The Trip Report (Part I)
The cast:
Me: Playing the part of myself
Rob: My best friend from Cleveland
Sue: Good friend from Detroit
Christy: Good friend from Pensacola
Rick: Sue's husband
Patt: Christy's somewhat annoying friend from Shrevesport
Kristin: My older sister
The Donald: Her boyfriend
And a cast of extras....
Saturday July 16, 2005
I had everything laid out to ensure that I got to the airport in a quick manner on Saturday. I was using a new (cheaper!) parking service that was on the east (closer to the condo) of the airport, and I didn’t know how many shuttles they ran or much about them…except they would save me almost $20 from parking anywhere else. I made it there with plenty of time to spare, and got to the airport about 90 prior to departure. This was the first time I was checking a bag and using the kiosk check-in, so I had a smidge of drama early on. There wasn’t a line for the kiosk, so I walked up, re-printed my boarding passes, and requested one baggage tag for my suitcase. I went through the prompts, and at no time did it say where the tags were going to be printed (and there wasn’t a ticket agent to be found anywhere to answer any questions), so I did the next best thing: back out to curbside check-in! The nice Jamaican man explained to me that the tag was printing out behind the counter (would have been nice to know) and they would call you by last time to get it. Went back inside, found a ticket agent, found my tag and it was smooth sailing from there. Got on the plane, headed for Atlanta, and right during the ‘safety video’ the power went out…not exactly a good omen! The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, but landing in Atlanta proved otherwise. Apparently, the night before, some bad weather occurred and planes were diverted to Atlanta, so most of the gates had planes at them. Our gate had a plane at it, and the gate we were going to head to, also, had a plane there, so the 3rd gate we tried did not have a plane, but it wasn’t set up to take in a 767. So, we had to wait for somebody to reconfigure the jetway ramp for us. Ain’t flying great? The plan was for Christy, Rob and Patt to meet inside the terminal when we all got in. As soon as I get off the plane I was met by Christy…only to find out that Rob would be going through Cincinnati, and Patt was going to be significantly delayed out of Shreveport and would also miss the flight. Undeterred, we set off town the hallway for some Blimpie lunch goodness and then found a seat to watch the ‘fashion parade’ go by. We weren’t disappointed. Our flight ended up being delayed by about 45 minutes, which gave Christy ample time to take another ‘happy-sleepy-drooly’ pill. The flight out to Vegas was again, thankfully, uneventful. The movie (Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous) was worth passing up…but made better by watching it without the sound, and making our own dialogue. (Made even better when one of your party is on Dramamine!) We got our required snack pack and then our ‘big bag snack’. I watched ‘Young Frankenstein’ on Christy’s laptop while she zoned in and out of conciseness. We landed in Vegas, and immediately felt the heat. Walking up the jetway, we found Rob, who had been roaming the airport for over an hour, and the prerequisite slot machines littered through the terminal. (Hey, it’s Vegas….go figure!) We then made our way down to Rick and Sue’s gate, who were delayed a little themselves. The part of the airport that we were in was definitely the ‘new’ part...very clean and bright, and modern looking. We took the monorail/shuttle back to the main terminal, and without a whole lot of time, found our luggage. Our real introduction to the heat came as we walked out the door to the Hertz bus…hovering somewhere in the mid 110’s. (But it’s a dry heat!!! It’s still 110 fricking degrees!) On the way over to the lot the bus driver mentioned that we were coming to down in record heat, that it was nearly 100 degrees at 9pm, that Death Valley had a high of 135, and they were having the ‘fry an egg on the sidewalk contest’. Do these people know how to party or what?! We quickly found out, leaving the airport that Las Vegas is definitely a tourist destination, even