our Travel blog

One last drive...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:16:33 -0700

This morning we packed everything into our bags as best as what we can with the thought that this is to be our last big pack before going home. I tried to put our clothes for the plane trip home and the next two days in bags that I didn’t mind disturbing with everything else packed and not to be touched. This in itself was a huge job and meant that we eventually left Las Vegas by just after 11am. We weren’t too phased by this because after all, Vegas to LA is only around a 4 hour tops drive. So that would mean we’d get in mid afternoon. However, little did we know that this being Columbus Day weekend meant that half the population of LA had gone to Vegas for the weekend and therefore the roads were crammed full of cars. Also there was some road works along the way that was sure to hold things up too. Mandy our GPS asked us if we wanted to re-route around some of it, but we couldn’t imagine that her calculations were correct. So in our “wisdom” we took off on the I15 “knowing” that to be the most direct way and easiest of course...
Well, we spent several hours of our trip apologising to Mandy for not trusting in her and thinking she’d lost her mind. She hadn’t. We had. 4 hours stretched into 7 hours of hard driving with cars, trucks and RV’s weaving in and out of each other. Big mistake. Huge!!!
We managed to have lots of laughs along the way through our gritted teeth and mind numbing concentration. It was just insane.
Finally, we arrived at our hotel in LA, slightly worse for wear and very tired indeed. We ventured over to the local mall for dinner to find that BJ’s was there. We’d gone to BJ’s when we were in Louisville and didn’t think twice about missing out on the chance to go again. So we drank our root beers and ate our pizza happily enough until Clarissa bit on a chicken bone from the BBQ Chicken Pizza. Fortunately she was okay and wasn’t hurt by it, but more just got a fright. So after filling out insurance forms there, the manager comp-ed that pizza apologising profusely and then we went on our merry way back to our hotel and straight to bed.
Catherine - xoxo

Viva Las Vegas

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:37:40 -0700

We actually got to sleep in a little this morning which was great, 9am is rated as a sleep in for us weary shopping travellers. But before I had breakfast I made a quick call to Kenneth Cole so that they’d put aside a new jacket for me which they of course did very kindly. You see, they do that sort of thing for their “very good” customers!!!
So we had breakfast and then David and I jumped in the car by ourselves to do the quick exchange. We left the kids at the hotel to do some work on their diaries and a few “chores”. Nothing like putting dishes in a dishwasher and a load of laundry to inspire some lengthy Nintendo DS playing!!! Anyway, we exchanged the jacket easily enough and managed to pick up a few more bits and pieces without our four walking, talking, eye rolling consciouses!!! It was so much more peaceful!!!
Anyway, later in the day - once the chores actually were done and I had made some headway in the packing situation, we made our way down to the Strip. We went through M&M world and saw their really bad 3D mini-movie there. But we did buy M&M’s just the same. Next door was the Coca-Cola superstore which was pretty cool to walk through on our way to the Hard Rock Cafe which was our destination for dinner. On our last trip we went to a bunch of Hard Rock Cafes but this was our first for this trip. It was a very cool Cafe and gave us a great view of the Strip. After dinner we walked up to watch the fountains at the Bellagio and to walk through the incredible garden in the foyer and entrance. Last time we went through it, it was all themed for spring. However, this time we are here in Autumn and so the garden was very different, complete with pumpkins that weighed over 900 pounds!!!
Our feet were very grateful once we had made it back to the car at the other end of the night though. The poor things had taken a bit of a beating with all the walking over the past few days. It was almost like being back at Disneyland again for them!!!
Catherine - xoxo

Another day another bargain or more!!!

Sat, 9 Oct 2010 21:12:48 -0700

This morning we decided that we’d power up for another day of shopping and so we made ourselves a big cooked breakfast including a delicious fruit and yoghurt smoothie. It was delicious and totally what we needed!
Making our way back to the Outlets this morning we were armed with our coupon book and a plan of attack. First stop was Nike and was another big shop. Most of us got new shoes and various other bits and pieces. Mind you Clarissa was determined not to get Nike’s as she simply did not like the look of any of the 5-6 shoes that were there on offer. So we had to go to Adidas just for her and she found a pair of new runners there with a little coaching from Daddy. Mummy had given up and was lost in the wonderland of all that is Kenneth Cole. It wasn’t long until David had well and truly caught up with me and the two of us practically left being on a first name basis with Kenneth himself!!! In fact this shop was the cause for another run to the car to drop off more bags ladened with bargains.
We shopped in several more stores with another shot of caffeine infused enthusiasm before reaching our breaking point for the second day in a row. So we made our way back to the hotel again to make dinner and rest our weary bones. It was just as I was about to falling asleep to the mindless TV channel surfing again, that I discovered a fault on my Kenneth Cole jacket. One of the press studs had snapped off and was unfixable. We had thought that we were done with the Outlets but I guess the “Shopping Gods” had other plans. So I made sure I had the receipt and everything all set by the door for another trip there in the morning.
Catherine - xoxo

