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...