Frozen Desert

Well, last weekend was spent on the city of Las Vegas. This was my first time and probably only time there (I am not a gambler), but it was fun. The reason why we went last weekend was due to the fact of my favorite pasttime, hockey! For the past 11 years, there has been one preseason game in last Vegas called Frozen Fury. It is always the same two teams playing : The LA Kings vs the Colorado Avalanche.

We got to Vegas Friday night and checked in at out Hotel, the MGM Grand. This hotel was huge inside! As I was trying to get some refreshments, I was passing through the casino where I noticed some people around a table. I come to look closer and it turned out to be Joe Sakic, Adam Foote, and a couple of other Avalanche playing craps. That was a pretty cool susprise, plus I was able to find the refreshments :)

The next day, I took a small tour to the Hoover Dam to look at that engineering marvel. I would recommend it to anyone that goes to LV. It is only about 45 minutes away, and it is worth it just to see how people in the 1920s-30s were able to build this amazing dam. Really dam amazing :)

Then after coming back, we walked around the strip, going to hotels like New York New York, Paris, Venetian, Caeasar's palace, etc. New York, New York had the facade containing some of the new york skyline, the statue of liberty, the brooklyn bridge, etc; Paris had the Eiffel tower, the opera house, and the Arc de Triomphe. Fake, but cool at the same time. We walked inside the Forum shops (a mall that is associated with Caeasar's palace, and I was walking through a sporting goods shop, I got a glance of the all time hits leader, Pete Rose. Only in Vegas, baby!

Then that night was the hockey game. It actually was a very good game for exhibition. The stadium was sold out (about 13,000 people), and the house was rocking. There were many fights (Adam Foote got into so many that he was thrown out of the game), and plenty of end to end action. The scored was tied 3-3 coming into overtime, and remained tied, so the game went to a shootout. I really enjoy that new aspect of the NHL. No more tied games. The Kings missed all three shots, and the Avalanche scored once to win the game.

The next day we went back to New York New York, where I decided to ride the roller coaster. This roller coaster starts inside the casino, and then takes you outside where you are riding along the NY skyline. It was a bit steep in price ($14) but it was a worth it experience. Then we went back to the MGM grand, and hung out at one of the many pools in that hotel. This pool was called the lazy river, and it was one of those that will propel you in a direction.

All in all, it was a very fun weekend. Like I said, Las Vegas is worth seeing once, but I do not think we will go again unless there is some special occassion with our friends/family. I am glad I went, and watching NHL hockey is just nice.

Until next time!