in the oppressive heat. I hadn’t been back since I was going into the 6th grade…and I know there weren’t half as many people there as there were on the Strip alone. Traffic was bumper to bumper in both directions (on a Saturday) around 3 pm. We tried going up the Strip the Stratosphere, our home for the next couple days, and found the going slow. Even I-15 wasn’t any better…there was a wreck, or a really good buffet deal downtown that was drawing all the traffic that way. It took just about an hour to finally reach our hotel, which had in the shadows of the tower, some seedy looking business, some run down houses, and a library. (You expect me to believe that people actually read here!?) We parked the car in the check-in area, and nearly died walking the 100 yards to the door. There were a whopping 3 people there to check you in to a multi-thousand room hotel…this was going to take awhile. I was commandeered to watch the suitcases while the agonizing process of checking in took place. Then, we rolled our luggage through the casino (all of it) to our bank of elevators, and up to the 6th floor. The Stratosphere is not a luxury hotel, by any stretch of the imagination. I’m sure the suites are nice, and if you’re willing to drop some big coin, you can get a nice room. Our was not one of those rooms, but then again we’re cheap, not spending much more time in the room other than to sleep, so the view of the air conditioner units and walls were okay with us. We dumped our luggage off, and it was time to go back to the airport to pick up Christy’s friend Patt. This time, there wasn’t any traffic (other than the really short traffic signals at Sahara and Las Vegas Blvd.) to speak of, so we were able to zoom down, scoop Patt up and return to the hotel in a much quicker fashion. The first order of business was to find a place to eat, which was as always, the toughest decision to make! Order was restored, and we parked it at the modestly priced buffet downstairs and chowed down. After dinner, it was time to gamble...and not without starting our collection of Players Cards (make neat souvenirs with your name on them, so you feel special...or just another piece of plastic if you’re having a bad day.) The group split up to play slots and video poker, with nobody being a huge winner on the first night. I mean, playing penny and nickels, you’re not planning to hit it big. :) After about 20 minutes of discovering that Rob and I were pretty much going through the motions of playing video poker (and winning $.01 every other hand) we decided it was late enough, and time for bed.
Sunday July 17, 2005
Time zones can be fun. Waking up at 3:45 am, which the body thinks is 6:45 am just shows you how fun it can be. Nevertheless, the body can be controlled, and put back to sleep for another 4 hours. (whew!) This morning was the first of a couple work-out mornings, so Rob and I went to the 8th floor where the pool and workout center was. It was a nice pool, pretty large, good view of the mountains. The workout center was not air conditioned, had a couple large fans to move the air around, and the free weights were outside. Did I mention it was already 93 degrees at 8 am? It’s a dry heat my non-existent ass! It’s hot no matter what!! But we managed our respective workouts, and even took an impromptu lap around the casino (about .75 of a mile). Breakfast ended up being at the Denny’s within walking distance of the resort with Patt and Christy. My sister and (the) Donald were due in later this afternoon, so we decided to check out some of the other strip Casinos. So, through the gauntlet of elevators we went.
(Okay, rant about the elevators. They were small...could fit maybe 7 adults in there, and not have much room. There were 6 that served a 24 floor wing...and if you were going down, well, they were always full! And they moved sooooo slooooow. Then there were the ones in the parking garage. Made the Tower of Terror look like child’s play. These things scraped the walls, bounced, shook, and eventually got you where you wanted to go...if you hadn’t passed out from fear by then. You’d think they’d do something with the old ‘Vegas World’ elevators...but I guess not until somebody gets hurt.)
