Day 1: old memories anew

From the time I was in high school, I've wanted to go to a Celine Dion concert; I've been a big fan of hers for over 20 years. I put that wish on my Bucket List so that I would make an effort of making that dream come true. And this year, I finally convinced Josh to let me purchase the tickets and take the trip with me to Las Vegas where she is currently a resident performer. I bought the tickets in January, and immediately started making plans for our trip to Las Vegas in March. Originally, we were going to fly directly there from Idaho Falls, but during the ordering process, several fees were tacked on that I was not expecting, and it made our plane tickets cost over $500 total for both of us round-trip. We did the math and estimated the cost of driving, and we would save over $200 if we drove instead, so that's just what we did. Once I knew we were driving, our itinerary changed, too. We would be gone longer--but we would also have more freedom to do what we wanted now that we had our own transportation.

 

I like to go out of town alone with Josh at least once a year; I enjoy traveling with him and being alone with him, it's so good for our marriage. We usually go on a couple's trip in late winter (that's when Josh can get off work) to celebrate our Anniversary which is in April. We made plans for the boys to be taken care of by friends & family in our absence. We left the three older boys at home, where they would care for themselves, spend one day & night at friends' houses, and spend time with family for the rest of the time. We left after school on Wednesday, March 6 and took Kanyon with us to Tremonton, Utah. We spent the night there at my mom & dad's house, and my mom watched Kanyon for us after we left the next morning bound for Vegas.

 

Our first official day of the vacation was Thursday, March 7. We really had no plans except to drive, so we took our time. At mid-morning, we made our first stop in Pleasant Grove to visit my Grandma Rose at her home. The last time I saw her was a year and a half ago.

She has a disease in her eyes now that makes it really hard for her to see well. She was laying on her couch when we came in, and I just sat on the floor right next to her so that she could see me as we visited. She didn't know we were coming, and we only stayed about a half hour, but I'm so glad that we stopped by. I talked to her about our boys and my family, and told her all the wonderful memories I had being in her & grandpa's home when I was a child. And she replied "Well, all good things must come to an end". It was very sad for me, and after we left, I cried for a while. She lost her desire to live after Grandpa passed away over 10 years ago, but since her health is deteriorating, it's even worse now. 
 

I didn't take a photo of Grandma this time, because I want to remember her for how she's always looked to me, not how she looks now in her final stages of life. This photo is from 2 years ago on my last surprise visit to her house when Josh & I were on a couple's vacation to southern Utah. I love my Grandma so much, and I'm so blessed to know her and be related to her!

 

We drove for a few hours, but I knew we'd need to stop to eat somewhere. Since we were driving, and we had extra room in the car, we packed our own food to save some money. I made plans to eat out twice while we were in Vegas, but the rest of the meals we brought with us. I suggested that we stop and have a picnic at Cove Fort, a historical LDS fort close to the freeway in south central Utah (right by the I-70 interchange). Josh had never been there before, so he agreed. When we arrived, we got out, ate lunch on some outdoor picnic tables, then used the bathroom by the visitors center facility. A missionary couple asked if we wanted to go for a tour of the fort, and since we had nowhere to be, we accepted. It was a nice day, and it was neat to learn more about the fort that was built during the time of Brigham Young, by an ancestor of Gordon Hinckley.

I liked the symmetry of the fort, and Josh liked all the rock work. They had historical items in all the different rooms that we got to see, and then we got to look out on the watch tower. Josh and I both really enjoyed going there! It was the perfect pit stop!

 

We were there about an hour and half before continuing back on the road. Our next stop along the way was St. George. It's been 15 years since we've been in St. George. I went to college at SUU in Cedar City, and while I was living there, Josh came down to visit me. During two of those weekend visits, we went to St. George: once on a day trip to Las Vegas, and once to pick out my engagement ring. Even though I've seen the St. George temple from the outside before, I've never been inside of it. I remember thinking 15 years ago that I couldn't wait to come back and go inside. So we stopped to do a session in the temple there, to make that long-ago desire become a reality.

But after we changed into dress clothes in the car, got our temple clothes ready, and started walking towards the entrance door, a construction worker came out and said the temple was closed until the following Monday for cleaning. I was SOOO disappointed! It felt like deja vu--going to see that temple, but not being allowed inside.

January 1998:

March 2013:

So back in the car we went, for our final road stretch to Las Vegas. As we were approaching the city, I asked Josh if we could please go to that temple instead. Neither one of us had ever been there before, and I wanted to do SOMETHING that night since we had nothing to do, and we got into Las Vegas earlier than planned. He was such a nice travel companion, and he agreed to my idea once again. We headed east, and on the very outskirts of town was the temple. It's similar in style to the Boise, Idaho temple.

 

I was amazed at the green grass and flowers on the temple grounds. When we left Salmon, there was still snow covering the ground, and I really wanted to see blue skies and palm trees and green grass. After seeing blue skies at Cove Fort and green grass, flowers, & palm trees at the Las Vegas temple, I felt sunshine in my soul!

 

 

After Josh and I did some temple work, we walked around the outdoor courtyard that's inside the temple. I've never seen a temple with that in its floorplan, and I just loved the beauty and peace I felt inside the temple! When we left, it was dusk, and the big-city lights were on. We drove west through town, and headed down the strip.

We stayed at the hotel Circus, Circus, because it had a cheaper rate. And even though it's at the north end of the strip (within walking distance to the Stratosphere), and not super close to all the activities we had planned, we felt like it was a good place to stay since we had our car and could drive where needed.

I don't remember Circus, Circus being so big--but it had been over 20 years since I was last there (the summer after 5th grade, my family went to Disneyland, and we stopped to eat there at the buffet on the way). We finally figured out which entrance to go to for check-in, where to park, and where our room was. It had been a nice day, but also a long one, and when we got to our room, we went right to bed!