I ran up against my vacation accrual limit at work and needed to take some time off. Maureen also needed some relaxation and pool time, so we decided to take a few days off and head to Las Vegas. We picked the Waldorf Astoria because it had a great pool and no casino.

Sunday

We arrived in the afternoon and checked in. We just wanted a light dinner so we walked to Nobu in the Paris hotel and had some excellent sake and a few pieces of sushi.

Monday

Pool-time! Went to the Crack Shack for lunch. Great chicken!! And then for dinner, we splurged and went to José Andres' Bazaar for dinner. Great cocktails, service, and the food was amazing. Maureen liked her fois gras cotton candy.

Tuesday

I rented a bike and rode out to Red Rock Canyon. The plan was to ride from the strip to Summerlin and then out to the Scenic Loop in Red Rocks. Unfortunately, with the heat and the elevation I turned around at the visitor center at Red Rocks. I would not recommend riding from the strip - the traffic was not great, and a lot of stop and go with many traffic lights all the way. I would recommend hitching a ride out to Summerlin and starting there. Maureen spent the day at the pool, and we had dinner at Roy Choi's Best Friend. A really fun place, with Gluten Free fried chicken for Maureen and a super spicy Jiggae for me.

Wednesday

We took a Lyft out to Henderson to ride the River Mountains Loop Trail. We rented an ebike for Maureen at this really interesting shop that sold bait, tackle, and ebikes. The ride was fantastic. It is a fully paved dedicated bike trail that goes towards Lake Mead. I will recommend this to anyone who wants to get out of the city and see some of the desert. It started out at a pleasant 75 degrees, but by the time we were done, it was in the 90s, so perhaps an earlier start would have been better. For dinner, we went to Lotus of Siam based on a few recommendations, and loved the food - very authentic and tasty and the cocktails were excellent.

Thursday

This was our last full day, and we started with brunch at Todd English's The Pepper Club, which served a wide variety of gluten free dishes. It was a bit meh for me, but Maureen liked it. Maureen then went for a spa treatment at the Canyon Ranch Spa in the Venetian hotel while I took a stroll down the Vegas Strip. Check out the pictures of the smooth pavement on the Strip for the upcoming Formula One race in November. They are working on all the roads and building massive structures all around the race track. For dinner, we went to Giada's restaurant before going to see "O" by Cirque du Soleil. The show was amazing, and we had a great time... and after trying to figure out why some of the scenes looked so familiar (I thought they must have reused some scenes in other shows that we have seen), we realized that we had seen the show before in 2019 with the boys. Haha. Still a great show.

Friday

Time to pack up and leave. Just in time, because the weather was turning and it was getting quite windy.