We started our annual Vegas trip with a bang! We flew in to Las Vegas late Friday night and were in our hotel room by 10:30 PM. I had thought long and hard about how to make a week in Vegas possible with our busy schedules. My initial thought was to cut our trip short and fly out late and leave early. I booked our flights for the last possible flight out on Friday night hoping that it wouldn't get delayed or cancelled because we had to be up at 3 AM to make our race on the top of Mount Charleston.
Our Friday night flight was delayed by 30 minutes which wasn't too bad. We landed safely and headed for the Uber line at the Las Vegas airport. Craig met us in the lobby of our hotel as he had booked our rooms for race day. We had all planned to start our trip with a half marathon that began at 6 AM on Saturday April 1st. I am pretty sure Stephen didn't sleep at all that night and I woke up at 2 AM thinking it was 3 AM. We had laid our clothes out the night before so all we had to do what put them on and get on the bus that left from our hotel.
We had chosen some throw away sweaters because it was 22 degrees on the mountain. That was not enough warmth. The wind blew just enough to freeze us. The bus dropped us off at 4:45 AM so we had to sit outside for an hour and 15 minutes while we waited for the 6 AM start of the race. 1500 people huddled behind the porta potties to escape the cold. Stephen and I wrapped up in two heat blankets that the race provided and we just sat on the cold hard ground waiting in the freezing cold for the race to start. Blair and Craig finally gave in and sat on the ground with us. It was a long wait but we finally headed the half mile down to the start line. It was sort of a sad start line because not everyone was there when the announcer said, "go"! I wasn't completely ready because I hadn't started my music and put my phone in my back pocket. So I started running with all of my stuff in my side pocket. Not ideal but not terrible. The race was AMAZING!! I felt so good until mile 11. I loved running fast downhill. It took little to no effort to run an 8 minute mile. At mile 11 there was a strong uphill that lasted an entire mile! That was rude! HA! Stephen crossed the finish line in 1:39 and I was 10 minutes behind him at 1:49.
After the race, Stephen and I found the warmest spot in the fake grass and laid down with two more of the heat blankets while we waited for Craig and Blair to finish the race. I am so proud of Craig and Blair!! They are incredible. They trained all through the brutal winter and worked hard to complete the half marathon. It was so fun to see them at the finish line.
For me, the half marathon was the best part of the trip. I could have flown home that day and had an awesome vacation. We were all exhausted after the race so we jumped on the bus and headed back to our hotel. Stephen and I took a hot bath and instantly fell asleep. 3 AM is a bit early for me. We ordered door dash and pizza that night and just hung out together.
We sat by the pool on Sunday while we waited for our room to be ready at the Bellagio Hotel. Once it was ready, we packed up quickly and headed to the best hotel on the strip. We stay in one of the VIP suits so it makes our trip feel a little more luxurious. Sunday night we met up with Veronica and Chris and ate at RPM in Caesar's Palace. The food was pretty good but not memorable. I think we were all still so exhausted from the race that we just went back to our hotel room and fell right to sleep.
Monday, I woke up ready to exercise so I headed down to the gym by myself and did a work out to loosen up my legs. My quads we so sore after the race. I could barely bend my legs so I figured a nice bike ride might loosen up my muscles. I walked through the Bellagio gardens and took a photo of what I would love my yard to look like. We really didn't have a lot of plans for the week and that was sort of the beauty and downfall of this trip.
We went to the spa with Sharla and got massages Monday afternoon. It was luxurious. Then we went to eat at Martha Stuarts new restaurant that was pretty good. Not sure if I would eat at it again as it was sort of the same food we get all the time. Then we went to the show "Mad Apple" and laughed so much because the comedian was hilarious.
Tuesday, I woke up and went on a walk with Craig and Blair up and down the strip. It was freezing. The weather turned and was unseasonable cold again! I feel like every year it is colder and colder in Vegas for longer in the year.
Wednesday was basically our last day as I had planned an early flight on Thursday. I had to work at noon on Thursday and my parents had driven my boys all over the world so I felt like I needed to get back home and jump back into my real life ASAP. Wednesday, we went to the Maroon Five concert and ate some delicious secret pizza. All in all it was a great trip. I had some up and down emotions at the end of the trip because I felt stressed about leaving my boys with Susan and my parents for a week.
I do always enjoy my time with Stephen in Las Vegas every year. We missed Kendra and Michael this year. They are fun and always bring some laughs. Until next year, Vegas!
