Las Vegas: What happens on the journey, stays in the blog

Into the desert

How do you travel to the West Coast and not stop in Las Vegas along the way?

Well, we can’t answer that question, because Sin City was our first destination on this year’s journey.

Our flight to Vegas was uneventful, which is a good thing. Aside from a bumpy landing and not being able to talk to each other due to the noise of sitting next to the engine, it was a successful start to our adventure.

McCarran International Airport is right by the Las Vegas Strip, so we got to see a lot of the big time casinos and attractions as we were landing.

Our guest journey man for the first leg of this trip was Jacob. A classmate of Nate and Jacob, Grant, lives in Vegas, so we were able to save money on lodging by staying with him. Grant picked us up from the airport and treated us to our first taste of Vegas: In and Out Burger.

The five of us each got a burger, fries and a milkshake, and it was all delicious. Insider tip: If you ask for a burger “animal style” you’ll get caramelized onions on the burger.

After dinner, we went back to Grant’s and celebrated his birthday with a few cold ones. Jacob and Nate stayed at Grant's house, catching up and putting on the putting green that makes up Grant's backyard.

Meanwhile, Ben and Nick got an early look at the inside of one of many Vegas casinos. We went to the Golden Nugget, which is in the "Downtown" part of Vegas. It was a very successful night on the craps tables, causing us to believe we were better at gambling than we really are. We took an Uber ride to Downtown from the outskirts of Vegas, which was very reasonably priced. Ubers are scarce in the suburbs of Vegas late at night. But on the way back to Grant's from the casino, it was easy to find a ride.

The next morning began our first full day in Las Vegas, and we were anxious to get out and experience some of the attractions.

We started the day by visiting the Red Rock Canyon National Park, which had some very scenic views.

We went on the trail that led us to the La Madre Springs, which is estimated to take one and a half or two hours. The hike was listed as moderate and it wasn't bad, despite us not bringing an appropriate amount of water for a hike in 100+ degree temperatures. Nonetheless, the hike was fun, but the "springs" left us wanting a little more...

We got back to Grant's house and took some time to rest and get cleaned up from our hike. After finding some food (an easy lunch of Jimmy John's), we picked up Grant from work and got ready for the evening.

Grant suggested we go to the High Roller, which is a ferris wheel that overlooks the Strip. But this was no ordinary ferris wheel; the High Roller is more than 550 feet tall, and instead of traditional gondolas, this allows for large groups of people to convene in what amounts to a personal room. For us, however, it was our own bar.

This was definitely a treat. For $28, we were able to ride the High Roller and enjoy as many beverages as we wanted during the 30-minute ride. Our bartender, Lupe, was great, offering us tips for our visit. And she made us some great lemon drop shots to celebrate reaching the apex of the ride.

After the ride, we visited some bars and casinos on the Strip. We started with O'Shea's, which was a bar with gambling tables inside. Ben hit the craps table while Grant and Nick beat Nate and Jacob in an old fashioned game of beer pong, which the bar provides all the necessary ingredients for 20 bucks.

Jacob, Nate and Grant checked out Caesars Palace while Ben and Nick finished losing a little bit of money at the craps tables, but we all gathered outside the Bellagio to watch the fountains dance to the beat of music playing. Again, this was a must, as hundreds of people surround the fountains for the show.

We walked through the Bellagio, just to see the inside, and then we headed back to the Downtown area, where we all grabbed a quick slice of pizza from Pizza Rock. You would think we were a competitive eating team based on how fast we devoured the pizza.

In what has become more or less a tradition for our journeys, we found a piano bar called "don't tell mama." It had one piano and members of the audience were encouraged to either play or sing their own songs. Thankfully for us, singing and playing was not required as we simply suggested a song to the player.

The piano bars we are used to visiting barely even look twice at a song request that does not have a $20 attached to it. But evidently 20 bucks means a little more for a song request at Don't Tell Mama's. We attached a fresh Jackson to a piece of paper with our song selection from the book, Journey's "Faithfully."

The piano player asked us if we wanted to sing or play the song and we declined. So instead, the player asked one of the bartenders to come up and sing the song while he played. Tonia needed the lyrics in front of her, but she hit every note. Of course, being the only single guy on the trip, Tonia serenaded Nick with the classic rock ballad.

Some of us went home after the piano bar while others went to gamble a little more before heading back to Grant's house. The next leg of our journey began early the next morning, as we made our way to Los Angeles to visit Dodger Stadium. But that's a story for another blog post...