We drove south on the strip all the way down towards Mandalay Bay/Luxor/ Excalibur, which is where we ended up parking. Into the Luxor, we went...and wow...talk about themeing and cheese factor!! I thought our hotel had some, but alas, we were on the short end of the stick. If you had a large wad of money, and needed to blow it on movies and interactive shlock, this was the place! Or, if you needed anything Sphinx related...this was your place. We walked around the place, getting a players card, and just looking and admiring the gaudiness. After maybe 45 minutes, we ended up walking through the moving sidewalks to the Excalibur where later that night the girls would visit ‘Thunder Down Under’. About this time, I started feeling woozy, a little dizzy and quite unresponsive...and it was past lunch time...and I hadn’t even noticed! It wasn’t before Christy made a quick win of $90 on a penny slot that my condition worsened, and I was rushed stat to Quizno’s for some nourishment and fluids. (Okay, caffeine!) We played with the beads (freaked the lady working there out) and made a quick exit to the van. A quick trip through the Bellagio was in store where we found a great parking spot, and got our van searched: for what!? Took some pictures of the amazing gardens, and high-roller shlock...money was afoot, Watson! About this time, it was getting close for my Sister to arrive, so we headed back to our hotel, dropped Rick and the girls off, and went back to the airport. (We were getting good at this, now!) Just as we were pulling into the garage, the cell phone rang...so our timing was perfect...and turned out, it couldn’t have been better! The A/C in the airport had stopped working, so it was sweltering inside...not quite as bad as outside, but not comfy. Picked up our party, and drove them to their hotel (the Flamingo) and got to see what a ‘Real’ Vegas view looked like. A nice view of Caesar's Place and the Bellagio from the 20-something floor. We then headed back to the Stratosphere to meet with the rest of our group to plan the rest of the night. It was decided that the girls were going to take a taxi and eat on their own before feasting their eyes (and other body parts) on scrumptious Australian lads. Rob and I were invited to a $5 steak (and salad and potato) dinner at Ellis Island, a little dumpy casino off the strip, but worth more than some of the giants! The meal was excellent, and I was able to gamble $5 and play on it for about 30 minutes, and not lose anything! Everybody else enjoyed the microbrews (and the price $1!!). After dinner we toured another couple of the Casinos, and I came to the realization, that they all pretty much look alike, and Vegas wasn’t for me We parted company that night and went to bed.
Monday July 18, 2005
I wasn’t feeling too chipper in the morning, so Rob got up and went to do his PT stretches by himself. I figured after he left, I might as well get my ass out of bed and get a run in while I could. So I did, around the various streets surrounding our hotel, which in a word, looked like a ghetto. Not exactly the safest looking place in the world, even through there was a library and a school just down the road. I ended up doing mostly laps around the hotel and through the hills of the parking garage. A good workout. After a small (greasy), quick breakfast of McDonald’s, we used our privileges of staying at the hotel, and got our free ride up in the Tower...some 700 feet above the ground. There are 4 different ‘rides’ that you get on up there, a tower shot, a roller coaster, and two things that extend you off the edge of the tower, so you get to look down at the ground, and ponder how safe it is letting an 17 year old kid in charge of your safety. Go figure. The view up there was amazing...could see for miles! After getting back safely to the ground, we packed up the van again, and this time headed east towards Arizona and the Hoover Dam/Lake Mead. let me sum it up quickly this way: A lot of concrete, but a hell lot more heat. Our thermometer in the van was reading 124oF, so who knows how hot it really was out there...just absolutely stifling. My shoes felt like the soles were going to melt, and Sue looked like she was the one today that might go down in a heap. No tours taken, just some photos, lookie there, it’s Arizona, that’s a long way down...and let’s get back in the van...it’s dangerous out there! They’re fixing the road, so if you go there before 2010, expect delays. Amazingly enough, there are plenty Casinos along the way, in case you get the urge. We didn’t. Stopped in Henderson for a late Fazoli’s lunch (too tired and hot to eat). There was some mega traffic jam in town, so we ended up taking a lot of back roads through neighborhoods...and none of them all that nice. Although passing the Liberachi museum was quite a highlight. Since we had had quite a day so far, we took the rest of the afternoon off before heading to the Hilton for ‘The Star Trek Experience’ in the evening. Kristin and Donald decided to meet us there a little later. The casino near the attraction is themed all sci-fi, like...which was quite a shock to the system. Who knew? Everybody but myself and Sue went on to the Borg Invasion, so we set off for some water, players card and some slots. About this time, Sue got a phone call from back home saying her oldest son was in the hospital with some unknown ailment. A few minutes later, Kristin and Donald came in, and the rest of the group came out from the attraction and got the news. A fairly somber group headed back downstairs to Quark’s Bar for dinner, where many a Romulan ale was drunk. Also, some deal went down for ‘Cargo Bay Six’, but alas, nothing ever came of it. It was starting to get late, and we needed to get ready to move on to the second leg of our trip, so I said good-bye to my sister, and we headed back to our casino. Rob and I quickly packed and went back to the Casino for one last ‘big 2-dollar blow-out’. I lost mine, but I think he ended up cashing out with his money. Called it lights out a little after that, and prepared to assault the airport one last time, Southwest Airlines and Disneyland tomorrow!! It was going to be fun day tomorrow.
