June 23, 2021: Some Vegas Firsts

Ok, ok, besides my boring gambling stories, what else has been going on? After all, these Vegas family trips are focused on pretty much everything else but gambling. Plenty of hours by the pool takes up the biggest bucket of time on these vacations. Really happy that on our 3rd day the pool actually opened on time. Yep, 30 minutes late the first two days was making lots of kids anxious, trying to patiently wait in line to enter. Pool time is not new for us. Even before my son, we spent a good amount of time there; now with him, I wish the pool was open 24-7. I guess we’ll have to settle for 10-6.

Other than the pool time, we did have some Vegas firsts on the trip. When trying to see what was open and available for us to do, I found something I instantly knew would be a hit. The Cosmopolitan offered movies by the pool on Monday nights. You get to access their pool, reserve a bed or cabana, and get to watch a movie on a big screen 3 floors above the strip. It was sweet. We had great seats, we ate, we drank, we swam, we sat in the hot tub all between the hours of 7-10pm. If other casinos and pools could offer this, I think it’d be a big hit. For families looking for stuff to do, this was absolutely perfect. When you’re sitting in the hot tub with your son and he tells you “this is the life”, you know you did something right. My wife didn’t say that exact comment, but she really enjoyed it too. Slam dunk!

The next night brought another first time event: horseback riding! Although my wife and I have ridden horses before, never did we ride in Vegas through the desert and mountains. It turned out to be another great thing to do. The scenery on this ride was unbelievable. We decided on the sunset ride which gave us some beautiful views of the mountains up against the setting sun. My son loved his first time on his horse, Blondie. First in line behind the tour guide, his horse loved to try to eat, which gave him the most work of the group trying to pull her away from the trees. He loved it; he also got a kick out of the steaming piles coming out of most of the horses. It was about a 60-90 minute ride, very smooth, no issues at all. Maybe it should have been priced a little less, but about $200 for all 3 of us really wasn’t that bad.

Before we found this place in our rental car in the middle of nowhere, we drove to the Hoover Dam; it had been 23 years, way back on my first ever trip to Vegas with my dad, since I saw it. It was awesome. Again, the scenery getting there, especially the last few miles was something else. Of course the dam itself is really impressive to me. My son was also excited that he can say he’s been in another state, Arizona, on this year’s vacation. It was a good decision to make the trip to the Hoover Dam.

So that’s what else has been going on. Other than limiting my gambling losses, lots of good times with the family. THIS is what Vegas trips are about nowadays.