Encore at the Wynn

I’ve stayed at several hotels in Vegas while on work trips over the years (MGM, Cesar’s, Venetian, Palazzo), so I was eager to try out a new place for our trip.  The Wynn & Encore were both sponsor hotels offering a slight discount and a few perks, so I decided to book a room where I could catch a shuttle for the race & also because we were hoping to go to the Garth Brooks show.

They offered to upgrade us to a “panoramic” room for $20/night. I think all rooms have the floor to ceiling windows, but we were bumped to the 62nd floor (2nd from top) and with a few north (away from the rest of the strip).

Yes, they actually have a golf course on site, but I’ve heard the green fees are insane- like $300 or $500 per person??  We did enjoy the views of the mountains off in the distance, but wish I’d thought to request a room facing South.

The room itself was pretty nice, although the decor was not my style.  The over-sized couch and a desk by the window shared a flatscreen TV which rotated between the bedroom and living room areas.

They were excited about the mirrors here- floor to ceiling in the living room and bedroom area.

The bed was comfy & I love the controls to open/close the shutters/drapes and turn all the lights off was on the nightstand.  Forgot to grab a picture of the bathroom, but it was typical swanky with a clear glass shower & an oversized tub (which I used to warm up after finishing the marathon).  Plenty of closet space plus a well-stocked minibar.

The hotel itself was very nice- the have lots of red going on in the decor.  I really liked that you could walk into the main entrance to the room without having to go through the casino area itself.  Many hotels force you on a long way through the smokey, gambling area to get to the elevators for the hotel rooms.  Hubby said the spa was amazing & the pools looked very cool- especially the adults only pool.  They have 2 very large clubs that had lines out the door on the nights we passed by them.

All their restaurants there are top-notch; we ate at several & they are all unique concepts.  Switch has the walls & ceiling change out every 30 minutes.  We grabbed a quick sushi bite Saturday afternoon, as well as taps in the bar on Friday afternoon.   Saturday night, before the concert, we dined at their mediteranean/Italian restaurant at the Wynn and it was unbelievable- probably the fanciest meal I’ve ever had in my life.

All in all, a great place to stay. I didn’t care for the room decor & I’d probably stay at some place a bit more central on the strip (instead of the north end).  The service was excellent at all the restaurants, concierge, room service and more.  If I bring myself to make another Vegas trip, the Bellagio is next on my list of places to try.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I love Wednesdays that start out with yoga in the morning & end with dancing at night.

Las Vegas Strip from Above

The very last portion of our helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon.  It included a flyby of the Strip & also the Fremont Street (the large covered street above).

Hello Stratosphere!  Hubby went up the last time he was in Vegas & I figured we were getting way better views from the helicopter, so we skipped it on this trip.

There was a huge construction area across from the Wynn for I assume another mega-resort, but it looked like they weren’t actively working on it.

The Wynn & Encore are both just gorgeous buildings and I love how their colors change with the reflections.

It’s such a crazy view looking down the strip with all the mega-hotels lined up.  If you get lucky with timing in the trip, you can see the fountains of Bellagio.

It’s crazy that Bally’s used to be the “big name” in Vegas, but their hotel is dwarfed by Paris, Paris.  For the record I do think the Eiffel Tower is pretty cool & the engineer in me wants to see the real one in person someday, even if I have very little desire to see Paris itself.

For some reason, the skyline of New York, New York is go so endearing to me with its mini-buildings.  We didn’t do any hotel exploring on this trip or even get out to walk the Strip at all, but riding the roller coaster would certainly be on my exploring list next time.

I’ll confess that the Luxor hotel just boggles my mind & I can’t figure out a good logistical way to make a pyramid shaped building into a hotel.  Mandalay Bay on the other hand is supposed to be very awesome, but after my race experience (coming soon I promise!) I don’t think it would be on the top of my list of places to stay.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:  I’m digging the winter, especially nights spend curled up by my fireplace.

Snowy Desert

The ride back from the Grand Canyon wasn’t as scenic as the ride there, but we went back along the snowy way- I think was even still snow falling near the upper rim as we took off.

It was so cool flying over all these spires in this natural cathedral rising from earth below.

I thought we might even fly through some snow, but it cleared up a bit as soon as we flew over the upper edge of the rim.

