We postponed our 2-year anniversary trip to Las Vegas until July, once we discovered that Rush (Dave's all-time favorite band) was playing at the MGM on July 28th. They also happened to be playing in Phoenix on Friday, July 27th. Needless to say, this would be a Rush and Wedding Anniversary year (in that order!) that Dave wouldn't soon forget ;)

Now that we knew our date of arrival, we sat down at the old iMac, popped up a sticky, and began to work on our:

Our fabulous Toyota FJ was almost a year old, and the odometer just recently hit the 5000 mile mark (Judy's daily drive to work is a whopping 3-mile round-trip). So, based on the fact that we'd yet to take a road trip in our favorite vehicle, and not to mention Judy's morbid fear of flying, we opted to drive to Vegas this year, instead of flying.

Arrange for Transportation - ✓

Since we knew that Rush was playing at the MGM, we first checked out room prices right there. Even though we'd have the car, we were doubtful about roaming about the city, as we had witnessed the horrific traffic during our previous two visits. So, walking from our room right down to the concert would be very cool. We would actually learn Saturday night that walking to anywhere in the MGM is an extraordinary feat and quite exhausting for the feet ;) (More about that in our concert review below.)

Ouch! MGM rooms were pricey. And thinking that we might dine there before the concert, I also checked out some of the restaurants. With 'casual' dining averaging $25 per person, and fine dining as high as $225 per, we jumped over to the New York New York site, which just happens to be right across from the MGM.

Still not cheap, the rooms were less expensive and there seemed to be an abundance of restaurants and eateries offering everything from Irish food to good ole burgers and chili dogs.

Book a Hotel Room - ✓

As our trip date quickly approached, we checked out weather conditions in Vegas. Temperatures were predicted to reach over 100 degrees. It was actually going to be hotter than Phoenix! We hadn't done any pool time during our previous visits, and opted to bring the suits this time, for sure. Lots of shorts, cool tops, and very thin, sexy blouses were on my list to pack, and Dave's list included the same (well, very thin, sexy shirts for him ;) We purchased a cooler and planned on sandwiches and chips for the trip, lots of water and soda, and, of course, a bottle of Jack for our evening 'tinks', a term we use to describe the clinking of our shot glasses as we toast our good times in Vegas.

Items to pack - ✓

Our good friend Renae would be house-sitting from Saturday until Tuesday morning. Although she knew the routine, since her last visit we had acquired a surround-sound system, an iMac, a $300 litter-box (quite the gadget) and a pair of wild peach-faced love birds now frequented our backyard, and we wanted to make sure that they received the same attention that we provide when home. We scripted special instructions, and made sure that we filled the fridge with some goodies that she might enjoy.

Plan the care of Lucy, the African Grey, Geddie, the tomcat, Eddie, the Burman Siamese, Charlie, the hotot rabbit, Smarty, the tetra fish, and our wild friends out back - ✓

We're Off!

July 27th arrived in a flash. We had both taken a vacation day, and spent the majority of it cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning some more, to prepare for Renae's arrival. Dave wasn't thinking about Vegas though. He was counting the minutes to the 5 o'clock hour, when he would whisk downtown, pickup the guys, and happily arrive at the first of his 'two in a row' Rush concerts that he would attend in 2007. My chore in his absence was to pack. Renae visited around 7pm to review our 'pet sitting instructions', and to make sure that her key to the front door was working properly. After 'tinking' with Renae, my chores were forgotten, and I resigned to the fact that sleep was much more important than getting ready for the trip.

Delayed because of a tragedy near the concert involving a police officer, Dave didn't arrive home until 2AM. I, of course, was dreaming of slot machines and spinning roulette wheels.

Needless to say, we awoke very early, quickly packed our bags and cooler, and were on our way by 8AM. Amy, how Dave affectionately refers to his Nuvi
GPS device (she aims him in the right direction), declared that we would arrive at our New York New York destination at 2PM.

Since traffic was in our favor, and we hadn't noticed a single one of those cars with the lights on top, for every hour that we drove, we were able to knock about 15 minutes off the length of the trip, according to Amy. Wahoo!

We arrived at the Dam at, well see for yourself . . .

It was right around noon, so we quickly valeted the FJ. Check-in was a breeze. Last year, we had arrived at the Luxor much earlier, and when it was finally time to check-in, we were at the end of a line of about 100 other people. Not fun! At New York New York, we were the only ones checking in at the time, and our room was immediately available.

We ran upstairs and called for our bags, which arrived just a few minutes later. We were on the 19th floor, and although we did look onto some ugly construction, we had a view of a portion of the pool, and one of the high points of the roller coaster!

One of our favorite slots, we found a couple of machines that actually awarded us several spins, one of which hit the 600 (quarters not dollars :(

We would recommend New York New York for an exciting Vegas stay. The casino is one of our favorites, and the food, service, pool, and ambiance are incredible!

NOTE: No stars simply indicates that the particular category is not applicable to this review.