We slept in the next morning and then rented a car. First, we drove towards the south end of The Strip, where the famous “fabulous Las Vegas” sign is. I love how this selfie photo turned out!
Then we drove to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about a half-hour away.
We hiked all afternoon in the wonderful sun. The rock was beautiful.
We enjoyed the flora and the fauna, too. We saw lots of pear cactus, a rattlesnake, a little gecko, and little wildflowers.
We weren’t successful in avoiding sunburn, but it was totally worth it!
For dinner, we decided to visit a buffet. Vegas once had a reputation for having very inexpensive buffet restaurants. This is no longer true. Our buffet dinner was not cheap, nor were most of our meals!
Here is a view of another of the huge themed hotels on the Strip, this one with a New York City theme.
Our flight home the next morning was supposed to leave at 8:30am. Our flight was mysteriously delayed until 2pm, however; so we ended up spending the entire day at the airport or in the plane. We landed in Detroit around 9pm. On the upside, I finished reading an excellent book on piano teaching, and Paul and I spent time dreaming about how we are going to use the travel vouchers that Southwest gave us. 🙂
It was a fun trip! Three days was the perfect amount of time to see the city and do some tourist-y things. Next year’s MTNA conference is in San Antonio — and I’m already looking forward to that!