Me: Playing the part of myself
Rob: My best friend from Cleveland
Sue: Good friend from Detroit
Christy: Good friend from Pensacola
Rick: Sue's husband
Patt: Christy's somewhat annoying friend from Shrevesport
Kristin: My older sister
The Donald: Her boyfriend
And a cast of extras....
Saturday July 16, 2005
I had everything laid out to ensure that I got to the airport in a quick manner on Saturday. I was using a new (cheaper!) parking service that was on the east (closer to the condo) of the airport, and I didn’t know how many shuttles they ran or much about them…except they would save me almost $20 from parking anywhere else. I made it there with plenty of time to spare, and got to the airport about 90 prior to departure. This was the first time I was checking a bag and using the kiosk check-in, so I had a smidge of drama early on. There wasn’t a line for the kiosk, so I walked up, re-printed my boarding passes, and requested one baggage tag for my suitcase. I went through the prompts, and at no time did it say where the tags were going to be printed (and there wasn’t a ticket agent to be found anywhere to answer any questions), so I did the next best thing: back out to curbside check-in! The nice Jamaican man explained to me that the tag was printing out behind the counter (would have been nice to know) and they would call you by last time to get it. Went back inside, found a ticket agent, found my tag and it was smooth sailing from there. Got on the plane, headed for Atlanta, and right during the ‘safety video’ the power went out…not exactly a good omen! The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, but landing in Atlanta proved otherwise. Apparently, the night before, some bad weather occurred and planes were diverted to Atlanta, so most of the gates had planes at them. Our gate had a plane at it, and the gate we were going to head to, also, had a plane there, so the 3rd gate we tried did not have a plane, but it wasn’t set up to take in a 767. So, we had to wait for somebody to reconfigure the jetway ramp for us. Ain’t flying great? The plan was for Christy, Rob and Patt to meet inside the terminal when we all got in. As soon as I get off the plane I was met by Christy…only to find out that Rob would be going through Cincinnati, and Patt was going to be significantly delayed out of Shreveport and would also miss the flight. Undeterred, we set off town the hallway for some Blimpie lunch goodness and then found a seat to watch the ‘fashion parade’ go by. We weren’t disappointed. Our flight ended up being delayed by about 45 minutes, which gave Christy ample time to take another ‘happy-sleepy-drooly’ pill. The flight out to Vegas was again, thankfully, uneventful. The movie (Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous) was worth passing up…but made better by watching it without the sound, and making our own dialogue. (Made even better when one of your party is on Dramamine!) We got our required snack pack and then our ‘big bag snack’. I watched ‘Young Frankenstein’ on Christy’s laptop while she zoned in and out of conciseness. We landed in Vegas, and immediately felt the heat. Walking up the jetway, we found Rob, who had been roaming the airport for over an hour, and the prerequisite slot machines littered through the terminal. (Hey, it’s Vegas….go figure!) We then made our way down to Rick and Sue’s gate, who were delayed a little themselves. The part of the airport that we were in was definitely the ‘new’ part...very clean and bright, and modern looking. We took the monorail/shuttle back to the main terminal, and without a whole lot of time, found our luggage. Our real introduction to the heat came as we walked out the door to the Hertz bus…hovering somewhere in the mid 110’s. (But it’s a dry heat!!! It’s still 110 fricking degrees!) On the way over to the lot the bus driver mentioned that we were coming to down in record heat, that it was nearly 100 degrees at 9pm, that Death Valley had a high of 135, and they were having the ‘fry an egg on the sidewalk contest’. Do these people know how to party or what?! We quickly found out, leaving the airport that Las Vegas is definitely a tourist destination, even in the oppressive