Vegas Rocks

Vegas rocks. As in, the rocks in Vegas. Actually, northeast of Vegas to be exact.

For Spencer's 30th birthday (next week), we flew to Vegas (without the kids--first away trip of more than 24 hours), met his brother Josh there and spent three days hiking and rock climbing. Well, they climbed. Me? Not so much. Turns out, my fear of heights and of dying at a height greater than 4 feet is still paralyzing. At least I didn't cry...this time.

Spencer and Josh, sizing up a climb.

The trip was amazing, amazing, amazing. We had so much fun just hanging out and exploring. We did very little of the Vegas strip scene. We did a little research, found some incredible restaurants (the best Thai food of our lives!!) and just enjoyed hanging out. It was nice to be "unplugged", so to speak, for that long and Josh even turned off his Crackberry--er, I mean Blackberry for long periods of time. ;)

Spencer at some ridiculous height. Most of the time, I was either not watching or watching while holding my breath.

Me on our hike up to the climbs. It was a lot of steep scrambling and incredible scenery.

When we were at the airport getting our rental car, some older man came up to Spencer and started patting his backpack and inquiring as to what we were there to do (climb? hike? backpack?). When Spencer told him we were there to climb, the guy gave a HUGE smile and nearly shouted, "That's great!!! My daughter has been looking for someone to climb with! She's right over there! I'll go get her!".

Now, honestly, I don't know whether this sweet old man (80ish) was hoping to hook his daughter up with a date or a climbing partner but, either way, it was a little awkward. She ended up spending the day climbing with us on Thursday. She was a nice enough person but, apparently, has been to France, Costa Rica, Switzerland, and a whole number of other countries in the last few months to ski, climb, surf, and complete triathalons. We--okay I--felt very out of her league. The humor of the awkwardness of the situation only intensified when we ended up taking the super-duper-long way on our way OUT and ended up hiking down in the DARK (okay there was a full moon) for 2.5 hours.

Spencer on another climb.

One of our only "Vegas" moments--watching grown men ride a mechanical bull. Embarassing? Yes. Hilarious? Yes. Pathetic? Sort of.

Spencer and I at some of the coolest rock on the hike. It was striped and covered in polka dots. Crazy.

This pretty much summed up how Spencer and Josh felt about the bells and whistles of Vegas. Josh: mildly amused. Spencer: in awe at the ridiculousness of it all.

This trip was so fun, so needed, and such a good workout. My calves are still hurting. We missed the kids so much and--I swear--they grew half a foot while we were gone!

*Thanks to my mom and dad who selflessly watched the kids for us. They endured more cartoons, pancakes, McDonalds trips, Dollar Store sprees, preschool parties, Santa visits and all manner of dressup and pretend play than you can shake a stick at! They're probably still trying to sleep it off. :) Love you guys.