las vegas: day two

our second day in las vegas was fantastic!

the highlights of the day were:

sleeping in

lunch at the noodle shop in mandalay bay

visiting the hoover dam

in-n-out

seeing the blue man group

before lunch we went to the shark reef, an aquarium, in mandalay bay. there were some cool things, but we were glad we didn't pay full price (kristi got us a discount) because it definitely wasn't worth $18 a person. i sure love the jelly fish! and the octopus was pretty cool.

dave's boss has a culinary connection with the executive chef at the noodle shop in mandalay bay and let the chef know we were coming for lunch. when we arrived the chef came out and introduced himself. he asked if we would like him to prepare a menu for us and of course we agreed. lunch was absolutely delicious (and beautifully plated)! 

after lunch kristi picked us up and we headed to the hoover dam. we were able to walk across the bypass bridge that opened in late 2010. it is nearly 2,000 feet long and almost 900 feet above the colorado river. it was pretty amazing and offered a beautiful view of the dam.

at the border line of nevada and arizona

it is incredible what people are able to engineer and build.

i have to admit the whole time we were at the dam i kept thinking about the movie "fools rush in." maybe i should be embarrassed to admit that, but i like the movie! the desert landscape is so beautiful. definitely different than we're used to in colorado, but striking and beautiful in its own way.

the beautiful sunset on our drive back to the strip (with a detour at in-n-out. yum!)

the strip in the distance

on our way back into town kristi dropped us off at the venetian hotel to see the blue man group. my friend wendie worked one of her connections and was able to hook us up with tickets to the show. it was awesome! totally random and fun. i didn't know that they don't speak at all in the show (or after the show for that matter). it was amazing what they could communicate with their facial expressions, especially their eyes. i was so happy we got to see the show because it was the one that dave really wanted to see. 

some of the band members that play during the show

the grand canal in the venetian. 

i still can't get over how incredible all of these hotels are. seriously, a canal with gondolas in a hotel?! it's no wonder hotels (and just visiting hotels) in this city can actually be considered a tourist attraction.