The whole desert floor is carpeted in a blanket of snow & was so pretty.

Yea, it was pretty cold that day and I was beginning to get nervous that the weather was taking a turn for the worse before the marathon.

Back over the Colorado River merging into Lake Mead along the rocky and colorful shoreline.

The sheer number of colors & shades of earth were unbelievable.  We were hoping to get to the bright red rocks in the background & visit Red Rocks Canyon, but we ran out of time on Saturday.

One more picture of my adorable hubby with an unbelievable background.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It’s Christmas week!  I am taking a very different approach this year, but I am finally excited about the holiday.

SS: Health


Sunday Scribblings #298 Health

Health is such an important thing to me!  I recognize the importance of physical, mental and emotional health.  I do great about things like exercising to be in shape (hello 7 marathons this year!), but not so great about eating the best food to be healthy.  I love seeing all the pins on Pinterest talking about health being more than a number on a scale or a size of your outfit.

One area where I completely fail is getting enough sleep. I just wish there were more hours in a day or I could sleep later than 4AM and still fit in everything.  I don’t have to wake up that early every day, but generally do so about 3 days a week.

One of the things I really enjoy about yoga is the balance that it brings to being healthy.  As you physically move through the poses, yoga presents an exercise to the mind and soul.

My parents are having typical health problems associated with having lived several decades, but they are all doing fairly well at the moment.

I’ve been lucky in that I haven’t had any extraordinary health problems so far.  Apparently I was hospitalized as a toddler, but the only other major health issue over the last 30 years has been tearing my ACL playing volleyball in high school.  Even the season allergies that plauged me earlier in life seem to have almost disappeared the last few years.

I’m a big believer in vitamins and supplements.  I wish I ate healthy enough to get all the nutrients I needed from food, but I will have to settle for getting it in a pill.  I am one of those that grabs for the Emergen-C at the slighted hint of a cold coming on, and I take my multi-vitamin along with extra Vitamin C and D every night (when I remember).


GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Spending all afternoon with family eating is perfect for a Sunday.

Grand Canyon From Above

One of the three reasons (besides the marathon & Garth) I came to Vegas was to check out the Grand Canyon- forget the casinos and flashy restaurants.  Since it was a short trip, we didn’t have time to do a proper tour and spend a few days exploring, but the helicopter trip in was amazing and it’s always such an incredible way to see enormous landmarks.

I loved that among all the desert rocks & steep, stark walls were these little meadows filled with colorful flowers & lush fields.

I’ve heard such praise for the Grand Canyon & it really doesn’t hit you how incredible it is until you are there, surrounded by towering walls & trying to comprehend the vastness.

The colors, shapes, patterns, and towers are all so mesmerizing.  I feel like these pictures do it no justice- you really need to be there inside the canyon, winding around ever corner, soaring over the peaks & marveling at the beauty of nature.

I was so excited to see all the snow surrounding us on the far peaks & plateaus.  They don’t get much precipitation in the desert, so it was quite a treat to be there with a light dusting of snow adding some extra sparkle to the place.

Really- I’m out of words of how beautiful & stunning it was, so I’ll just share a few of the many pictures I took.

Will be moving up “white water rafting in the Grand Canyon” on the Life Menu of Awesome list.

Hard to comprehend how a little water & a lot of time created such a masterpiece.

The helicopter company has an arrangement with an Indian tribe that owns some of the land & they have permission to actually land inside and let us take it all in from the ground over snacks & champagne.

We walked out to a little ledge where we can get a bit closer to the Colorado & I finally start to appreciate how enormous that river really is.

So happy (and cold) to be here with my hubby.  We’ve traveled all over the world, but this is still up there with one of the most impressive things we’ve seen so far.

This is such a place of contrasts- highs & lows, desert & river, lights & dark, peaks & plains, hot & cold.

Yea, it was below 40 degrees out there & my sandwich was frozen, but I still went for the champagne toast to being in an extraordinary place.

This is our tiny helicopter- we sat in the back on the way out & rode up front by the pilot on the way back to Vegas.  There was actually a fatal helicopter crash by this some company just a few days later- so glad we had a safe trip!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The leaves are actually turning beautiful shades of orange & red here in Houston- so beautiful!

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