Life's Journey

Here it is… 2013! I’m calling this “The Year of Adventure”! There is a lot of fun to be done this year for sure. And I’m excited to say that I have already crossed another item off my bucket list. Huge thanks go out to a group of angels who helped make this one happen!

Roy and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate the New Year. We met my dad and his wife Marjorie in Vegas. She also had her niece and nephew in from Brazil for the trip. Roy and I stayed at Caesars’ Palace in an amazing room! I am sending huge hugs to everyone that helped make that possible. And when we got there I was given a card/gift from another group of angels that helped make our trip a blast! Thank you thank you!

The first night we went to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant in Caesars – it’s an English Pub & Grill. It was really good. Then we did a little gambling and drinking before calling it a night. The next day was Sunday so we went straight to the Sports Book to place some bets on the games that day. Wow, btw, that was a big fat fail – none of us came out winners. Then we met up with everyone and walked over to the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood. Roy found a sports bar while the rest of us did a little shopping. We didn’t make it too far – I was beat. We walked back and it was nap time before meeting up again for dinner. We had dinner at my favorite steakhouse on the strip – Carne Vino in the Palazzo. Yummy! It was delicious; we had a really nice dinner together. Then it was off for more drinking and gambling. I did not go to bed a winner that night, but sure had fun trying. 

The next day was New Year’s Eve and we slept in a little and wandered down to find a fantastic little breakfast spot. I highly recommend this for anyone visiting Vegas, it’s a tiny French bistro in Caesars called Payard. You should definitely make a reservation if you plan to go. But, they make eggs benedict on croissant and it was awesome! That was a great way to start the day. Then we walked over to the Mirage where my dad and all were staying and did a little more gambling before I crashed and realized it was time for a nap. I slept for a few hours that day knowing that I would be up late. We all got dressed up for the night and met for show time! We went to see Cirque du Soleil’s Beatle’s Love! I had seen it before and said it was my favorite on the strip so my dad treated us to the show – it was just as good the second time around. This is another that I would highly recommend if you go to Vegas. We had a great time and then went to a great little Italian restaurant in Mirage.

They blocked off the streets on the strip at 6pm and the crowds were crazy. Everyone had hats, horns, sparkles and drinks! We spent some time in the casino drinking and gambling. Roy and I found a new favorite table game “Let it Ride” that Marjorie introduced us to – we were quickly hooked. Roy had beginners luck while I lost from the start – but again, had a ton of fun trying  All the New Year’s chaos started moving outside with a few random concerts, fireworks were scheduled to go off and the crowds were forming. We decided that going outside in the 40 degree weather – whoa it was cold – was not the best plan for me. So, my dad planned ahead and booked a corner room on the 25th floor at the Mirage. He had views of the entire strip from up there. We made a trip to Walgreens earlier in the day and bought a bunch of booze and snacks. We all headed up to his room to ring in the New Year. It was a lot of fun, we drank, we laughed, we watched all the chaos and fireworks from the warmth of our room. Then we headed back down for a little more gambling before calling it a night. I was exhausted after all this and knew that Roy and I had to be up early. We were booked for a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon! I thought this would be a great adventure to kick off 2013.

We were picked up by a limo and taken to the helicopter pad. Our flight took us over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead before entering the Grand Canyon. I’ve been to the Canyon many times and stood at the South Rim, hiked a little ways, but never went too far. Roy has hiked rim to rim and loved it. But, seeing it from this perspective was totally different and we were both in awe. Then we landed down in the Canyon by the Colorado River – breath taking! We had a champagne picnic and took a ton of photos before taking off to head back. We flew along the strip before going back to the helicopter pad. It really was a great way to kick off the New Year.

Later we met up with everyone and headed out to Fremont Street to check it out. If you’ve never been there before I can tell you it is basically the old version of the strip. The Golden Nugget and other iconic casinos are there. They have built a huge overhead light show that’s pretty cool to see. And… they almost want to give you money! LOL This was the last night of our trip and of all the gambling I did – this was the first night I won! We had a great time on Fremont. We went back to Mirage and won a little more before calling it a night. It was a close one, but I ended up leaving Vegas a winner… not by much, but totally worth telling  The next day was our flight home. It’s a quickie – 45 minutes in the air – but flying anywhere near a holiday is always chaotic. And to kick it off I woke up with the start of a cold – the scratchy throat and sniffles. By the time we were sitting in the airport I was coughing and my chest was tight. When we finally got home I needed a nap.

We had a fantastic trip. We ate great food, we drank (a lot), we gambled, we laughed, we saw fireworks, we rang in the New Year, and we had a ton of fun! This was a bucket list item that was over the top! And, in true form, I pushed myself too hard. By the time it was time for bed that night I was shivering from a fever and felt horrible. I’ve been fighting this damn cold since. Roy is convinced I have pneumonia. I had to miss chemo this week which in itself is stressful – that’s two weeks without treatment – ugh. Hopefully I kick this thing soon and get back on track. Next treatment is scheduled for Tuesday. Never thought I’d say this but, fingers crossed for treatment.

Hope everyone had a great New Year’s celebration!

Sending hugs and smiles,
Sarah