So this was the first trip we have taken, where we actually had to drive two cars – yes, two cars. Good thing it wasn’t a very long trip, just a 5 hour drive from our town. My mother-in-law was visiting us for Christmas and she also had 3 timeshare units reserved for our family for New Years in Las Vegas. She has had her timeshare in Vegas for around 19 years – I distinctly remember when it was purchased. We were there for March and were celebrating my brother-in-law, my husband and my daughter’s birthday and it was Taylor’s first birthday (she is now 20) and Kathy and her late husband Mike went down to listen to the timeshare presentation and said they were not going to buy. They came back up saying they bought because they had been convinced what a good deal it would be to own over New Years Eve and how they could rent it out for so much more than they were paying. Of course none of that ever worked out. But the timeshares were there and we have gone for several of the 19 years, usually every other year.
This year Taylor was home for college, so that made our family of 8 complete. With my mother-in-law there were 9 of us. And even though we have recently purchased a Suburban that seats 8, there was no way to fit 9. Hence, the two vehicles. The best part of this trip was all the family we were going to see. My brother-in-law Steve flew in with his friend Kim from New Mexico and his daughter flew in from grad school in Nebraska. My sister-in-law Diana came from Denver with her daughter Kelsey and her son Connor and his fiance Lauren. Her other daughter drove from Los Angeles where she is in grad school at UCLA. And then my other sister-in-law Sheryl came with her husband Dan and her oldest son Carter. All my nieces and nephews that were there are now over 21, so that is just a weird concept for me.
I will say Vegas is definitely an interesting place with lots of places to see. And for Lauren, and then my daughter’s girlfriend Cate (who flew in on the 30th of December) it was their first time there and they were in awe of the huge casinos and all the different kinds of people you see. But it is not necessarily the best place to take younger children. We did walk around and go to the M&M factory, the Hershey factory and the Coca-Cola factory. And they loved swimming in the swimming pool which is on the roof of the timeshare we stayed at. And yes, it was December, but the pool was heated and they only froze when they weren’t in it.
Most of our family went out on The Strip to ring in the new year, but with having young kids and so many people down there we decided to stay in as a family (although Taylor & Cate went down with the family). We played games and then decided to turn on a movie – Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. I would love to say we all stayed up till midnight, but the truth is many of us took naps before the final ball fell. Devyn wasn’t feeling good so she was out first. Then during the movie Dave, Tiffany and myself went down for a little snooze. Maddy, Autumn and Tayleigh were the only ones who stayed awake the whole time. But we were all awake when the new year rung in and we stood on our small deck to watch the fireworks. Las Vegas had fireworks going off the top of several buildings and we had a great view of the fireworks going off the top of Planet Hollywood.
My mother-in-law stayed and flew out of Vegas later that week. My husband’s Dad and stepmom flew in the morning of the day we had to leave, but we stayed to visit with them for while. And with Cate coming home with us to Prescott we again were up to 9 people. So it may not have been my favorite spot to have a family vacation, but just being with family made it all worth the trip and driving two cars.
Beyond My Plan 