A Pit Stop at Hoover Dam

After a brief visit to Las Vegas we embarked on our four hour drive to the Grand Canyon! Fun fact -  about a half an hour into the drive, we run right into the Hoover Dam! It was definitely worth a pit stop for some beautiful pictures. If you do this trip yourself, pro tip - drive past the first three pay-to-park lots. If you drive across the dam, there is FREE parking available there! After we parked (for free!) we hopped out of our car and made our way out on the dam. It was absolutely beautiful!

It was a bit of a trek to reach the main area, but it was definitely worth it! There are even bathrooms out on the dam. They are up in these little towers and everything! 

The views were spectacular, and I'm glad that we took the time to check out this piece of Americana. 

I will say the sun was absolutely brutal. Definitely load up on sunscreen, grab a hat and brace yourself. The desert sun is no joke! It didn't take us a long time to check it out, so we were all glad we took the time to check it out. 

If you ever want help planning your own adventure, let me know! Check out my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com, or send me an email at Malena@MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

Vegas Baby!

The time had finally arrived! We were ready for our vacation - Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and back to Vegas! The flight to Vegas was pretty uneventful (just how you want flights to be!) 

We landed in Vegas pretty early in the day, so we got our rental car and got on our way. We checked into the hotel and then made our way to the strip. I really wasn't too excited for this portion of our trip, but I had never been to Vegas so I was eager to explore. The hotels in Vegas are just absolutely unreal! They are whole shopping malls! I absolutely loved the different themes. Like Paris:

And New York:

And Venice!

It was a blast to just stroll down the streets and take it all in.  It was so much fun to see all the famous sites you always see in movies! It was also exciting to see the casinos. I myself am not a big gambler, but I set aside a little bit of money to play with. Sure enough, my husband and I had fun! We even tried our hand at black jack. I wanted to try it - even if it was $15 per hand! We didn't lose toooo much money but called it quits pretty quickly. I did win it "big" on the Big Bang Theory slot machine! Of course, we pretty much just won back the money we spent, but still! We walked away with a whopping big profit of $6. Boom. All in all, Vegas was fun but way over priced. I would probably go back again, but there are definitely places I would like to visit first. 

2018 Travel Plans

2018 is finally here, and I've already started making my travel plans for the year (of course). I was talking with my husband, and I realized I really haven't seen that much of the U.S., despite spending the majority of my life here. So that's our mission: see more of the U.S. Not to mention, that's a good way to save up for our big trip to Australia/ New Zealand/ Japan in 2019.

The first trip we're in the process of planning is the Grand Canyon! We will probably fly into Vegas and road trip it out. I've actually never been to Vegas either, so we will have to have some fun while we are there too. I'm hoping to see some shows and see what Vegas has to offer!

Over at the Grand Canyon, we will probably spend quite a bit of time hiking. We might hike down to a waterfall and camp there for a few days. We shall see! We are still in the very early stage of planning, but I can't wait to start nailing down details. I've heard that camp sites book up fast though so we will hopefully get everything nailed down and booked by the end of January.

During the year, we will hopefully have some time to do some smaller trips to maybe Chicago, Pittsburg, Detroit or Toronto. Who knows!

Finally, I think our last trip will be down to Texas. We haven't worked out the details just yet, but I can't wait to try me some quality barbecue! We'll see how things play out, but there is a possibility of a trip to Albuquerque for Christmas. Our itinerary is still being determined, but I can't wait to see how the year plays out.

If you need help narrowing down your travel plans, I'd love to help. MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.