TRAVEL & PHOTO GALLERY
Most people associate Las Vegas with noisy casino floors, blackjack tables, and flashing slot machines. But for Gio and me, Sin City has always been about something entirely different: wide-open desert scenery, aviation spotting, helicopter tours, rooftop perspectives, and the spontaneous energy of hitting the road. We don’t gamble a dime, yet Vegas has become our ultimate quick-escape tradition—spanning 13 distinct getaways since 2015.
When we drive, it’s never just a race up Interstate 15. The journey across the Mojave Desert is half the adventure. We turn a standard 4-hour drive into a full exploration day, bypassing traffic on the less-traveled back roads:
You’ll usually find us cruising scenic stretches of historic Route 66, cutting through the vast silence of the Mojave National Preserve, exploring the cracked terrain of Coyote Dry Lake and Soda Lake, or making a pit stop out at Zzyzx Road. There’s an undeniable charm to taking your time, pulling over for impromptu landscape photos, and watching the desert landscape slowly shift into open basin views.
By Trips 4, 5, and 6, the travel math completely shifted. Southwest was running promotional fares at $39 each way. With gas averaging around $4.50 a gallon, driving our truck cost upwards of $50 each way in fuel alone. Taking off from Ontario International Airport (ONT) and landing at Harry Reid International Airport (KLAS) takes just 35 minutes wheels-up to wheels-downThe moment you step off the plane into Harry Reid, you’re greeted by the chime of terminal slot machines and the glowing "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" neon sign. Grab a quick Lyft, and within 15 minutes, you’re checking in on the Strip.
On our first getaway in 2015, we stayed off-Strip at the Hampton Inn on the other side of the I-15. On our second trip, we stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. But by Trip 3, we unlocked the secret that changed how we travel: Caesars Rewards.
