Gondola ride in the Venetian – which is a great little relaxing tour and sure makes you feel like you are in Italy.  The Roller Coaster at New York New York is awesome for the thrill seekers! That evening we headed over to Freemont Street -  located in Downtown Vegas – the “old strip”, Fremont Street offers visitors the ultimate Las Vegas experience. With free concerts, shows, and millions of lights, the Fremont Street Experience is not to be missed.  A zip line goes down this awesome light show, but none of us were gutsy enough to attempt it that night.  It is strongly recommended not to stay on Freemont Street past midnight as it starts to get a lot of crazies out and about and is not a safe place to be.  

Saturday we shopped until we dropped – enough said!  We purchased tickets to “O” Cirque du Soleil which was spectacular, and it would have been even more enjoyable had we not had too many drinks during the day which then turned into what seemed like a hang over by the time the show started, but we still proceeded to venture out and about after the show.  We stopped in for a few drinks at Senor Frogs then did the Roller Coaster at New York New York for the night view, which was awesome!

Sunday the rest of the girls departed, they were more than ready to head out from all the over excitement they had experienced on the 4 days in Vegas.  Me and my posse went to Gordan Ramsay’s Burgr restaurant for lunch, which was fantastic – making reservations ahead of time is recommended.  The afternoon was spent at the Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage then we toured through more of the resorts and toured through the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio.

Monday we originally had intentions of going to see Carrot Top and then found out that he doesn’t play on Monday’s even though it had stated in the brochures that he did, so we ended up getting tickets to the Tournament of Knights at the Excalibur, which is a dinner theatre set back in time – it is a great show worth seeing and is reasonably priced.

Tuesday we didn't fly out until almost midnight - we were beyond exhausted at this point and could no longer walk, but we did go for a fine lunch at the Cheesecake Factory - mmm mmm mmm!

Do’s/Don’t's:

- Do walk the strip – it is an experience in itself – each hotel has its own theme to explore and witnessing the many “interesting” people walking the strip is also fun

- Budget before you go and don’t forget about the resort fees which usually range between $15-30 per day per room

- Don’t forget to bring a few shoe options as your feet will get sore – the strip is much longer than it looks and when stopping for photo-ops, exploring inside the hotels/stores and crossing crowded streets makes it even longer.

- Do see a show – there are plenty of shows in Vegas and most of them are worth investing some money into.

- Do gamble – even if you aren’t a big gambler or don’t know how to play poker or other card games, if the tables aren’t busy the dealers are really good to help newbies learn a game.

Things you should check out:

Siegried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat at The Mirage: You get to lounge watch dolphins all day *sigh I sure loved it*, you will also get to see white lions, white tigers, panthers and leopards.  A great way to spend an afternoon.

Cirque du Soleil: No trip to Vegas is truly complete without seeing a show. Although there are tons to choose from, Cirque du Soleil is among the more popular and fan favorite shows. The performances and acts are truly amazing!

Fountain Show at the Bellagio: Aside from the fact that it’s FREE, the Fountain Show at the Bellagio is an amazing Las Vegas attraction and a truly beautiful sight at night. You can view them every half hour between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and every 15 minutes from 8 p.m. until midnight. It’s pretty hard to miss this show while walking the strip.

Fremont Street Experience: Located in Downtown Vegas, Fremont Street offers visitors the ultimate Las Vegas experience. With free concerts, shows, and millions of lights, the Fremont Street Experience is not to be missed.   The light show starts nightly at 8pm and you can check out the schedule online to see what music will be playing each night.

Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood: Located in the Planet Hollywood hotel, the Miracle Mile Shops have a variety of stores and restaurants sure to please all visitors. From True Religion to GUESS, this mall has a little something for everybody, but is a bit pricey.

Premium Outlets: There are two, one south of the Strip and the other north of the Strip, the Premium Outlets is home to many popular department stores and great shopping.  The north outlet mall is an outdoor style whereas the south outlet mall is an actual mall.

Fashion Show Mall: Located a little further down the strip, Fashion Show Mall is your upscale shopping destination! They have several brands and stores including BCBG, Forever21, Aldo, Nordstrom and more! If you need a last minute outfit, be sure to hit up this chic spot.

Roller Coaster in New York New York Hotel: Although it’s not like your local amusement park’s roller coaster, the coaster in the New York New York Hotel is a lot of fun with a great view. It runs on top/the side of the hotel and lasts a few minutes.  Definitely worth checking out if you’re a thrill seeker.

Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay: You can see all kinds of sawfish, giant rays, endangered green sea turtles, piranha, jellyfish and the rare golden crocodile to name a few.

Volcano at The Mirage: This can’t be missed while walking the strip at night, as the volcano erupts every hour during the evenings nightly.

Eiffel Tower Experience at Paris: Don’t miss the view to see all of Vegas from one place.

Piano Bar at New York New York: True talent at its best with these duelling pianos.

Wild Habitat at Flamingo: By the swimming pool there are 14 penguins, 10 flamingos, assorted exotic birds, two albino turtles and koi.  Open 24 hours a day on the terrace.

Special Tips:

- Drinks are FREE in all casinos if you are playing the tables or slots, if you tip they will return.

- Walk through as many of the hotels as you can, they are all so unique with hidden gems

- Drinking in Vegas 101: To be honest, drinks are the means for creating most of the Vegas stories that you and your friends will talk about time and time again.   Keeping in mind the drinking age in Vegas is 21 and up.  There are no ridiculous alcohol laws in Vegas like most other cities have, which means you will not hear “Last Call” at the bars/nightclubs – you can drink 24/7!  And best of all, it is perfectly legal to walk around The Strip or Downtown Las Vegas with an open alcoholic beverage in your hand.  If you are in a restaurant/bar/nightclub and have some of your drink left and are leaving just ask for a plastic cup and you can take it with you.  But do note that drinks are expensive in Vegas especially in the nightclubs which is why it’s a great idea to hit up a Walgreens or Costco your first day and stock your hotel room with some drinks and take them with you.

I think everyone should experience Vegas at least once in their life!!  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas my friends!!

Okanagan Valley in B.C.

A road trip through the scenic mountains with all the curves, hills, sharp drops topped with the beautiful scenery make the long trip to B.C. all worth the while.

Kelowna which is set in the heart of the Okanagan Valley has some of the finest wineries hidden in the mountains, the beautifully crystal-clear Okanagan Lake, a great sandy beach to great green golf courses.

Our top 10 favorite things to do:
  1) Floating down the Penticton Canal
  2) Cliff Jumping
  3) Boating & Tubing in Okanagan Lake
  4) Watersliding
  5) Touring the biking/hiking trails
  6) Fishing
  7) Golfing
  8) Scenic-breathtaking views
  9) Sunning & Swimming on Kelowna Beach
  10)  Searching for Ogopogo

Grab a floaty or as we do an air mattress with a cooler full of beverages and head on down to Penticton for the day and spending the afternoon floating down the Penticton Canal.  Lay back and relax, take a dip to cool off and for the more adventurous types bring your snorkel gear.  The river channel is about 7km long with a halfway point rest stop.   Depending on the day/time of year that you go the water levels and river speed is always changing.  It usually takes about an hour and a half to the halfway point and to do the entire 7km it is about a 3-4 hour relaxing ride.

The Okanagan Lake is over 130km long stretching from Vernon on the north, Penticton on the south, Kelowna in the centre, as well as a few smaller towns.  The Okanagan Lake is also home to the cryptid lake monster - a giant serpent-like creature known as Ogopogo.

Taking a boat out on the crystal clear lake (you can rent speed boats, fishing boats and even houseboats) we like doing a day of searching for Ogopogo all the while tubing, swimming, cliff jumping and just touring some of the peaceful inlets of the lake to have a nice picnic.  Note: when cliff jumping please remove all expensive accessories, yes boys this does mean your sunglasses (which of course make you look so much more attractable to all the young beach babes while you are strutting your stuff up the cliffs, but forgetting to take those babe magnet shades off before jumping off that sharp rigid cliff does and will result in them sinking to the bottom of the lake, but wait let's spend an hour 'searching the area' for them just in case they just floated off!  Boys will be boys!

Just outside of Vernon is a great family water park - Atlantis Waterslides.  This outdoor water park is the perfect place to spend a hot day in the Okanagan sun, with kiddie slides for the kidlets to the River Riot tube slide for the adults, there are 10 slides, a giant hot tub pool, lots of sunny areas with picnic tables, mini golf!  Let the fun begin!

Unfortunately in my fun and wild adventures to the Okanagan so far I have not yet had the opportunity to tour any of the fabulous wineries I have heard so much about.  Although, I have sampled many of the Okanagan wines and my next trip I will definitely be touring some of the wineries.  Cheers!

Kenosee Lake - Moose Mountain Park

A very common summer trip for us is Kenosee Lake in Moose Mountain Provincial Park.  A weekend of wicked watersliding, camping, min-golf, beach time, and boating.

