Our first night there we walked from our hotel and down the Las Vegas Strip (L.V. Boulevard). It was hard to know where to look to avoid seeing boobs and butts. Newspaper vending stands contained unmentionable publications. Once we figured out what their front page touted we lever looked again. Billboards, trucks with mobile billboards, even the buildings had pictures of scantily clad women in provocative poses. Men stood along the sidewalks trying to hand out paper advertisements featuring hussies. Many of the women visiting Las Vegas wore immodest clothing as well. Las Vegas also seems to operate on the premise that people are attracted to lots of flashing lights and bling – kind of like moths to the bug zapper.
Yesterday while teaching my primary lesson on Reverence, I mentioned that I had visited a place that seemed to have no reverence for Heavenly Father. I said something like, “There was lots of gambling and a lot of the women there don’t wear very much clothing.” Little Jacob piped up, “Did they make you take off your clothes too?” He was serious, but it made me chuckle. I pointed out that Las Vegas has a temple and that many people outside of the casino areas lead good lives. (In trying to find the address for the Las Vegas LDS Temple I noted that there are some 17 LDS Stakes in the area. Oh, and we did find the temple. It’s beautiful!)
Although not everything in Vegas revolves around sin, it’s still hot, hot, hot! On one day of our visit the temperature got to 104 with winds of 25 to 30 mph. We went out to take a walk for a little exercise at 7 PM, and it felt like we were living in a blow dryer. Yuck!
Not everything about out trip was a bummer. I did enjoy having my husband all to myself when he wasn’t in classes at the safety conference during the day. We talked a lot about family, discussed his job and the people he knew who were also attending the conference. I pointed out that he sure seemed to be a lot like the other safety professionals. From my observations walking the corridors of the convention center I found the majority of them to be Caucasian, male and middle-aged. Many also wore blue shirts with khakis – again, very like my own safety man’s attire.
I also enjoyed not having to cook, clean or nagivate (nag + motivate = nagivate). Instead of the usual household chores and duties that normally occupy my time, I could read, write and enjoy afternoon naps. (Okay, so I do indulge in naps on some days at home.)
While we were enjoying each other, our kids got to stay with their grandparents. Lou, our 12-year-old, attended her first girl’s camp and then stayed with my parents here in Northern Utah. We dropped Bug (age 14) and Beans (age 9) off in St. George to stay with Hubby’s Mom and Bill. They all seemed to really enjoy themselves. But best of all, when we all got back together they were actually excited to see one another and hang out together. We all arrived home on Friday at around 7:30 PM, and they stayed up talking and playing until past 11 PM. (Now if they can just get along together for the six days we’ll be gone on our family cruise. I’m crossing my fingers.)
Lou (on the front row in a green jacket holding a polka-dot bag) woke up on the final morning of girl's camp to 6" of SNOW!
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
3 comments:
Only at girls camp in Utah could you get snow one year, and 105 temps the next. Ah! Looks like fun.
I'm not a big Vegas fan. The only trip I ever had fun on there was spring break just before my 20th birthday. We were all underage and kept sneaking nickels in the slots. It was a thrill to win a few sometimes. If one of us had hit it big, we probably would have just had to run and hide. A few years later I went back (post-mission), put a nickel in and . . . nothing. No adventure whatsoever. I think it was the underage that was the fun part, not the gambling. There is a good roller coaster at NY NY hotel. I had a former roommate who was living there; it was good to see her, but other than that I don't think you could pay me any amount of money to live there.
Gratefully, I've never vacationed in Vegas. Driving through the area on our way to California a couple of times was enough for me. Last week I was amazed at the number of billboards advertising easy money to basically take your clothes off and make a porno video. Good grief! My sister and her family went there for a continuing ed conference for her husband last year and had a horrific experience. They will NEVER be staying in Vegas again. I like to learn from the misadventures of others, so I'll just keep driving down the road.
I'm glad you got some hubby time though. That can be a pretty scarce commodity sometimes. Good for you!
Did I not give you hints about Vegas in our last conversation? It is a gross city. The hotels are the only positive thing! Glad you had fun at least with Eric. Did you go to Phantom?
Post a Comment