Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas, Nevada

I signed up for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas many months ago and have been looking forward to it all semester. 

Friday: 

-Leave Flagstaff and head West to Vegas ~4hours away. 

-Brief stop at the Hoover Dam (in the dark-so I didn't see much)

-Arrive in Las Vegas (first time in the city and state of Nevada)

-Pick up Brentwood at the airport

-Dinner at I love Burgers in the Palazzo

-Check out shops in the Grand Canal

Grand Canal (inside the Palazzo)

-Stay at Circus Circus

Saturday:

-Trader Joe's (stock up on wine, dried mango, and white cheddar popcorn)

-Rock n Roll Marathon Series Health and Fitness Expo (lots of free stuff/samples)

-Lunch at Tap in the MGM Grand while watching the AL vs MS State game

-Nap

-Mystere-Cirque du Soliel at Treasure Island (the main thing I wanted to see in Vegas)

-Walk down the strip to the Bellagio

Out front of Treasure Island

Brentwood and me outside Treasure Island

Bellagio water fountain display

 -Dinner at Vince Neil's Tatuado in Circus Circus (with entertainment by KISS cover band)

Sin City KISS

-32 oz daiquiri (instead of the long yards I had been seeing all over town-I have to run 13.1 miles tomorrow)

My daiquiri in the casino

Sunday:

-Check out of Circus Circus

-Lunch at Sourdough Cafe at Arizona Charlie's

-Check out the Las Vegas sign

-Park at Treasure Island and take monorail to MGM grand to walk to start line

-Pre-race concert: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

-Half-marathon on Las Vegas Blvd (the strip) at night

Race course & Finish Line

-Finish and head back to Flagstaff (getting there at 2AM)

All in all I had a good time, so much to do in so little time. Like I said, I had been looking forward to this weekend all semester, but I was concerned that I would be critical of the city because most of my friends had expressed their dislike for Vegas. So I tried to ignore the excessive energy and water use to keep the city going

(in a desert)

. It is an unsustainable city and I will probably not be going back there, but I'm glad I was able to experience it just once.

Up next: a drastic difference from Vegas-a trip to Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation...