Thanksgiving Trip

Death Valley Photo Taken By Royce Yang  

     From November 23 to November 27, I went on a road trip to Las Vegas with my parents, Darren, and Michelle (Darren's mom). I felt that this Thanksgiving break was one of the best vacations I had. The trip to Las Vegas consisted of dining, shopping, and viewing landscape around western United States. 

     My first impression of arriving at my hotel, Mandalay Bay, was, "Wow." Although I've been to many hotels in my life, I feel Mandalay Bay is one of the most comforting, luxurious, and inclusive hotels I have seen. The price for Mandalay Bay was about $80 per night, but that's not much for what it has to offer. The room I received had a fine view of Luxor, which impressed me by its everlasting sky light. The pillows on the bed were as squishy as marshmallows and ALL of the hallways were spotlessly clean. To me, the bathroom was the best. It even had a TV! During my first night, I took a long, relaxing bath in the warm bathtub. 

     I like food. Who doesn't? Every meal at Las Vegas was delicious. I went to Bayside Buffet, Makino, Cathay House, and Red Road Grill. My favorite restaurant was Makino. Makino is a Japanese buffet with sushi, hot foods, Udon, and delightful deserts. The sushi were very fresh and clean. The warm foods were cooked to tradition with perfection. And the deserts were simply -- "addictive." I would give this restaurant a 5 star rating because of its freshness, popularity, location, value for money, and high cooking skills. I recommend this restaurant for anyone, hungry or not.

     Las Vegas was created for people to get and then spend money. I went shopping inside the resorts: Flamingo, Cesar's Palace, and Bassi. My most exciting experience was in Cesar's Palace. If you ever go shopping inside Cesar's Palace, you will find yourself in a world of dreams, where clouds float forever in the stunningly gorgeous blue sky. Buying stuff was actually really boring because I hate buying clothes with my take-forever-to-pick-out-an-outfit-mom. The fun was all by the crowds in the walkways and vigor of excitement in the sounds. My mom was the one who bought a whole bag of items, yet I had just as good of a time at shops in Las Vegas.

     Three days into the trip, my dad drove us to Death Valley National Park and Zion National Park. I was extremely bored at Death Valley because the only things there, are sand, salt and rocks. Zion National Park, on the other hand, was a significant part of my trip. The lush plants growing in elevations of 900 feet express themselves to the tourists at Zion National Park. The challenging trails lead all devoted hikers to an unbelievable view point. Michelle, Darren, my parents, and I were short on time, so we weren't able to hike 10 hour trails to the peaks of Zion. Not much hiking doesn't mean spoiling the views. We saw the cliffs hundreds of feet above us as we were surrounded by plantation. The photos we captured were so magnificent, they look Photoshoped. Glorious sights really sparked up the entire trip. Without a doubt, everyone needs to go to Zion and enjoy the wonders of nature.

     I had a fun time at Las Vegas and hope to have another trip like this sometime in the near future.

     This Thanksgiving, I am thankful to have a family and friends to be with.