Day 7 – Green River, UT to Las Vegas, NV (via St. George, Utah)

Bright and early in Green River, we checked out of the hotel after about 5 hours of sleep and before the sun even rose. We watched it rise as we drove through Utah’s mountains, and our pictures just don’t do it any justice. It’s just unlike anything else in the world, and so beautiful. It turned out that we were making great time, so we stopped by Zion on our way to St. George. If you ever have the chance to go to Zion National Park, do it! I have never seen mountains that red against a sky so blue- just breathtaking.

Afterwards, we had lunch with Jenna’s grandfather in St. George, then headed to Vegas. First off, I must say that it was scary driving through that sort of desert. I mean, if the car had broken down, we’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception and heat above 100 degrees.

We met up with Jenna’s parents in Vegas in the early afternoon. They got us the most beautiful suite in the New York, New York casino with Jacuzzi, living room, and view of the roller coaster. We quickly headed out into the extreme heat and walked the strip so I could see the other casinos. We visited Paris, the Venetian, MGM, and Treasure Island. This city is amazing- a playground for adults, complete with curfew for the under 18. We stopped back at NY NY for a little gambling before going to dinner at Mesa (Bobby Flay’s restaurant in Caesar’s) with Jenna’s parents. The food was AMAZING. It turns out that Bobby Flay’s style of cooking is spicy, which was a bit of a surprise for me but I adjusted by ordering very carefully (and mild). Jenna and her family enjoy spicy food, so they went to town. We all ordered our separate meals, but we took turns sampling each other’s food. By desert, I was falling asleep at the table.After dinner, we headed over to the Bellagio to see the fountain from Ocean’s 11, then popped back to our hotel and casino for more gambling. I played some black jack and slots, and surprisingly, had the most luck with the slots. It was quite a long day, so Jenna and I crashed at about midnight. Don’t worry, we gambled more before breakfast the next morning which gave me the opportunity to lose some more money. All in all, I lost about $50. Coulda been better, coulda been worse. But I plan on practicing more black jack before I head back J.