I was invited to experience a three-day guide to Las Vegas without gambling.  Las Vegas is known for its high stakes, partying, and Elvis weddings. This was an opportunity to check out the other sides of Vegas: the adventure of rural Nevada and the finer side of the city. I have been to Las Vegas about a dozen times previously and I had goosebumps, smiles, and surprises the entire time.  I'm sharing my 36-hour itinerary to replicate my amazing trip. Here is your travel guide to the "New" Vegas.

We received a lot of advice about getting to Yosemite early, parking in one of the main lots and then taking the Shuttle, which takes you to just about every popular place, or you can hike from those popular places to where you want to be. This was our plan until my 14-year-old daughter sprained her ankle literally two days before our trip and ended up on crutches.  Our plans for hiking now had to be adjusted to Plan B: driving and parking as close to the sights as possible.

Driving around AZ, you will see many Saguaros on the roadside. This iconic desert...

I'm just a Chicago Gal experiencing the California Wildfires. First,it was the Sand Wildfire that began just weeks after we moved from Chicago to California. The Sand Wildfire was merely miles away from us.

Now that I've been here about 2 and a half years, you can take my lessons learned if you want to use the most of your time in Hollywood on where to go and where not to go.

Our goal was to go wine (ing) on the Pacific Coast Highway: wine tasting through the California Winery Region, however no wine for us. Let me explain because I'm sure you were expecting a lovely article about the California Wine Trail and picturesque ocean scenes; so were we. It didn't happen.