heat. I hadn’t been back since I was going into the 6th grade…and I know there weren’t half as many people there as there were on the Strip alone. Traffic was bumper to bumper in both directions (on a Saturday) around 3 pm. We tried going up the Strip the Stratosphere, our home for the next couple days, and found the going slow. Even I-15 wasn’t any better…there was a wreck, or a really good buffet deal downtown that was drawing all the traffic that way. It took just about an hour to finally reach our hotel, which had in the shadows of the tower, some seedy looking business, some run down houses, and a library. (You expect me to believe that people actually read here!?) We parked the car in the check-in area, and nearly died walking the 100 yards to the door. There were a whopping 3 people there to check you in to a multi-thousand room hotel…this was going to take awhile. I was commandeered to watch the suitcases while the agonizing process of checking in took place. Then, we rolled our luggage through the casino (all of it) to our bank of elevators, and up to the 6th floor. The Stratosphere is not a luxury hotel, by any stretch of the imagination. I’m sure the suites are nice, and if you’re willing to drop some big coin, you can get a nice room. Our was not one of those rooms, but then again we’re cheap, not spending much more time in the room other than to sleep, so the view of the air conditioner units and walls were okay with us. We dumped our luggage off, and it was time to go back to the airport to pick up Christy’s friend Patt. This time, there wasn’t any traffic (other than the really short traffic signals at Sahara and Las Vegas Blvd.) to speak of, so we were able to zoom down, scoop Patt up and return to the hotel in a much quicker fashion. The first order of business was to find a place to eat, which was as always, the toughest decision to make! Order was restored, and we parked it at the modestly priced buffet downstairs and chowed down. After dinner, it was time to gamble...and not without starting our collection of Players Cards (make neat souvenirs with your name on them, so you feel special...or just another piece of plastic if you’re having a bad day.) The group split up to play slots and video poker, with nobody being a huge winner on the first night. I mean, playing penny and nickels, you’re not planning to hit it big. :) After about 20 minutes of discovering that Rob and I were pretty much going through the motions of playing video poker (and winning $.01 every other hand) we decided it was late enough, and time for bed.
Sunday July 17, 2005
Time zones can be fun. Waking up at 3:45 am, which the body thinks is 6:45 am just shows you how fun it can be. Nevertheless, the body can be controlled, and put back to sleep for another 4 hours. (whew!) This morning was the first of a couple work-out mornings, so Rob and I went to the 8th floor where the pool and workout center was. It was a nice pool, pretty large, good view of the mountains. The workout center was not air conditioned, had a couple large fans to move the air around, and the free weights were outside. Did I mention it was already 93 degrees at 8 am? It’s a dry heat my non-existent ass! It’s hot no matter what!! But we managed our respective workouts, and even took an impromptu lap around the casino (about .75 of a mile). Breakfast ended up being at the Denny’s within walking distance of the resort with Patt and Christy. My sister and (the) Donald were due in later this afternoon, so we decided to check out some of the other strip Casinos. So, through the gauntlet of elevators we went.
(Okay, rant about the elevators. They were small...could fit maybe 7 adults in there, and not have much room. There were 6 that served a 24 floor wing...and if you were going down, well, they were always full! And they moved sooooo slooooow. Then there were the ones in the parking garage. Made the Tower of Terror look like child’s play. These things scraped the walls, bounced, shook, and eventually got you where you wanted to go...if you hadn’t passed out from fear by then. You’d think they’d do something with the old ‘Vegas World’ elevators...but I guess not until somebody gets hurt.)
