So this past weekend [well, my weekend for work, so Sunday, Monday, Tuesday] was full of fun. It actually started on Saturday when I did the Warrior Dash with some friends.
So the Warrior Dash is a 5k obstacle course run and the proceeds go towards the Wounded Warrior Project.
The purpose of the Wounded Warrior Project is
To raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members.
To help injured service members aid and assist each other.
To provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.
It is a great cause and we were happy to participate – not to mention we bought Groupon for the event and saved $30 per entry! I am always looking for that bargain!
Anyways, there were lots of obstacles like crawling through mud, climbing walls and
JUMPING OVER FIRE! I have to say, my mom popped into my head before this one…She caught fire when she was younger and has a huge scar on her arm to show for it. I’ve always had a healthy respect for fire and I almost bowed out of this obstacle but i just took a breath and powered through.
Yes, I am too cheap to buy the real picture.
There was a good amount of mud – especially at the end. It was a blast to do though and it really sparked the athlete in me again – I def have the itch to do more races and running events. I was looking at a half marathon for my birthday but registration was already closed =( I’ll keep my eye out though!
After the race I picked up the boyfriend at the airport and then had to go to work. I introduced him to Demon {aka Lola} and hoped for the best. The seemed to have hit it off, even if I did task him with giving her a bath.
Sunday we decided to take Demon for a hike at Red Rocks National Canyon. You may remember I went here with Sarah as well. I just can’t get enough of this place and neither can the Demon. It is just so beautiful.
We picked one trail and did about a 3 hour round trip hike called Ice Box Canyon Trail. There were so many incredibly colored rocks, we could not stop pointing out which ones were our favorites.
We found a pretty cool old tree too.
I didn’t realize I was dating a monkey. He was just climbing all over everything! After our hike we decided to check out the Asian Food Festival. Unfortunately, it was a bust. Unlike food festivals in Florida, we had to pay to get in to the festival as well as for the food. And the first vendor we saw was McDonalds. How Asian. There were a few decent places with Thai, Vietnamese, Korean,Philipino, and Indian but all in all, we would have been better off going to a real restaurant. Oh well, the boyfriend was a sport and we got to sit around and watch some kids put on different dances
For dinner that night we went to Le Provencal in the Pairs hotel. I had a Groupon for there – $20 for $40 that was set to expire Nov 7. We each had Italian Margaritas [ok, I had 1/2 of one… I can’t handle all the sugar] and shared the Bouillabaisse. Yum.
Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. According to tradition, the origins of the dish date back to the time of the Phoceans, an Ancient Greek people who founded Marseille in 600 BC. Then, the population ate a simple fish stew known in Greek as ‘kakavia.’ Something similar to Bouillabaisse also appears in Roman mythology: it is the soup that Venus fed to Vulcan. It was pretty delicious. I love seafood and the broth was very warm and comforting. It had clams and scallops and mussels and fish and shrimp and potatoes in the pot in addition to the broth that almost reminded me of french onion soup. And of course we finished it off by sharing a creme brulee. My absolute favorite desert. =)
Monday we decided to check out the Mob Museum. This place goes through the history of how the Mob started, how it ran, and how the US Government cracked down on it. It touched on all the big names – Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, John Gotti, etc.
Las Vegas used to be a seriously scary place -In its heyday from the 50s-80s the Mob owned every hotel on the Strip. The took a lot of money through skimming but they also gave back to the community by building hospitals and community centers.
We checked out the Buffet at Caesars Palace for lunch. They just revamped it and I wanted to see how it held up. It was good to be sure but all in all we weren’t overwhelmed by it. And it was super modern which really clashed with the rest of the Resort decor and ambiance. I think I will continue to check out other Buffets before I head back there. But we enjoyed walking the Strip and I finally made it into the Venetian/Palazzo resorts. Very beautiful, as expected. They had wonderful fall decor in the open areas that we enjoyed. I cannot wait till the Christmas decor goes up in the hotels, it is going to be spectacular.
And we finished the night off with a show – Zumanity at New York New York hotel. The show claims to be “the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil” and there is definitely a lot more nudity and sexual innuendo than the other shows. I had seen this show almost exactly two years prior and I actually noticed that they had taken a couple things out this time which I was a bit disappointed about. It is a good show to be sure, and wonderful for couples [aka dont go see it with the parents] but I think I will enjoy going to the other Cirque shows. It was nice this time because on Mondays they have local prices 2 for $99 which is the best deal around for the show. And our seats were really pretty good.
And now back to a fun filled week of working out, homework, and work. Wish me luck!
