Northern California – Utah – Vegas – Southern California – Northern California
Total mileage: 1,823 miles
What a way to put our marriage to the test! In 13 days, we had visited 3 states! ‘Are we there yet?’ was the motto of our trip towards the very end. Despite all the driving, and the battling of bronchitis, etc, Aaron and I had a fabulous time on our honeymoon. We had two honeymoons, although the one in Utah may not count since we spent most of it with family 🙂
We did however get to see Paul Cardall in concert with some other local celebrities and it was a wonderful and magical evening. It was a benefit concert for CHD – congenital heart disease. Paul Cardall was the first artist that Aaron and I shared a passion for – his music is amazing! In Utah, we stayed at the Marriott, courtesy of dear family friends of mine – Stewart and Leti, we did lots of family things – had breakfast with my friends, opened gifts with Aaron’s family, taking all the siblings to a movie and then to get some food, going to the concert and finally saying goodbye to them to embark on our real honeymoon trip.
We stayed at the Cancun Resort – courtesy of my dear friends, Peter and Fiona. It was beautiful and the Vegas lights shimmered in the night. We were welcomed with some lovely flowers and sparkling cider. Crashing into fatigue-induced sleep without a desire or need to wake up for several hours, we allowed our bodies to recuperate – somewhat. After all, we were in Las Vegas!!! Who sleeps in Vegas, right?
Aaron and I made the best of our honeymoon by walking the Las Vegas Strip, walking through some hotels and their endless casinos, and soaking in the sights and lights. Since we both love plays and musicals, we bought some tickets at a discount price to see a few shows. The Lion King was fascinating! The Blue Man Group – very entertaining and I am glad we did that – sensory stimulation and audience interaction was really great! In fact, it was hard to contain Aaron in his seat, as he constantly kept jumping up wanting to be picked on to go on stage and participate.
Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum at the Venetian was totally and utterly worth it just to hear Aaron scream – Britney!!! – upon sighting her wax figure in the midst of other celebrities 😀 I had no idea of this adoration for the Oops girl! It was scary how Prince and I looked like brother and sister; how I would have spent all evening just taking pictures of MJ and I. I got to play the keyboards with Stevie Wonder, sing with Prince, get married to George Clooney, chat up a storm with Julia Roberts and hang on Brad Pitt’s arm on my way to the Golden Globes.
In another part of the building, Aaron played some hoops with Shaq and realized he was the perfect height to smell Shaq’s armpits, bared his biceps next to Angelina Jolie, scowled with Larry King, grabbed J Lo’s derriere, hugged and kissed Britney Spears (several times, I might add), shared a drink with Hugh Hefner, rapped with Snoop Dogg and ended the night by saying goodbye to none other than the King – Elvis!!! What a night!!!
The lion exhibit at the MGM Grand was fantastic. It was a natural setting, climate controlled and had two massive lions gnawing on some very large bones hanging out in a glass-walled exhibit. At one end of it, there was a ledge made of glass, so visitors could look up and see the huge paws of the lions as they walked across this ledge. But one is never prepared for when the lion decides to sit down and you are rudely awakened to the sight of lion genitalia in equally massive proportions staring you right in the face! It’s Vegas, baby!
The most advertised restaurant was Tao Asian Bistro at the Venetian which showed the sensuous slope of a woman’s bare back with Chinese writing tattooed along the spine and the caption reading: Always a happy ending. Very eye-catching, in fact I would catch Aaron’s eye being caught by it all the time 😀
In the midst of it all, Aaron and I managed to go to the Las Vegas Temple and do a session there. It was so beautiful with the desert as a background. We enjoyed the vast difference between the Strip and the surroundings in which the Temple was set.
Aaron spent each night in Vegas with his head out of the car window, taking in the sights and the lights and being totally invigorated by the constant motion and the essence of Las Vegas Strip, exclaiming at several points, “I love Vegas!!”. I have to agree – the buildings are really awe-inspiring, the throngs of people, the constant cha-ching of tinkling coins, the traffic, the lights, the sounds, the food, the fashion….a sudden sensory assault in a world that is so surreal!!
On our way out of Las Vegas, we drove to the Red Rock Canyon and did a mini hike. Although it was overcast and rainy, it still had some great formations of rocks, not quite as red as I thought they would be. Nonetheless, the desert has its own unique beauty and we enjoyed the drive through it. We said our goodbyes to Las Vegas, promising to return again, and headed off to Southern California. This was just to appease my desire to see Fiona and Peter and really, just to play with Micah 😀 But we were able to rest up, spend time with the family, and drove back on the following day.
Back to life. Back to reality.
