Viva Las Vegas, but Remember...

By on
Last week, I attended a work conference in Las Vegas. Having been apart from Karl for over a week while he traveled, I was thrilled that he could join me and work remotely from the hotel while I filled my brain with eLearning tools and technology.


Usually when we go to Vegas, we stay with friends and don't go down to the Strip. This time, we stayed at The Mirage hotel, which was where the conference was held. It had been a while since I had spent time on the Strip, and I had forgotten some key things.

The Strip is Expensive

If you're like me and you like to have food on hand in case you get hungry, then bring some snacks with you or pick some up at the airport. If you have a car, stop at a grocery store off the Strip to get some water and food. Of course, there were tempting bags of chips, candies, and water for sale in the hotel room, but I didn't see any prices listed. Assuming they would be pricey, I went to the hotel store. I bought two bottles of water and the healthiest snacks I could find, two bags of raw nuts. It came to $41. No joke! The waters were $5.75 each and the bags of nuts were about $15 each. I did notice when we left Las Vegas that a store at the airport had bags of nuts for $7.00 each. Mind you, mine were organic, so there's that. 

The snacks I bought at the hotel store.

The Strip is Spread Out

Even in the hotel, I had to walk quite a bit to get from our hotel room to the conference rooms. In fact, The Mirage has over 3000 rooms. We had asked for a quiet room, which meant we were about as far away from the elevator as you could get. From the hotel lobby area, it felt like all roads led to the casino. At one point, we found ourselves wandering around the casino trying to find the elevators. I noticed that the carpet looked like a path and concluded it was leading us around subconsciously. We eventually found shortcuts through the hotel, but not after touring the slot machines. We did venture out of the hotel one night to meet some friends for dinner and once we figured out how to get out of the casino, we still had to walk past some large hotel properties to get to the restaurant.

Be Prepared for Lineups

If you love your morning coffee, like I do, then have a coffee game plan. I enjoy waking up and easing into the day with a rich, steaming, hot cup. "It's a moment", I always say. Surprisingly, the rooms at the Mirage don't come with coffee makers. This was a sad discovery, especially since my conference sessions started at 7:30 each morning. One morning, we waited 45 minutes at a hotel coffee shop. While waiting in line, we found out from another conference goer that it was faster to order room service. I wondered how much THAT coffee cost? A few nights later, while walking through the casino, we discovered another coffee shop on the other side of the hotel, away from all the conference rooms. I wondered if the lineups might have been shorter there. Oh well, no worries, next time I stay on the Strip, I will pull a princess move and bring my Pixie Nespresso machine. Yes, I do travel occasionally with my coffee machine.

The Water is Hard and the Air is Dry

If you have dry, colored, gray, or damaged hair, or all of the above, then bring the products you know work on your hair. I used a carry-on bag for this trip, so I didn't bring my full-sized hair oil, which keeps my hair in order. Karl kindly let me use his beard oil, which smells like "man" to me. While it helped a little, I didn't want to use too much of it and end up with greasy hair. Plus I didn't want to overdo the man smell, even though I love, love, love the spicy sandalwood scent. 

Look for Deals

A week before the conference, I received an email from the Mirage confirming my stay and informing me about restaurants and entertainment options. The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil is a permanent show there and Karl and I have always wanted to see it. As I checked out the site to buy tickets, I noticed a link at the bottom of the page for show specials. I clicked on the link and found all the ticket prices quite discounted. What a treat! We finally went to the show. We were blown away by the music, sets, dancing, and creativity of it all.


I hope you these tips help you the next time you go to Vegas. Viva Las Vegas!!!.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The West Coast Trail Kicked My Butt!

By on
Image
How’s your life going? It has been a while since I checked in. Are you living a life of joy and passion? Are you living your values? There’s nothing like shaking up your routine or getting out of your comfort zone or confronting your demons to get you back on track to living your best life. On August 26th, Karl and I, and five of our dearest friends, finished the West Coast Trail hike in British Columbia, Canada. We started the hike in the north at Pachena Bay and ended at Gordon River across from Port Renfrew. We walked 75 kilometers over 8 days. And, EVERY SINGLE day was a challenge of mind and body. I’m pretty sure if I asked each person in our group whether the hike was hard, each person would say a resounding YES. But, I’m guessing the challenges would be slightly different for each person. Some confronted their fear of heights as they climbed up tall ladders with missing or slimy rungs and walked over tree trunk bridges one foot at a time. Some might say trying to figure a way ar...
Read more

Overcoming Itty Bitty

By on
Friday morning on my way to work, I was overcome with joy and gratitude to be living in Portland. The trees were dressed in an array of beautiful fall colors gracefully posing against a backdrop of mist-covered mountains. This incredible sight reminded me of how, at the beginning of the year, I had decided to be more thankful and present in the moment so I wouldn’t miss out on everyday gifts like this. Over a year ago, on a group motorcycle trip, I had an enlightening conversation with Karl and a good friend of ours, Chris. The three of us were mic’d up. As we rode, Chris introduced Karl and me to the Itty, Bitty, Shitty Committee. The Itty, Bitty, Shitty Committee, which I’ll just call Itty Bitty, is that negative voice in your head that tells you how terrible you are and reminds you of all of your shortcomings, whether real or imagined. Since that day, whenever we get together with Chris, we continue where we left off, sharing our progress in trying to rein in Itty Bitty and chan...
Read more

A New Year, A New Me!

By on
Image
I’m one of those people that wants to start off the new year with a new beginning, a new lease on life. Not necessarily to throw away what I’ve got going, but to shed what’s not working and make life even better. I generally love the excitement of a new year. For me, it means new experiences, people, and opportunities that I’ve not had before. Things to learn. Fun to discover. And a way to have even more joy in my life. Karl and I spent our last days of 2022 skiing in Golden, BC with some dear friends, one from high school, and I, unfortunately, ended up with food poisoning a few days before January 1st. I slept through New Year’s Eve. I usually spend the last week of December appreciating and thinking about all the adventures Karl and I did throughout the year and celebrating my personal accomplishments. This year I was too busy keeping water and food down. Today is my first day back to work after the holidays. My stomach is finally, for the most part, stable. And, I’ll be honest, I’m...
Read more