Vacation to Vegas, L.A.

I am home from a long, great vacation.

Diane and I took her parents on a road trip.

We left Saturday morning and drove to Las Vegas.  It's about a 6 hour drive and on the way, we passed a forest fire raging on the side of a mountain.  We even saw helicopters fighting the fire - crazy stuff.

After we checked in at the Monte Carlo (surprisingly nice rooms for a priceline $60 special), we grabbed some dinner and walked around the strip for awhile.  It was getting dark so the lights were all on - great time for some pictures of my dazed and confused Chinese in-laws.

The next morning (Sunday), we got up and went walking.  We made it to the Bellagio Gardens, through the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, to Fashion Show Mall, and through the canals of the Venetian - all very impressive considering it was over 110 that day.  That night, we played a little video poker at the Monte Carlo.

On Monday, we got up and drove to Bass Pro Shops and then the outlet mall to do some shopping.  Then we hit up the pool and did about 20 laps on the lazy river. Finally, we drove down to Fremont Street, my favorite place in Vegas.  We played more video poker down there but didn't stay too long - they had some crappy rock cover bands playing incredibly loud.  I'm too old to enjoy that, but as long as the youths stay off my lawn...

Tuesday, we checked out and drove to L.A.  I have to commend Peggy Sue's Diner near Barstrow, CA - their bilboard ads got me to stop for a burger.

We got to L.A., checked in to our hotel, and went straight to Huntington Beach.  I love those beaches around Huntington.  Normal beach activities ensued - I swam in the water, we chased a seal floating by nonchalantly, and we walked out on the pier.  On the way back to the hotel around 9 pm, we stopped at Fish Camp for dinner - from the outside, it looked like an expensive, fancy seafood restaurant. Instead, it was cheap, delicious, and I got an 8 oz swordfish steak for like $12.  Really delicious.

The next day was the 4th of July.  We started at Venice Beach to do a little people watching.  Then we drove up the coast on PCH 1 to Malibu where we stopped a few times on the beach to lounge around and take pictures.

We had dinner at Neptune's Net where we got a few big sampler baskets of fried everything (squid, fish, shrimp, other stuff I don't even know about).  Good food - but really oily.  We didn't see the steamed food menu until we were on our way out - the idiots have different sections where you order from different menus.

Anyway, we continued up to Ventura and hopped on a boat that cruised back down to Oxnard where we watched fireworks floating around the harbor.  It was great - but I felt a little seasick on the way back to Ventura.

I am exhausted just typing all this - I need to get better at taking relaxing vacations.

So then it was Thursday and we went to the Getty Museum.  The architecture was cool, but the parking garage made me want to murder someone.  At least my license plates say "Utah" so I can drive like a jackass and no one is surprised.

After the museum, we went to Hollywood.  We hit up Hard Rock Cafe, a big shopping mall, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and walked around looking at stars in the sidewalk (yep, I found Nic Cage and Diane found Tom Hanks).

On the way home, we drove around Beverly Hills and talked about the house we would buy if we had $10 Million.  I don't even think that would be enough for some of the houses we found.  But if I lived in L.A., I'd pay $10 Million just to escape the traffic.  Sooo much traffic.  I mean seriously, I tried driving at 8 am, 10 am, noon, 3pm, 7pm, and midnight - I hit traffic jams on the highways every time.

The next day, we packed up and drove back to Vegas.  We stayed one night at the Stratosphere and I lost $40 at the roulette table - but oh, it was fun.  That $40 lasted about 2 hours which has to be some kind of record for roulette.

The next day, we drove back to SLC.  That was Saturday if you're keeping track.  Sunday was laundry day, and now it's back to work.

That was a great vacation - a little short, a little hectic, but pretty awesome.