After freshening up, we departed for the Excalibur hotel for dinner at Buca di Beppo. Our family style meal of salad, pasta, chicken, and cheesecake concluded with a mini dance party before we transferred to the Bellagio hotel to see the conservatory. After a brief wait, we watched the world famous fountains as they performed to Pink Panther by Henry Mancini. Needless to say, this was a great way to send the night. As we arrived at the hotel, we had a few minutes to relax and begin packing our suitcases for the long day of travel back to Pennsylvania tomorrow.
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Dr. McCutcheon and I headed back to Gettysburg early Tuesday morning so that he could conduct the July 4th Orchestra here at Gettysburg College. For our final few blog posts, please welcome Guest Blogger Andrew Smouse, one of our band staff members.,

Finishing our meal with fresh chocolate chip cookies, we took a short walk to the Linq hotel. Headliner magician Mat Franco, winner of season nine’s America Got Talent, entertained us with a classic, comedic Las Vegas show. We were in awe at the illusions, card tricks, and his story. It was a great way to end the day! We then boarded the buses to head back to our hotel, taking in the lights and sights of the Las Vegas Strip. We look forward to our final performance tomorrow in the time honored Las Vegas Independence Day  tradition – the 24th annual Summerlin Patriotic Parade.

Following out brief concert, we were treated to a fabulous tour of the Hoover Dam. First, we viewed a video about the history of the dam, then we saw the power plant beneath the dam, and finally, we ascended to the top of the dam for pictures of the dam and Lake Meade. It was a great "Dam" tour!

After the tour, we were back on the buses and off to the Grand Canyon!  This was truly amazing. Students had the chance to go out of the Sky Walk, a glass floor over the top of the canyon, allowing them to look straight down.  I did not go (I was too chicken), but many of our students enjoyed the amazing view! There was also, once again, a shop or two on our way out. Then, back on the buses to Las Vegas, where we had dinner at the Rainforest Café among the jungle and its animals!

 After the conclusion of the flag ceremony, we had lunch once again in the food court of the MGM Grand (lots of great options there!) and then headed to Paris to visit the Eiffel Tower!  Yes, you read that correctly - the Eiffel Tower - in the Paris Casino, of course. We wound our way through a quaint French village and eventually reached the Eiffel Tower, clearly the height of the day. Students enjoyed ascending the tower to, once again, gaze out over Las Vegas. We were even treated to a show by the famed Bellagio fountains while up top.

Following our trip to France, we walked across the street to pay a visit to Caesar's Palace. Here, students had a chance to shop in the Forum Shops and seemed to have a great time shopping (I have concluded that our students really like to shop!) We then had a fabulous dinner at Planet Hollywood's Café Hollywood, and then were back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Following the parade, we had a chance to return to our hotel, shower, and change - a welcome chance, given that we had just spent an hour marching in the hundred degree heat! We enjoyed box lunches from the Earl of Sandwich, and had enough time that many students hit the hotel pool for a dip. After a bit of a break, we headed back out to the Stratosphere, the tallest freestanding tower in America. Going to the top took us even higher than the High Roller from the other day. The views were awesome, and some of us enjoyed the great view with a cold beverage. There were also rides for the daring and brave among us, who were able to jump off the tower and ride a rollercoaster hundreds of feet above the Las Vegas streets! (This was too daring for me, Dr. McCutcheon and I had glasses of water and read a book while enjoying the view.) After students had their fill of excitement, we headed back down to the ground to enjoy the buffet at the Stratosphere for dinner.  There was a great array of options, from sushi to spare ribs to a beef carving station and a make your own taco bar. It seemed that everyone found something to eat!

This evening we were back at the MGM Grand for the Pennsylvania delegation's reception. We enjoyed playing for delegation, who much appreciated our contribution to the evening. Many thanks to Lion Jamie Cope for guest conducting the band. We were able to go live on Facebook this morning and again this evening during the delegation performance. We are gratified that so many of you watched, shared, and commented on the videos - if you haven't seen them, check them out on our Facebook page! It was, as the delegation performance always is, a late night - we were all glad to climb into our beds upon our return to the hotel.