Shop ‘til we drop

Fri, 8 Oct 2010 20:45:24 -0700

This morning once we headed out we made our way down to Fashion Show Mall. We went after having a look around a bit we ended up in Macy’s Cosmetic Department. This was my chance to stock up on my skincare and make up and I wasn’t going to let it pass me by. I had missed out on the Gift with Purchase earlier in the trip from Estee Lauder so I was not happy about that. However, Clinique had one that was just as good and so lets just say we availed ourselves of it. In fact, the girl serving me did my whole face from the start - including skincare and make up. Latasha and Clarissa also had their faces done too which was very cool for them. We all looked beautiful of course!!! And of course we stocked up big time receiving several gifts with our purchases!!!
Once we were done there though it was time to get a coffee in preparation for some serious shopping over at the Premium Outlets. I had joined their VIP Club online several months ago and so once we got to the Outlets we made our way straight to the Information Desk to receive our discount coupon book. This was little book alone saved us a lot of money over and above the already special discounts we were receiving considering the Columbus Day Weekend sales are on. So it was our happy day!!!
We hit up several of the stores before we seriously hit Tommy Hilfiger with a vengeance!!! Let’s just say there were several trips in and out of the Change Rooms for a few of us!!! David then took the bags to the car while we continued on doing more damage at GAP and more! There were simply so many bargains that it was getting to be a bit insane!!!
Other than pausing momentarily for lunch and a quick loo break we were shopping for a total of about 6 and a half hours before we realised that we about to completely drop!!! So we schlepped our way back to the car, drove back to the hotel, unloaded the car and then basked in the glory of our spoils of the day!
We were pretty wrecked but the thought of cooking our own dinner snapped us out of our stupor for long enough to make another yummy tea. After that, we flopped back onto our beds in time to channel surf through the most ludicrous amount of channels with nothing on before falling fast asleep. All in a days work!!!
Catherine - xoxo

A day of bliss!

Thu, 7 Oct 2010 19:39:33 -0700

It was so nice to wake up this morning and realise that yesterday was not a dream. We really were living it up in Vegas and life really was good!!! After breakfast we began what is going to be our exercise for the next few days - shopping! Last night while walking around I’d heard that there was a crazy sale happening at Kenneth Cole so we thought we’d do some investigating there. Now let’s just say we were well informed. So much so that four out of six of us bought things and we left with two huge bags. It was so exciting as I bought my sixth pair of shoes for the trip so far!!! For me, shopping like this is like Heaven on earth - and the fact that it was only the beginning was thrilling!!!
We then made our way back to the our room to relax before packing and going check out. The Valet bought our car affectionately known as “Susan” around, in amongst all the Bentleys, Escalades and Limos. We hopped in and then made our way right up the Strip looking at all spectacle that is Vegas. We then made our way just off the Strip to our Resort and checked into our wonderfully enormous 2 bedroom Villa. It seemed so huge considering we have become so accustomed to all sleeping in the one room. But now we had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, dining and living rooms and our own laundry. David and I collapsed onto our king bed, while the girls took total control of the second bedroom leaving the boys to the pull out sofa bed in the living room. It was great, there was no fighting over anything and even if there was, we couldn’t hear it because we had a door shut between us and the kids!!!! It was wonderful!!!
David and I then left and went shopping for groceries at Whole Foods which was very cool indeed. It’s amazing how the simple things in life like grocery shopping can be so missed and appreciated once the opportunity arises to do so some. Making dinner that night was just as exciting too. It was the first time we have cooked in nearly six weeks. Yes, we’d had a couple of home cooked meals whist staying with friends. But cooking ourselves was a real treat!!! It was amazing though just how the joy of cooking and shopping can be so easily curtailed by the annoyance of children who didn’t take more than a second to remember that complaining about doing chores such as dishes is a mandatory requirement for kids!!! So once that was sorted we escaped behind our closed door and left them to do their tasks. Such bliss!!!
Catherine - xoxo