The Kenosee SuperSlides is fun for everyone with slides for all ages, there is a whole kiddie area with little kid slides and pools, tube slides, twister slides, bonzai slides, the free fall slide if you like wedgies, the lazy canal which is my ideal place to lounge on a floaty or air mattress and just relax while floating around the canal, and of a course a huge hot tub.  There are lots of picnic tables and areas to leave your stuff and just relax the day away while sliding, I highly recommend bringing your own picnic lunch and snacks.

The Park campsites are decent in size, clean and nice.  There is a great golf course, a fun mini-golf course, beautiful beach and lake.  There is decent fishing too.  And for those who like to be naturally adventurous there are lots of hiking/biking trails, I'm more of the sit back by the camp fire and drink kind of person so I couldn't tell you what the trails are like first hand.

Cormorant Lake, Manitoba

My great uncle and aunt owned a cabin at Cormorant Lake in northern Manitoba and one summer we decided to take a family road trip to do some fine fishing and sightseeing.

With a lake front cabin - the sunsets were astonishing.  The lake was crystal clear with beautiful rock beaches.  The lake is over 18 miles long and is said to be pollution free and considered to be among the most productive lakes in North America.

Cormorant is known for its outstanding fishing so what did we do each day - yes we went fishing and whatever we caught was always supper.  Fresh fish fry with homemade tarter sauce and homemade fries - a meal doesn't get any better than that!

One day Pacey was playing on the rock beach and caught a cray fish which he named Holly Polly, we kept it for the day in a small container of water and then he released it that night back into the lake so it could be with its friends.

The fishing that week was superb, Pacey caught the biggest fish and it was a week to be remembered by all!

Edmonton, Alberta

West Edmonton Mall is a definite need-to-see at least once in your lifetime place!  We have made several trips to West Ed Mall and always have a fantastic time!

For my son's, Pacey, 7th birthday rather than having a 'friend party' we opted on a trip to Edmonton for an Oilers game and of course to take in the mall.

We get to Edmonton were we surprised him and had his uncle fly in from Kelowna and had a few other friends join us for supper.  My husband's favourite restaurant is the Japanese Village in Edmonton so that is where we all met.  To see Pacey's face when his uncle walked around the corner and came and sat down with us was absolutely priceless.  

Japanese Village is an exciting place to dine as they put on an exceptional show while cooking your meals right in front of you.  It's a bit expensive, but a great experience.

As we were finishing up our supper a bunch of very good looking girls started filing in and they were all wearing Oilers jerseys with 69 on their backs.  The guys had their eye-candy fulfillment.  When the birthday cake was brought out all the girls joined in singing and a few of them came over and gave Pacey a hug and he got a picture with them.  He was so embarrassed, but all the men were fully loving it.  

When we exited the restaurant a limo was just pulling up in front and a few girls came out behind us and asked Pacey if he would like to go for a ride with them around the block in the limo.  Before the chauffeur even had the door to the limo fully opened the men were jumping in without even asking if they could tag along.  So the boys all went for a ride with around downtown Edmonton in a limo with some sexy showgirls.  A 7th birthday never to be forgotten!!

The next day we hit up the mall to go to GalaxyLand, the world's largest indoor amusement park.  With dozens of rides for all ages and a triple loop roller coaster, the fun never ends.  I think we must have did every ride two or three times until we were all exhausted and still had to have energy for the big game that night.  

From the mall we were off to the Oilers vs. Detroit game.  If you or your kid loves watching NHL games, I must say that it is a rush to be at a live game - expensive, but another one of those things that if you are a fan you need to go to at least one live game to feel the thrill and excitement!  Although for me, I would rather watch it on tv as I like having the commentators explain to me what is going, but I a have truly enjoyed the live games we have gone to, just find that they are costly.

Now, whenever we go to Edmonton we always have to have a full day to spend at the mall World WaterPark.  This is by far one of my most favourite places to go ever!  It is like a tropical paradise, being the world's largest indoor wave pool with the tallest indoor permanent bungee tower (which I still have not got up the courage to try, but I will one day) and some many unique and crazy fun waterslides.  I could spend a week at that place and never get bored!

We usually do a round of mini-golf at the Putt 'n' Glow, it's a funky glow-in-the-dark mini-golf course.

The mall also has a lot of other great attractions like the indoor Ice Palace, bumper boats, Deep Sea Derby, and a great IMAX theatre which is always a good time and let's not forgetting about the shopping and eating on Bourbon Street.

