Sin city. Yep, Stella and I were ready to hit Vegas after a string of nights camping and being outdoors. We were going from one extreme of being nature geeks for a few weeks to the other extreme of indulgence and partying in the city. The next two posts are about Vegas but I can describe our stay there for you in one sentence: We stayed five days and it nearly sucked the life out of us. Vegas is not for the faint of heart or the homebodies (umm yeah that would be me). Don’t get me wrong- Abby has clearly demonstrated that people who live in Vegas find a life off of the Strip, but as tourists to Vegas, you have to experience all that this city has to offer (okay well I protested going to the strip club, but you know what I mean).

I have been to Vegas twice previously, but both of those trips were in high school. This was Stella’s first visit to Las Vegas and my first visit as an adult. We were excited to explore the city! One of my favorite things about Vegas is the drive into the city. Sure you might find cheap flights to Las Vegas, but I still think the excitement is in driving, navigating miles of empty desert and then to finally see bright lights off in the distance light up the sky. The anticipation builds as the traffic increases and you start to recognize some of the big s that have been around for years.

We drove down the strip, on our way to meet our next couchsurfing host.

And of course, Vegas wouldn’t be the same without the wedding chapels (some of them are even drive-thru!):

We stopped for a classic photo under the Welcome sign:

The next five days would turn out to be some of the craziest days of our road trip. It all started with our couchsurfing host who deserves a post of his own (along with our other hosts who were soooo odd). A couple of nights out on the strip, days spent relaxing by the pool, and finally meeting a couple of travel bloggers who live in Vegas are all coming up next!