What happens in Vegas gets blogged about

What a great time in Las Vegas, Nevada!

Oddwalk had the honor to be keynoters at their Youth Rally this past Saturday, speaking on our themes of Community, Participation, and Mission. We also helped out at the Mass which began the day.

Our journey began, though, about 3pm Friday with a long line at the St. Louis airport. For some reason, everyone going to or through Phoenix on America West all had to be in the same long line. It was a bit disconcerting because one hour before our flight we were still in that line, and had hardly moved. But all was well, we did get through the line, on the plane, and in the air on time.

We were bucking a 100+ mph wind all the way, so we got the Phoenix late and had to hurry to make our connection. Once at the gate, we heard this announcement: they were running a check on engine #2, as it seemed strangely loud. The plane was 3/4 boarded at that point, but they weren't letting anyone else on while they ran their tests.

Turns out it had an oil leak, and they had to put us on a different plane, about an hour later than scheduled. Better to find out while still on the ground I guess, than up in the air!

So we finally got to Vegas. We have never in our lives seen a busier airport, holy cow! People everywhere! We finally collected our belongings and headed out the door to meet Sr. Pat about 10:30 Las Vegas Time.

The next day the rally was wonderful. When planning for the day began a few months ago, the organizers were hopeful they might get 150 or so to atend. How wonderful then to get nearly 700! Bishop Pepe was there to preside at the opening Mass and stayed with the rally the entire afternoon. We had a great time sharing our music and stories and meeting a lot of the wonderful youth and adult leaders in the diocese.

Special thanks to Sr. Pat, Spike, Sarah, Rosie, and so many other folks for helpning the day go so well.

Here are Megan and Kristen, modelling their oddwalk shirts:



After the Rally, Sr. Pat took us over to The Strip for a real quick visit to the Bellagio. We saw some amazing displays inside:




(That man in blue is about 30 feet tall)

And the fountains outside:


Try to see the video of it here: Fountain Video
(Need we remind you how wonderful Orin's Treo is?)

Here's a shot of the Paris, across from the Bellagio:



At the end of the night, we had to retire early due to a 6am flight the next day. We both lost $5 to the slot machines though, and on the way to the car got one last piece of advice from a grafitti artist:



Even so, we're looking forward to our return visit towards the end of the year for NCCYM. ¡Viva Las Vegas!