When I was a kid we stayed in the FantasyLand Hotel right in the mall and they have the coolest theme rooms.  We had bought the coolest game while there, it was called West Edmonton Mall and it was a knock off of Monopoly but the board was the mall, it's crzazy how much the mall has changed over the years looking back at the game board and going to the mall now.

TeXaS

In 2007 my husband, Ryan was working on the rigs in Texas, just south of Dallas so for Father's Day my son, Pacey and I planned a surprise trip down there to visit him for a few days to surprise him for Father's Day.  The night before we were flying I ended up telling him so that I could get directions to where exactly he was and which hotel he was staying at.  He was shocked!

This was a trip of a lifetime.  We flew down to Dallas and rented a convertible car with GPS.  I was so nervous and had major butterflies about driving in Dallas.  Without the GPS we wouldn't have been able to make it out of the airport let alone out of Dallas, the driving was insanely intense.  Driving through 10 lanes of one-way traffic was nerve-wrecking.  Even with the GPS a did take one wrong turn, I think we were driving in 'the hood' it was scary, but got turned around and took a bit to find a way back onto the main road but got there safe and sound eventually.

While Ryan was working during the day Pacey and I would set out on adventures with our top down and go where ever the wind took us!

An a couple of hours of touring around the middle of no where we finally found the Dinosaur Valley State Park we were looking for - it was nothing great and I would not recommend going to see.  It was no near comparison to what Drumheller in Alberta has to offer.

A must see was the amazing Wildlife Adventure.  It's a massive drive-thru zoo where you drive your own vehicle through a beautifully scenic valley with exotic animals coming up to your vehicle.  We had giraffes, zebras and deer sticking their heads right in the car through the windows and licking us.  There were rhino's, jaguars and so many other species.  We even got to see two giraffes getting the deed done - wowsers I've never seen something so big and large enter something so small and it was so continuous and only a few meters from us.  Once at the top of hill it is the mid-point of the drive-thru zoo with a gift shop and snack bar with an incredible view of the entire valley of animals.

One exciting day spent at Six Flags Over Texas with so many rides we didn't know where to began.  We got to meet Bugs Bunny (one of my childhood favs), Daffy Duck, Batman and many other awesome cartoon characters.

As I am a hardcore scrapbooker and I like to always get at least one postcard everywhere we go and then just take hundred of pictures as well, we went into every single gift shop to try to find a postcard.  By the end of the day we had been in every gift shop and not one had postcards, as I am talking with the cashier Pacey asks me if he can get this giant colourful looney tunes lollipop and I said sure and kind of shooed him off while I was having the cashier call around to find out where I could get a postcard.  After finding out that they don't have postcards anywhere I was in a frenzy and grabbed Pacey's hand and stormed out and we were ready to leave the park.

Now the entrance to the park had security and the scanners and right after we get through security Pacey asks me to open his lollipop and I realized I did no pay for it (it was a $12 sucker), I panicked and told him to walk fast to the car.  To this day he still reminds me of how I stole a giant lollipop.  And we all know the saying "Don't Mess with Texas" - well I messed with Texas and got away with it!

Calgary Zoo

When Pacey was 3 we decided to go to the Calgary Zoo, as Pacey was a huge dinosaur fanatic we thought the dinosaur area at the zoo would be very intriguing for him.

Well, the day we planned for the zoo it was scorching hot and walking all day in the heat with a 3 year old who wants to be carried the entire time and the heat was over bearing for him, plus pulling a wagon with snacks, water, etc. it became more of a dreadful day for me that a great memorable one.  

I think we made the mistake of touring through the dinosaur area first and Pacey was all super excited and thought it was fantastic and then the rest of the zoo just seemed like a bore to him which made him uninterested and cranky basically the remainder of the day.

The zoo is fantastic, but I strongly feel that once you’ve seen it once you are pretty much good.  And big recommendation - don’t take your kids until they are old enough to be able to walk all day without needing to be carried or pushed or pulled.

Don’t let my one bad experience detour you from taking in this amazing experience, I did go as a kid and it was fantastic - I loved it.  You get to discover Africa, the Canadian Wilds, Australia, the Dinosaur Prehistoric Park, South America, Eurasia and the Botanical Gardens.

I’ve heard that the zoo is an amazing place to go see close to Christmas with all the zoo lights, I may still make one more attempt with Pacey and I hope you will take at least one opportunity to go discover life on earth at the zoo!