Our time at Zion National Park had come to an end. We left our hotel in
Springdale, Utah after breakfast with the goal of arriving back in Las
Vegas by mid-afternoon. I took one last photo from our hotel before we
left.
back on the road
We made a stop at Wal-Mart in Hurricane, Utah to pick up a few snacks to fly back with us to Guatemala. These were Ben's choices.
On the drive back to Vegas we crossed into Nevada, then Arizona, and then back into Nevada again.
We arrived in North Las Vegas just in time for our 3:00 COVID test appointments. We did them at a Walgreens drive through. Thankfully only three of us had to be tested. Guatemala only requires it for everyone ten and up. Ben was happy about that.
We spent the next two days in Las Vegas awaiting our results before flying back home to Guatemala.
I had done some research on "free family friendly activities to do in Las Vegas with kids". I compiled a list of things I thought would be fun and that is what we passed the time doing. Two websites that I found most helpful were lasvegaskids and familyvacationcritic. Here are all the free things we did-
We enjoyed walking through the Venetian to see the gondolas and shops.
It was funny to see the Statue of Liberty with a mask on.
We visited the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada sign.
The line to take photos in front of the sign was extremely long so we just walked over to the side and took a quick selfie.
It is just these large painted rock pillars but the colors really pop against the desert backdrop.
On this particular day they were pressure washing them so they had a barrier around the area. Normally you are able to walk right up to them and take photos.
The colors were just as beautiful as I had imagined them to be.
On the way back into the city we made a stop by Speed Vegas. This is the place where you pay to drive a fancy sports car around a track. You can still enter for free as a spectator. You first have to register everyone in your party and wear an armband. That lets you pretty much get to explore the whole place. We got to watch the cars race by as well as walk through the parking area to see all of the cars up close. The boys thought it was super cool!
One of my favorite things we did was tour the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. Everything was very pretty!
Our favorite activity of all was the fountain show at the Bellagio. It was simply amazing.
We visited the flamingos.
We also watched the volcano eruption at the Mirage.
We visited the Ethel M Chocolate factory and cactus garden.
They were not making many chocolates that day so we didn't get to see a lot of action. It was still fun though just to walk around.
Just outside of the factory was the cactus garden. You just walk through at your own leisure.
A highlight of our time in Las Vegas was getting to have a meal with Ms. Kathy Kelly and Mr. Harry Watson. Ms. Kathy is a former IMB trustee who visited us back in 2008 when we lived in Coban and worked with the Kekchi. That IMB Trustee trip was a lot of fun! She is a precious lady and has been a great source of encouragement to me over the years. Mr. Harry is the Director of Missions for the Southern Nevada Baptist Association. It was great to hear from both of them about the work taking place in their area.
We had an overnight flight back to Guatemala. We dropped our rental car off at the airport around 5:00 pm and then checked in for our 8:00 pm flight. Here is Cruz soaking in the last views of the city before entering the airport.
Our family waiting to board our flight.
We saw a beautiful sunset as we left Las Vegas.
We had a short layover at LAX. Our next flight left around midnight and arrived in Guatemala City at 5:30 am.
We had a beautiful sunrise to welcome us back home.
Hello Guatemala City!
No comments:
Post a Comment