A Week in Sin City!

Caroline Sturman
Aug 1, 2017
2 min read

About two weeks ago (I know, I should've posted sooner), Charlie and I traded engineering and humidity for gambling and "dry" heat in Las Vegas!!! We had co-conspirators on this trip...Charlie's parents! They go to Las Vegas every year so its more like we hijacked their trip!

We made sure to check off all the bucket-list items while on our trip: Cirque du Soleil show, Fremont Street Experience, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and the Fountains of Bellagio.

Yes, we gambled quite a bit! We play the table games, meaning 3-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Holdem, Blackjack and Craps. Personally, I like games where I can have some kind of social interaction...the Type A in me really needs this.

Here we are before our Cirque du Soleil show in my new favorite dress from Lulus (pic below)! I know people probably think I'm crazy for wearing a long-sleeve maxi in Vegas, but theaters can be freezing. Another show we saw was Clint Holmes. I had never heard of this guy until the concert, but apparently, he had a hit back in 1973...and not another since then. BUT let me tell you, we thoroughly enjoyed his performance! Not only did he have a great voice, but he also had a super charming stage presence. He told us stories, joked about his one hit wonder status, and kept up a lot of energy throughout the show. Definitely a big band vibe which I am all about!

My all-out FAVORITE part of the trip spoke straight to my engineering heart. Not only did I get to make Hoover Dam jokes all day, but I also got to drool over one of the greatest civil engineering feats of all time. Like ya'll, this is my field. I'm a civil engineer in water resources. This is my jam. Except I don't design dams...I design other structures related to water though...raw water intakes, waterlines, pump stations, drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, stormwater design, etc. But still, this was epic for me.

In case you haven't been keeping up with the weather in the western US, they're currently in drought mode so Lake Mead (aka a reservoir) is only a little over 30% full right now. Dat intake tower doe *swoons*.

And just look at these majestic turbines. SO MUCH POWER. Like 4 BILLION kilowatts a year, people! And Charlie and I were especially digging the American flag. That's right, people. #pride

As if you couldn't get enough Hoover Dam pics...here's one more!

And oh yeah, I guess the Grand Canyon was pretty cool. We took a small airplane to the Grand Canyon airport and then took a trolley bus around to several lookout points around the South Rim.