We hit the road from Flagstaff knowing that snow was headed into the area. We decided to skip on the Grand Canyon for now so that we can return when I can hike. Las Vegas would be our set destination.

Goodness.. VEGAS.

We camped right next to a casino at the KOA. We don’t usually frequent KOA’s because they tend to be out of our price range, but we quickly found out that most lodging in Vegas is pretty reasonable. We were warned to lock up our stuff as they have had robberies in the past, but otherwise we didn’t have any issues with our campsite.

My husband came to Vegas when he was in junior high and I have never been. We wanted to check it out as adults. We were warned off by so many people to not bring kids to the city, but I think my husband would agree with me that we had a wonderful time.There is actually a lot for kids to see! We avoided going to the strip on the weekend and the weekday afternoons were pleasant. We didn’t see anything inappropriate other than a few showgirls walking around. However, they didn’t show more than anyone in a swimsuit.

The kids LOVED both the M&M and Hershey stores. They were so much fun! The M&M store is enormous containing 4 levels of M&M candies and merchandise. Our favorite part was picking out the many flavors from the wall of M&Ms! There were so many more flavors than I had ever known about. It was fun to reach in the bag, never knowing what flavor you would pull out.

The Hershey’s store is not far down the strip from the M&M store and has an entire floor of just Reese’s candies and merchandise. They had a floor for twizzlers and hersheys too, including a wall of different hershey kiss flavors, but come on… Reese’s is where it’s at!

Seriously, Vegas is an indulgence haven in more ways than just gambling. We ended up in a candy coma for days and we don’t regret it one bit.

There is much more to do in Vegas besides shopping. We took the kids to all the major sites. We explored the Bellagio eyeing the botanical gardens and watching the water fountain display every hour. The Venetian showed us the beloved Italy including it’s infamous gondola rides. Paris Las Vegas proudly displayed an Eiffel tower that’s an exact replica in size to the real one in France. It’s built into the middle of the building and each level one can view parts of the tower’s structure. The Mirage showed us it’s volcano explosion that seriously put a jump into our youngest. Truly the sights are extravagent and definitely something to see. Now one thing I wouldn’t advise is a photo moment in the bathtub at one of the casinos. I naively tried to convince my son to hop in this giant bathtub for a photo, only for my husband to point out that we were in the Cosmopolitian and it probably wasn’t the most appropriate place for a photo opt. It was then that I saw what the sign was implying. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination. Hahaha. Had I known where we were, I would not have taken the kids in there. However, the hotels/casinos all attach through walkways and you can easily get turned around or in my case end up in places unknowingly.

Regardless of that rare odd moment, we enjoyed our trips to the strip with our kids. Granted, this was only on weekday afternoons. Besides Vegas, there was several other places of worthwhile significance in the area. We checked out the Hoover Dam and while I’m sure it is a wonderful place to visit when tours are open and COVID hasn’t closed everything down, there wasn’t much to view during our visit. We checked out the dam and that was that. Immense and towering over the Lake Mead below. Here’s our photos.

Since our trip to the dam was rather uneventful and took much less time than we imagined, we decided to take the kids to a nearby park. With a quick google search for playgrounds, we ended up at the best part of our evening…

Hemenway Park. Also known as the Big Horn Sheep park, which we did not know at the time.

The sight of these magnificent creatures lazily eating a snack above Lake Mead was surprisingly tranquil.

I could watch them for hours…

The kids had other plans. They wanted to play.

We played for a long time and enjoyed the waning light.

Our last highlighted spot in the area was the Valley of Fire and this place can not be ignored. The state park is definitely the best state park I have yet to visit. Seriously… look at this view.

The vibrant reds of the rock forming waves of color across the length of the valley was stunning. We were ecstatic to walk along this valley of fire and see something so miraculous. The hollowed out caves randomly dotted throughout the canyon providing the kids an area for play and “naps” as F is going through a big growing spurt. He randomly drops to the ground for a “nap” whenever he feels worn out.

This place will have a soft spot in my heart for many years to come. The stark blues of the sky contrasting with the reds of the rock made the day absolutely one for the books. Next week we are off to San Diego, California. Stay tuned for Sea Lions and Pacific ocean views.