It's my Anniversary YAY!!!

This past Sunday was my first year wedding anniversary. Pretty bad ass eh? I'm spending it in Las Vegas with my wife and we're at the Luxor (the one that looks like a huge pyramid).

We exchanged gifts and went over to the Pharoh's Pheast buffet at the hotel. We had to load up on food sice we would be spending a good part of the day on ATV's. I booked an excursion called The Valley of Fire ATV tour. The name itself should have given me a clue that it would be really hot there but I underestimated exactly how hot.

The bus ride took about an hour or so and the Valley of Fire is in a Federal preservation area. There are these turtles there that are endangered and for every one that you pick up, startle, or accidentally kill, the feds get you for $25K. When the turtles get startled they release the water in their bladder and this being the Valley of Fire, they can't replace it easily so manyof them die due to dehydration. After getting that little pe talk from the guide we were issued ATV's.

The ATV's were easy enough to operate but the terrain we went on was pretty rough and we were going decently fast most of the time. I have some good pictures that I took while in the Valley of Fire. I was last in line which wasn't so bad. I did get a mouth full of dirt and sand even though I was wearing a helmet qand goggles.

One of the best stops was the mining cave. We stayed in there for a good amount of time because people were getting over heated on the tour. It was basically around 100 degrees outside, your getting your ass kicked by the terrain since its bumpy, your trying to make sure you don't flip your ATV or crash into a rock wall, and there's normally a huge dust cloud you have to drive through. Despite all that, it was really fun. I don't think I would go ATV riding in the desert again, but maybe I'll go in a forest or something.

After coming back to the hotel, my wife and I had to get ready for our dinner at TAO which was located at the Venetian. The food there was great and so was the atmosphere. We shared some awesome shrimp with XO sauce and fried rice. We did a little walking at the Venetian and it was quite impressive. They had exquisite paintings on the ceiling, gondola rides indoors, a huge selection of shops and places to eat, and even an indoor town square where you can watch some free shows.

That night we also walked down part of the Las Vegas Strip. Treasure Island was too crowded to see their free show, so we went to the Mirage to see the Volcano erupt. Since it was a bit hot, we cut through Caesars Palace (which is HUGE) and into the Bellagio. We missed the water show but we'll see that another night.

It's Tuesday morning and I'm still sore from the ATV ride but I'm also sore from thr Grand Canyon trip but that's for another blog post........ need breakfast!!