Shabbat Shalom Parashat Ki Tetzeh August 21-22
Spoiler alert! We are not in Israel! In fact, we are way to the west of Israel, as we are blogging, for only the second time in history, from Las Vegas Nevada, home of bright lights, shows, casinos, and a lot of crazy stuff! The trip is a little gift in honor of our granddaughter Tali’s bat mitzvah, and presented the opportunity to have a family trip with Daniella, Monty, Tali and Ezra! The devil is in the details, and with Las Vegas, there is so much going on the that details will be coming fast and furiously. So let’s begin…
First, a trivia question: what can you find halfway between Montreal and Cleveland? If you said not much, you would be only partly right. Exactly halfway between Montreal and Cleveland is the exotic metropolis of Waterloo, New York, AKA the Town that Originated Memorial Day as a holiday in the US. Also, it’s right near the famous Waterloo Premium Outlets, and it even has a Walmart. How bad could a place be if the big activity on Saturday night is that Walmart is open till 11? So, since Barbara and Bruce were going to pick up Tali in Cleveland for a Monday AM flight, we had a couple of choices; drive all day Sunday and be exhausted or leave Friday and spend Shabbat together somewhere midway to Cleveland. The solution, a rental home on a lake in Waterloo! Of course, no trip to the Home of Memorial Day would be complete without a visit to Montezuma State Park, with its large collection of birds, including herons and woodpeckers, and a sizeable number of beautiful monarch butterflies. Shabbat was very laid back, particularly since we did not realize the house would be on a small highway between Waterloo and Geneva, so there were not a lot of exciting places to walks. However, it was a great way to start off the trip.
Sunday morning, after the other obligatory stop in Waterloo (the Outlet Mall), we were off to Cleveland to prepare for the next leg of the trip. We had dinner with Daniella, Ezra and Tali and organized packing and last minute preparations. Bright and early Monday we headed off to the airport for the 9 AM Frontiers flight to Las Vegas. Since we arrived at 10:30, Pacific time, we had a full day to get accustomed to the surroundings. Specifically, the heat! In the east we have heat warnings when it’s over 30. In Las Vegas, the temperature has been pretty steadily in the high 30’s and low 40’s. For example, Wednesday and Thursday hit the balmy high of 43! Being in the desert, there is barely any humidity, so it’s somewhat like being in an air fryer; you can be browned to a crip in no time. So, hat and sunscreen are key and we reserve long walks for the early morning and after dark (when the temperature is only 38-39…
After landing Monday, we went for lunch to a great dairy restaurant, Café Express, which was good start for the trip. Then, off to the main LV grocery story with a large Kosher section, Smith’s, in the area of the city known as Summerlin. We loaded up on stuff for breakfasts, lunches and snacks and lots of drinks, the went to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Desert resort which is on Koval Lane, one block off the famous Strip of fancy hotels which host all the shows. This put us close to, but not in the centre of the action, which means its quieter and less hectic. Then time for a swim (which is probably the only thing one can do outdoors in the heat of the afternoon) and to prepare for our first show, Cirque de Soleil Mystere at the Treasure Island Hotel. This was quite a treat; it’s their longest running show and is full of thrilling acrobatics, music, clowns, and more death-defying maneuvers. After the show we wandered around a bit, seeing the gondolas at the Venetian hotel before returning to our own hotel.
Tuesday was a bit less rushed than Monday, with time for swimming, shopping, and a great dinner out at Jerusalem Chef’s Table (foodies take notes, as we are providing the A list of Kosher restaurants for your future travels!). Try the pulled beef croissant! When we returned to our hotel after dark, we took a walk via a pedestrian mall to the Vegas Strip. We saw the lights and a lot of action and wandered through the shops at Caesars Palace, with their mock-up of columns like the Cardo in Jerusalem, fountains and statues of Roman Gods. Then to the musical, dancing fountains at the Bellagio, and through the streets of Paris at the Parisienne Hotel. I think that was a 13000 step day!
Now, as mentioned when we started this little missive, we decided to make this a family holiday. Almost 3 full days with Tali, and then Daniella, Monty and Ezra joined Wednesday afternoon to continue the fun! They arrived midafternoon, which led to a early dinner (take out laffas with schnitzel and kebabs from Shawarma Paradise) and off to see the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. The Sphere is a massive 20,000 seat venue in the shape of …you guessed it, a Sphere. It is a high-tech performing arts center with state of the art sound and video and even chairs that rattle and shake for effect. The Wizard of Oz production is a remix of the original 1939 classic. However, it’s not just a movie; it’s projected on the walls and ceilings of this round venue, and the remix includes realistic 4D characters flying around, brilliant colors, sound surrounding the viewers, and things falling out of the sky like apples and snow! It brought Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion to new visual heights and made the Witch of the West’s appearance even more scary. The effects were very impressive.
Las Vegas is in Nevada and as mentioned, Nevada is in the desert. Besides and lights and casinos, Nevada is rugged and gorgeous in the way only a desert can be. The are beautify parks with red rock mountains and dusty valleys. It’s just a tad too hot for any meaningful hiking, but on the other hand, it’s never a bad time for water activities. So, Thursday’s big excursion was to the Lake Mead and Colorado River area, about an hour outside Vegas, for some kayaking on the Colorado River. Believe it or not, on the water the 105F heat did not feel so bad! We paddled in tandem kayaks 2.5 miles up-river, stopped at a small cave for a photo Opp, then back down-river to a small beach to chill (at least, the water was chill, at about 15C). We completed the ‘three hour tour’ without a hitch (Take that, Gilligan) and still had energy for a quick swim when we returned to the hotel. Dinner was at Burnt Offerings, which is the other fairly upscale Vegas Kosher restaurant. This one has a much more elaborate menu, so there was something for everyone, and we highly recommend it!
Considering we are on Pacific time and Shabbat will start at 7 PM here, that means it’s 10 PM for you in the East and 10 hours different for everyone in Israel, so we are going to send the blog out a bit early! We have booked tickets for a Magic Show with Mac King at the Excalibur Hotel. We will have to post a review another time! Then Shabbat together and an outing on Saturday night, and then back to reality on Sunday with the flight back to Cleveland and a drive to Montreal on Monday.
At which point we may need a vacation from our vacation…
We wish everyone an amazing and bright Shabbat Shalom!
Barbara and Bruce
Refuah Shelema for Chaya Leah bat Hadassah Eta Hanah
Refuah Shelema for Nechama bat Ida
Refuah Shelema for Avraham Ephraim ben Kayla Shoshana
Refuah Shelema for Shmuel Zev ben Rachel Ita
Refuah Shelema for Shmuel Yosef Ben Alexandra Ariella
