September 3rd – September 9th 2017

We spent the night of Sept 2 in Junction City to make the early departure from Eugene airport to Vegas easier. It was just JP and I for the first 2 days (a late 45th Anniversary gift to ourselves). We stayed at the Tropicana which is conveniently located not too far from the monorail. 

We found a cool bar – Rock and Reillys and had frozen Baileys at Osheas. We road the monorail and covered a lot of ground in the sweltering heat and the Labor Day weekend crowds but it was nice and cool in the casinos and on the monorail so no harm done. 

On Monday night we saw Michael Jackson ONE Cirque d Soleil. My favorite Cirques are the ones that stand alone (without pop culture added – just the fairy tale magic) but this one was the exception. Big venue, great effects, all around magical and memorable!

Tuesday Ben and Amanda drove up from LA. We stayed at the WorldMark Resort which works great for us. We have everything we need to have meals in during the day. We do the Lazy River and Pools in the afternoon before siesta and we are just the right distance from the strip for our evening meal and entertainment. I usually put together a theme or idea for the trip so we have a direction for our evening outings. This year we had a list of sights to see that took us around the strip. We covered some casinos that’s for sure!

Tuesday evening we went to Nacho Daddy’s for a yummy Mexican dinner just off Freemont Street. Next up was the Freemont Street Experience featuring Imagine Dragons. My favorite Freemont Experiences are the Doors and Don McLean. Craziness abounded as expected on Freemont Street. No big wins but no big losses!

Wednesday night we headed to Planet Hollywood to see the Zombie Burlesque Show. Funny and over the top! Totally Vegas material!

Afterwards we had dinner at Gordon Ramsey’s Burger Las Vegas – hefty burgers and huge restaurant. Next stop – the Wynn Casino Resort to find the 28M dollar Popeye statue purchased by Steve Wynn at a Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Auction. It was created by Jeff Koons and though it is an odd addition to the Wynn décor it is really pretty cool! The Wynn is way at the end of the strip but had lots of colorful décor and made for a good destination.

Thursday evening we traveled the other side of the strip. We went to House of Blues for dinner. We all ordered different types of dishes and all were really good! Afterward we searched out  “Bliss Dance” at the Park. “Bliss Dance is a breathtaking, 40-foot-tall sculpture of a dancing woman, celebrating the strength of a woman who is both safe and present.” She weighs 7500 pounds and 3000 LED lights. Both she and the Park where she stands are really lovely!

Then onto the Cosmopolitan for a little tour and out again to the Bellagio. We watched the fountains at the Bellagio and then went to the Bellagio Conservatory. It changes with the seasons and is all real plants and flowers which must be a huge undertaking. We spent awhile there taking pictures and enjoying the cool atmosphere.

Friday night we did dinner and a movie. We saw IT by Stephen King. It was good and long – 2 hrs and 15 min. Even after all the popcorn and sodas we were hungry enough for sushi so stopped at Twisted Sushi for the prefect dinner. We headed home with full bellies (and pie and ice cream) to watch movies at the resort. We finished off the night with ROUGH NIGHT OUT and ANTI MATTER and then packed up for the trip home,

We had an awesome family trip! I love our Pomeroy Paloozas. JP and the kids are always good sports about my itinerary for the trip. We are already booked in for next year. I think we will make next years goal to see a show or performance a night. Ill start looking into that – tomorrow! I love our family time!