Samantha Lundin Thom

At last, here are some suggestions for where you might want to stay for the wedding this summer.

Peter and I checked out a few places. The strip is about a 30 min. drive away from the ceremony and reception site, so you’ll want to decide which you’d rather be closer to. You might want to consider that driving in Vegas is not very straightforward, even for locals because there is so much new construction changing things, and not much road signage to guide you.

Our favourite hotel is the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa because it has everything including its own luxury lagoon. There are multiple restaurants, bars, their own Starbucks coffee shop, and of course, lots of room to gamble! This place is only 5 min. from the ceremony and reception site, and they have a shuttle service to the strip if you want to explore it on another day. If you book now, a room with two double beds should run you between $170 and $200 a night for August 8 & 9, 2008.

Also close to the wedding events, is La Quinta Inn & Suites – Ft. Apache location (9570 W. Sahara). This place reminds me of a Best Western style hotel, more quiet and meek than the glitzy Vegas resorts. It is a bit cheaper than the Red Rock.

The Marriott and Suncoast hotels are also relatively near to the wedding events. You’re looking for locations near W. Sahara and the Red Rock area of town.

Check out this map I made to give you a few bearings to guide you by.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC7MH3EzBWM]

I’ve done a little research to learn more about the Japanese tradition of using furoshiki to wrap purchases, use as a bag, or for gift wrapping. These cloths can be folded in a multitude of ways to carry anything. The Japanese Minister for the Environment is now calling for a return to this Japanese tradition to reduce the amount of plastic bags being consumed. I saw one site that quoted Japan uses 30 billion plastic bags annually. Just think of how many we must use here in Canada.

I like furoshiki better than the current Canadian craze for post-consumer pop-bottle fabric bags because they are more compact to bring along on errand day and much more versatile. Check out furoshiki.com for more details. Plus, here’s a very informative video showing three different folding options for everyday use.