Trip report - Part II

Okay, so where was I?

So after the Grand Canyon we headed back to Las Vegas. The next morning (late though coz we were pooped!) we drove about half an hour to BEAUTIFUL Red Rock Canyon. I love it there and could actually picture myself living in the area. The area looks fairly new but there are still a lot of developments going on. Can you just imagine the canyons as the view from one of your house windows? Also, for a mere $20/year, you have unlimitted access to the national park where they have trails, rock climbing, and a 13-mile scenic drive where people also go biking! HEAVEN!!!





We did an impromptu 2 mile hike, as indicated by the inappropriateness of the attire...LOL! I thought we were just going to do the 13-mile drive but we got taken in by the majesty of the place. I was wearing sandals and it kept sinking into the sandy ground. Thankfully, the weather was mild which made the hike more bearable. I couldn't do too much rock climbing because of the sandals. Plus, I'm not too fond of heights. ;) I went on some of the lower rocks though. That was fun!

On our last day we just walked the strip. Pictures below are of one of the lions in the Lion's Habitat at MGM Grand. They sleep ALL DAY! Wish I had that luxury! The last picture is of me next to the Golden Crocodile at the Mandalay Bay Aquarium.





During our stay in Vegas, we also caught 2 Cirque du Soleil shows: Mystere and Love. I highly recommend Mystere. Love was okay. The music was great since it's form The Beatles repertoire. However, I wasn't too impressed with the acrobatics. It just might be me. We caught the 10:30 pm show for Love which is late for me, especially considering all the walking we did during the day. Also, Mystere, which was the first show we saw, was so awesome that I set my expectations too high for Love. I really really wanted to see Ka, but the tickets cost much more than the average and my brother, who set up the trip, was insistent on seeing two shows. I wish we only saw one show, preferably Ka. We really stretched ourselves too thin on this trip.

Overall, I was exceptionally pleased with the trip. Vegas was definitely unique. Also, the FOOD! There were just so many selections, and not many were healthy! We ate at the buffets several times because of the convenience. Although I tried to not go all out crazy, I still ate more than normal. Because everything in Vegas (ie: food) was expensive, I felt guilty eating too little at the buffets. I felt I wasn't getting my money's worth...LOL!

Besides all the walking, I didn't get any workouts in. Not even a run on the strip. I did do pushups, dips, lunges, and crunches in the hotel room. Where we stayed, you had to pay $25 to use the gym! And after my first day there, I wasn't too confortable running on the strip, which I regretted later on. Although the Vegas strip is considered safe, I did see some questionable looking individual/peddlers there. As I said, I did regret it later on because I saw a couple of runners here and there.

Oh, I just found out that Olympia was held there during my stay! I was wondering why I was seeing all these buff women around. I didn't see anyone I would recognize though. The women I saw were, in my opinion, too buff to the point that they could be considered masculine. To be honest, they look like they're on steroids.

And that concludes my trip to Vegas...LOL!

***************************************************
FITNESS

I came back last Tuesday and I only started working out this Monday. Talk about slacking! My running sucks! I can't even run 20 minutes straight! I know I can do it, but there seems to be some mental block preventing me from doing it. Like I said, I have a 5K in less than 2 weeks and I have to get it together by then. I think I'm going to get those hypnosis tapes to help me look forward to my workouts again. The good news is that I weighed myself today after my workout and I maintained my weight from before Vegas...108 lbs. Don't know if weighing myself is a good idea though. It gives me an excuse to continue slacking off.

Oh, and my gym got new elliptical machines! I haven't tried them out yet, but they look pretty swanky! I overheard a woman in the locker room telling her friend that she likes the new machines because the magazine tray is closer to her and she's able to read better. I wanted to tell her "Girl, if you're able to read you're not working hard enough!".