Mountain West adventures: Day 1
24-HOUR PARTY PEOPLE
With a 5:30am take-off and 3:45 wake-up call, it was an early start to the day on either coast.
While the Charleston-Charlotte leg was eventful, the flight to Las Vegas was notable -- as I bought a drink for a woman, who I'll call "Kim".
First, note: USAirways doesn't take cash for its premium beverage service, and surprisingly, Kim boarded the plane without a credit card. So during the flight, she turned around to my seat, and asked if I'd charge for a drink (showing cash). I'm being repaid, so I said yes.
But in keeping with the "what happens in Vegas" theme, when Kim asked for my name and said, "Thanks, Brian", I didn't correct her.
As advertised and expected, there were slot machines awaiting us at the gate in Vegas, and intermittently during the long walk to the baggage claim.
Instead of immediately checking in at the hotel (being 9:30a PT, and all), we headed directly for the Hoover Dam. Our tour guide Court -- or as I called him, because of the staff he carried, Moses -- was quite knowledgeable, and at points quite snarky. I even suggested to Chad that he might be deranged, to which Chad responded, "Coming from you, that means a lot."
You can do a Google search to verify this, but the Beams are a big name on the UNLV campus. We saw the business building (Frank and Estella), while Lee & Thomas have their name on the Music Center elsewhere. Alas, there's no such thing as a free lunch, but we found a cheap one in the student union.
From there, it was on to the Luxor for the first of our two nights' stay. Once again, Chad was an asset as his disability helped us bypass the long registration queue for check-in to room 10-108.
The Luxor, has the rooms on the four faces of a glass pyramid. Since the atrium is open, the challenge was to put the elevators in the legs. But unlike the St Louis Arch, where it constantly adjusts, the Luxor's elevators ride on an inclined plane, which causes a wobbling situation. Riding it can make the most sober person seem drunk.
Walking through casinos' long hallways and connecting bridges, we made it to the Hard Rock for dinner, and then moved on to the Flamingo (via the Monorail) for our 10:00 viewing with George Wallace.
I was impressed with his style; he started talking with people in the audience, which led him to riff on topics as they struck him. His self-expected hour of comedy ended around 11:45, and working our way back to the hotel took an hour by monorail and foot. Tonight will be the best night of sleep ever.
With a 5:30am take-off and 3:45 wake-up call, it was an early start to the day on either coast.
While the Charleston-Charlotte leg was eventful, the flight to Las Vegas was notable -- as I bought a drink for a woman, who I'll call "Kim".
First, note: USAirways doesn't take cash for its premium beverage service, and surprisingly, Kim boarded the plane without a credit card. So during the flight, she turned around to my seat, and asked if I'd charge for a drink (showing cash). I'm being repaid, so I said yes.
But in keeping with the "what happens in Vegas" theme, when Kim asked for my name and said, "Thanks, Brian", I didn't correct her.
As advertised and expected, there were slot machines awaiting us at the gate in Vegas, and intermittently during the long walk to the baggage claim.
Instead of immediately checking in at the hotel (being 9:30a PT, and all), we headed directly for the Hoover Dam. Our tour guide Court -- or as I called him, because of the staff he carried, Moses -- was quite knowledgeable, and at points quite snarky. I even suggested to Chad that he might be deranged, to which Chad responded, "Coming from you, that means a lot."
You can do a Google search to verify this, but the Beams are a big name on the UNLV campus. We saw the business building (Frank and Estella), while Lee & Thomas have their name on the Music Center elsewhere. Alas, there's no such thing as a free lunch, but we found a cheap one in the student union.
From there, it was on to the Luxor for the first of our two nights' stay. Once again, Chad was an asset as his disability helped us bypass the long registration queue for check-in to room 10-108.
The Luxor, has the rooms on the four faces of a glass pyramid. Since the atrium is open, the challenge was to put the elevators in the legs. But unlike the St Louis Arch, where it constantly adjusts, the Luxor's elevators ride on an inclined plane, which causes a wobbling situation. Riding it can make the most sober person seem drunk.
Walking through casinos' long hallways and connecting bridges, we made it to the Hard Rock for dinner, and then moved on to the Flamingo (via the Monorail) for our 10:00 viewing with George Wallace.
I was impressed with his style; he started talking with people in the audience, which led him to riff on topics as they struck him. His self-expected hour of comedy ended around 11:45, and working our way back to the hotel took an hour by monorail and foot. Tonight will be the best night of sleep ever.