Our first full day in Las Vegas was a busy one, full of great food, sites to see, and music to play. We started the day with a visit to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Many of our students did not quite understand what this was ahead of time, but they had a blast once they were inside, posing with celebrities of all sorts. Check out the slide show for a selection of our best pictures - you can see them all on our Flickr group: ​https://www.flickr.com/groups/palionsbandlasvegas/

Following dinner, we headed out for a night on the town, Lions Band style! First, we visited the High Roller, a London Eye like Ferris Wheel that took us high in the sky for an awesome view of the city! During the 28 minute ride, we were to see fantastic views of the Strip, many of the iconic features of the Las Vegas landscape, and even some of the surrounding countryside.

We then quickly arrived at our hotel, which had managed to prepare our rooms even though we were arriving extremely early. We spent the rest of the morning and the afternoon getting settled in and resting from our travels. Our hotel is great - we are located off the strip (so we can't walk to the strip), but are very close, so it's a short bus ride, which is nice. The hotel staff is also great, so we are well taken care of for the next week!

It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed since we traveled to Chicago to celebrate the centennial of Lionism, and yet, here we are, embarking on another outrageously fun Lions band trip! Much has happened yesterday and today - unfortunately, for most of us, one thing that did NOT happen was sleep!  So, here we are, in Vegas, and very, very sleepy. To that end, I shall write about last evening's concert and leave the flight and events of today for tomorrow.

Last Sunday, approximately 70 students and band staff arrived at Gettysburg College, where we have been preparing for our tour to Las Vegas. This included the usual rehearsals and shenanigans - pool night, hanging out at the Attic, enjoying the stylings of Servo... While many things were the same as previous years, there was one marked difference - Ray Barfield retired from the band after last year's trip, and Vincent LoRusso has replaced him as chairman of the Lions Band Committee. 

Ray many not be with us on the trip, but we know he's still thinking of us, as he made the trip from Bedford to Gettysburg for Wednesday's concert! It was great to see him and catch up, even if it was a bit odd to see him sitting in the audience.

The concert was also well attended by family members and members of our local Lions clubs, many of whom became Band Boosters to help support the band. (Woohoo! Thanks for the support!) Many of our Lions club members were showing their Lions pride, rocking their vests, tshirts,, and hats.

The concert included a mix of the iconic Lions Band numbers - America the Beautiful, God of our Fathers, and of course, the Pennsylvania Polka - and new repertoire that students have rehearsed over the past week, including a medley from the musical The Music Man. (appropriate, right?!?) The concert ensemble and the jazz band were in fine form, and there were many compliments at the end of the night!

Following the concert, we had some time to enjoy ice cream with our family, friends, and fellow Lions, before  loading up the truck. Then it was back to the dorms for a good night's sleep - or, well, basically a nap, as we checked out of those dorms and loaded the buses at 2:30 AM! 

We have safely arrived in Las Vegas and had a full day of rehearsal and fun, not to mention a great meal at the Hard Rock Café. I will post more about all of these activities tomorrow, when I have a had a good night's sleep and do not feel as though I am going to fall over.

To finish us up for the evening, some pictures from last night's concert:

It's hard to believe that our trip has flown by, and we are already home!  Who knew that ten days could go so quickly??? Today we had a short bus ride home, since we split the drive up by stopping at Cedar Point.  We made good time getting home, and I know that while we were all happy to be there, we were also sad to see our new and old friends go.

Keep your eyes peeled for information about next year - the state convention is in State College, and the international convention is in Las Vegas!  We still need to confirm that we are a go for Vegas, but the omens are looking good.

Here's to a great trip, a happy fourth of July, and I hope that everyone has a great year before we see each other again next year!