One of my favorite places is the Ethel M Chocolate Factory Cactus Garden. Here are some of my cactus images, click to see them and more. Will post some of the photos of the holiday lights in a few days… cactus in lights is something this east coast native thought she would NEVER see… 
I am sitting in a Penthouse Suite at the Mirage, working on my laptop on a glass covered table, listening to Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra, and Kim and Tam Pinegar, looking out of floor to ceiling windows at the Volcano, the TI, the Wynn, Casino Royale, the Venetian and Harrahs. If I stand in the bedroom and look really hard I can see the Imperial Palace. From my home I can see the entire strip, and the mountains and Red Rock canyon, but once in a while it is nice to be in the middle of the action. To see it up close… and to absorb the energy and the inspiration that comes with it. There is energy here… lots of it.
This is the second time I have stayed in a Penthouse Suite here, the first time was a surprise “gift” of a night from a friend and his son that had the room and didn’t need it for that night. It was during that June 2005 trip that I mentioned below. It was a very turbulent time in my life, and that day I had walked from the Riviera to the Mirage to see the suite that I thought they were staying in. I walked in the door, found them and said “I decided walking here that I am tired of just getting by, I want more.” My friend said, “if you think you got inspired walking, wait until you see what we have for you.” A few minutes later, after showing me around the suite he handed me the key. I cried. He doesn’t know that, I went in another room and literally started crying. He was right, this place is inspirational. The view, the ambiance, the elegance. Some people wouldn’t be very impressed. It is impressive to me. That particular suite was a corner room, and it overlooked the Pool and the Dolphin Pools. I woke up and looked out to see dolphins swimming in the desert. And out the other window was the Bellagio fountain show. Those are impressive things to see, especially in the middle of the Mojave Desert. And I had never been in a hotel room that had a separate room for the toilet (and a bidet!) and a room for the jacuzzi and sinks and shower…. The suites here are bigger than 90% of the apartments in New York City!!!!
Tomorrow morning I will wake up to the sun rising over the strip, I will be able to see it from bed. If you are looking at the Mirage from Las Vegas Boulevard, my room is on the top floor, in the middle, right above the word Love. Right now the horns are going off to announce the start of the Volcano show… time for a 5 minute break to watch the fire on the water…. followed in a few minutes by the TI pirate show, with fireworks. I love fire, this is a great way to spend Easter night. I’ll post some pics of the rooms and my “office” in a couple of days, I didn’t bring the cable to download the pics from the camera, oops