We drove south on the strip all the way down towards Mandalay Bay/Luxor/ Excalibur, which is where we ended up parking. Into the Luxor, we went...and wow...talk about themeing and cheese factor!! I thought our hotel had some, but alas, we were on the short end of the stick. If you had a large wad of money, and needed to blow it on movies and interactive shlock, this was the place! Or, if you needed anything Sphinx related...this was your place. We walked around the place, getting a players card, and just looking and admiring the gaudiness. After maybe 45 minutes, we ended up walking through the moving sidewalks to the Excalibur where later that night the girls would visit ‘Thunder Down Under’. About this time, I started feeling woozy, a little dizzy and quite unresponsive...and it was past lunch time...and I hadn’t even noticed! It wasn’t before Christy made a quick win of $90 on a penny slot that my condition worsened, and I was rushed stat to Quizno’s for some nourishment and fluids. (Okay, caffeine!) We played with the beads (freaked the lady working there out) and made a quick exit to the van. A quick trip through the Bellagio was in store where we found a great parking spot, and got our van searched: for what!? Took some pictures of the amazing gardens, and high-roller shlock...money was afoot, Watson! About this time, it was getting close for my Sister to arrive, so we headed back to our hotel, dropped Rick and the girls off, and went back to the airport. (We were getting good at this, now!) Just as we were pulling into the garage, the cell phone rang...so our timing was perfect...and turned out, it couldn’t have been better! The A/C in the airport had stopped working, so it was sweltering inside...not quite as bad as outside, but not comfy. Picked up our party, and drove them to their hotel (the Flamingo) and got to see what a ‘Real’ Vegas view looked like. A nice view of Caesar's Place and the Bellagio from the 20-something floor. We then headed back to the Stratosphere to meet with the rest of our group to plan the rest of the night. It was decided that the girls were going to take a taxi and eat on their own before feasting their eyes (and other body parts) on scrumptious Australian lads. Rob and I were invited to a $5 steak (and salad and potato) dinner at Ellis Island, a little dumpy casino off the strip, but worth more than some of the giants! The meal was excellent, and I was able to gamble $5 and play on it for about 30 minutes, and not lose anything! Everybody else enjoyed the microbrews (and the price $1!!). After dinner we toured another couple of the Casinos, and I came to the realization, that they all pretty much look alike, and Vegas wasn’t for me We parted company that night and went to bed.
Monday July 18, 2005
I wasn’t feeling too chipper in the morning, so Rob got up and went to do his PT stretches by himself. I figured after he left, I might as well get my ass out of bed and get a run in while I could. So I did, around the various streets surrounding our hotel, which in a word, looked like a ghetto. Not exactly the safest looking place in the world, even through there was a library and a school just down the road. I ended up doing mostly laps around the hotel and through the hills of the parking garage. A good workout. After a small (greasy), quick breakfast of McDonald’s, we used our privileges of staying at the hotel, and got our free ride up in the Tower...some 700 feet above the ground. There are 4 different ‘rides’ that you get on up there, a tower shot, a roller coaster, and two things that extend you off the edge of the tower, so you get to look down at the ground, and ponder how safe it is letting an 17 year old kid in charge of your safety. Go figure. The view up there was amazing...could see for miles! After getting back safely to the ground, we packed up the van again, and this time headed east towards Arizona and the Hoover Dam/Lake Mead. let me sum it up quickly this way: A lot of concrete, but a hell lot more heat. Our thermometer in the van was reading 124oF, so who knows how hot it really was out there...just absolutely stifling. My shoes felt like the soles were going to melt, and Sue looked like she was the one today that might go down in a heap. No tours taken, just some photos, lookie there, it’s Arizona, that’s a long way down...and let’s get back in the van...it’s dangerous out there! They’re fixing the road, so if you go there before 2010, expect delays. Amazingly enough, there are plenty Casinos along the way, in case you get the urge. We didn’t. Stopped in Henderson for a late Fazoli’s lunch (too tired and hot to eat). There was some mega traffic jam in town, so we ended up taking a lot of back roads through neighborhoods...and none of them all that nice. Although passing the Liberachi museum was quite a highlight. Since we had had quite a day so far, we took the rest of the afternoon off before heading to the Hilton for ‘The Star Trek Experience’ in the evening. Kristin and Donald decided to meet us there a little later. The casino near the attraction is themed all sci-fi, like...which was quite a shock to the system. Who knew? Everybody but myself and Sue went on to the Borg Invasion, so we set off for some water, players card and some slots. About this time, Sue got a phone call from back home saying her oldest son was in the hospital with some unknown ailment. A few minutes later, Kristin and Donald came in, and the rest of the group came out from the attraction and got the news. A fairly somber group headed back downstairs to Quark’s Bar for dinner, where many a Romulan ale was drunk. Also, some deal went down for ‘Cargo Bay Six’, but alas, nothing ever came of it. It was starting to get late, and we needed to get ready to move on to the second leg of our trip, so I said good-bye to my sister, and we headed back to our casino. Rob and I quickly packed and went back to the Casino for one last ‘big 2-dollar blow-out’. I lost mine, but I think he ended up cashing out with his money. Called it lights out a little after that, and prepared to assault the airport one last time, Southwest Airlines and Disneyland tomorrow!! It was going to be fun day tomorrow.