Anniversary Vacation Continued: Old Mormon Fort; Las Vegas Temple; Home to Cookies

For as many trips as we have taken to Las Vegas, I can't believe we have never gone to the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Well, Tuesday was the day for that adventure. 

We got there early in the day before there was too big of a crowd gathered. A random man was there taking photos of everyone, and he was gathering tips right and left. Good for him and his ingenuity in figuring out how to make a buck, or two, or many more!

The weather report had been warning of high winds in the area and we have picture proof the wind was getting wilder and more gusty as the day went on. We also noticed a distinct decline in temperature throughout the day. 

Next on our list of tourist attractions was the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park. 

We watched a video about the fort being built around the natural springs coming from the ground.

By the bridge is a marker depicting the Old Spanish Trail.

In the courtyard outside the museum is a statue of Helen Jane Wiser Stewart. She was called "The First Lady of Las Vegas."

Helen's husband promised her that their stay on a ranch in the middle of the desert would only be for two years. Two years later, her husband lost his life in a gun fight. 

As the plaque nearby states: 

Helen stepped out of her traditional role as wife, mother, and homemaker, to take over the "Los Vegas Rancho." She never looked back. She expanded the ranch to nearly 2,000 acres, and became one of the largest property owners in the Las Vegas valley. 

Helen sold 1,835 acres of her property to the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad in 1902 for $55,000. She kept some land for herself and donated some land to the local Paiute tribe. 

She was the first postmaster in the valley, the first woman in Las Vegas to serve on a jury, the first woman to serve on the Clark County School Board. Helen shaped early Las Vegas into a vibrant community. 

Local leaders shut down the city of Las Vegas during Helen's funeral in honor of her pioneering spirit.

This adobe building is the oldest structure in Las Vegas. 

Something didn't look quite right in this room. 

The pioneer lady had toppled over. 

This is part of the wall of the old fort.

This is the garden area.

Various tools, wagons, handcarts, and other things were on display inside the fort.

This shows the corner of the Stewart Ranch house.

As we were finishing up outside, the wind started blowing like crazy. It was so strong.

When I went inside, a man commented that he saw me out there trying to fly. Not too far from the truth! Look at how gray and dusty the sky was from all the wind.

We went back to our room to get cleaned up for our afternoon activity. It was nice to get out of the strong wind gusts.

Shockingly, by the time we were headed to the Las Vegas Temple, the dirty gray sky had changed to blue and beautiful. Thankfully, the wind had calmed down so I didn't look like a wind-blown tourist walking into the temple.

We attended an endowment session and enjoyed watching the workings of the ordinance workers in that temple now that we are ordinance workers in the Bountiful Temple.

We love to go to the temple and felt like this was a great thing to include in our vacation itinerary to do on Valentine's Day. 

We tried to get into a buffet that evening, but the line was too long and we didn't want to miss our last show. We hurried over to the Rio Casino, where our show was located, hoping to find somewhere we could eat in a hurry. 

In past years, we have loved going to the Rio buffet, but it is one of the many that has stayed closed down. We weren't having much luck, and time was running out. 

As we were walking up to the second level in hopes of finding a food court, I commented that I would be happy if I could just eat a big, soft pretzel. I LOVE bread!!!!

Surprisingly, as we came to the top of the stairs, what did we behold but none other than a Wetzel's Pretzels!!! I was so giddy with excitement I could hardly stand it. 

Glen was happy to see the words "hot dog" next to the word "pretzels" on their signage. He said that would work for him for dinner. We added lemonade to our meal and YUMMM!!! So happy we didn't have to starve during the show.

The show we were seeing was "WOW - The Vegas Spectacular." We were happy to see it was in a nice venue with a fancy stage.

We had good seats right up close to the stage. There were all types of dancers and performers throughout the production. The big, back part of the stage was a water feature. Lots of dancing and splashing in the water. 

The front part of the stage was circular and a lot of the performers came down there, which was great for us as that was right in front of us.

I took some photos of the three strong men who were wowing us with their feats of strength, balance and teamwork. 

The show was so intriguing with lots of things to look at that I didn't take any other photos. I declared it my favorite of all the shows we had seen. What a great one to end on.

But, the evening did not end with the show. Nope! Glen had his taste buds set on stopping at Baskin-Robbins back at our casino for a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone before turning in for the night. 

Meanwhile, a little fondue action was going on at the Excell household on Valentine's Day. 

Look at these yummy chocolate-covered strawberries happening in Abe and Klarissa's family.

Not sure if this gigantic Rice Krispie treat had anything to do with Valentine's Day, but it makes one wonder if Magnus was able to eat that whole thing.

Kade sent us the cutest Valentine. 

When we arrived home from our vacation, someone (an anonymous cookie maker) had left the blue plate of cookies on our doorstep.

Cowleys brought over the booklet with some more sugar cookies. I love sugar cookies!!

I do have to say that it is so fun to have our anniversary and Valentine's Day both in the same love month of February. 

What a wonderful celebration we had together in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.

We'll be back there soon. March Madness is right around the corner. 

But, first--Glen's hand surgery. He has been counting down the days. Now he's counting down the hours until he gets some relief from the pain.