January in Vegas 2014- Day 1
Okay, so it's a bit late. I procrastinate well. :)
Early morning flight. With Nyssa on crutches there was no way we were taking the bus to the airport, so cab it was. Very long line waiting to get into security, we were somewhere behind a tour group. Well, I was. Nyssa was given a wheelchair and was put at the beginning of line, though she had to wait for me. I feel bad for any guides the tour group would have on their travels, as they clearly had problems with basic instructions like "please line up close to the wall to allow room for people to walk by".
Through security pretty quickly. One carry on for Nyssa, my bag was checked. Nyssa had to have someone come over to her security, since she couldn't go through their machine. Didn't slow things down, though, they were pretty quick. Got to pre-board, though we were also pretty much the last people off the planes, too. Plane left on time. Stopover in Chicago, where they drove us from gate to gate in a cart. Passed on buying breakfast at the airport because we were waiting to buy food on the plane. Yes, you read that right, we wanted airplane food. United has great snack boxes and we look forward to them. $8.50 will get you olives, almonds, chocolate covered fruit, pita chips, 2 kinds of crackers, spreadable peppercorn cheese, hummus and bruschetta. This is not a snack, this is enough food for a meal.
Plane was completely full. And we were finally on a plane where they handed out the little boxes from the Cosmopolitan with freeplay, room discounts, free drinks, 2-4-1 buffets. And.... they ran out right before they got to Nyssa! But, didn't matter in the end. The beside said he didn't need his and gave it to me. I took the drink coupons out of both and gave those to him.
Landed in Vegas on time, delightful attendant with a wheelchair did all the pushing, took us to baggage claim and out to the shuttle. I did not know the protocol on tipping in such cases so just asked if she was allowed to take tips. She said yes so I gave her $5 for her trouble. She was just so pleasant that it made getting everything squared away so easy.
Arrived at Main Street Station in no time. Interesting side note: The front seats of the shuttle were occupied when we boarded, each by a single person in the double seat. They watched Nyssa struggle up the stairs on crutches and neither of them offered her their seat. I guess if there isn't clearly marked priority seating like on public transit then people will make the disabled walk past the front of the bus. Anyway, arrived at the hotel, checked in. First night already paid, so just one night left to pay for. Did that in cash and the security deposit as well. Mostly because my credit card was pretty much maxed out.
Went over to the Bell Desk before heading up to get a wheelchair for Nyssa. He gave her a choice of chairs, $17.50 a day for the rental. Easier than trying to get around on crutches for the duration. Almost forgot that our room rate came with $10/day food/beverage credit, and they forgot to give it to me at check in so got that from her. Dropped our stuff in the room, changed clothes, headed downstairs for some gambling.
Fairly early dinner at Market Street at the California. We both went for the chicken fried steak. Good, large portion and came with their salad bar. Couldn't finish it all. We were exhausted, so headed back to the room for a nap. I just couldn't wake up afterwards. Thank goodness for a call from someone from one of the Facebook Vegas groups we belong to. J's call was just what I needed to make me drag my sorry ass off the bed and down to the casino. We chatted for a bit, headed out to Fremont, stopped and waved at the camera in front of the Fremont in case anyone from our group was watching (J posted online to say we were doing it). Went to Walgreens for smokes and snacks. Stopped at the Fremont on our way back to do some gambling and had our first go at the new Willy Wonka machines. Lots of fun if you're getting bonuses, big money sucks if you're not - just like most other slot machines. J. was really nice and I'm glad we'd made plans to meet up.
We finally made our way back to Main Street Station. Nyssa stayed up late gambling but I went up earlier, watched a bit of TV and conked out. Early morning flights make for long days when there's a 3 hour time difference.
Early morning flight. With Nyssa on crutches there was no way we were taking the bus to the airport, so cab it was. Very long line waiting to get into security, we were somewhere behind a tour group. Well, I was. Nyssa was given a wheelchair and was put at the beginning of line, though she had to wait for me. I feel bad for any guides the tour group would have on their travels, as they clearly had problems with basic instructions like "please line up close to the wall to allow room for people to walk by".
Through security pretty quickly. One carry on for Nyssa, my bag was checked. Nyssa had to have someone come over to her security, since she couldn't go through their machine. Didn't slow things down, though, they were pretty quick. Got to pre-board, though we were also pretty much the last people off the planes, too. Plane left on time. Stopover in Chicago, where they drove us from gate to gate in a cart. Passed on buying breakfast at the airport because we were waiting to buy food on the plane. Yes, you read that right, we wanted airplane food. United has great snack boxes and we look forward to them. $8.50 will get you olives, almonds, chocolate covered fruit, pita chips, 2 kinds of crackers, spreadable peppercorn cheese, hummus and bruschetta. This is not a snack, this is enough food for a meal.
Plane was completely full. And we were finally on a plane where they handed out the little boxes from the Cosmopolitan with freeplay, room discounts, free drinks, 2-4-1 buffets. And.... they ran out right before they got to Nyssa! But, didn't matter in the end. The beside said he didn't need his and gave it to me. I took the drink coupons out of both and gave those to him.
Landed in Vegas on time, delightful attendant with a wheelchair did all the pushing, took us to baggage claim and out to the shuttle. I did not know the protocol on tipping in such cases so just asked if she was allowed to take tips. She said yes so I gave her $5 for her trouble. She was just so pleasant that it made getting everything squared away so easy.
Arrived at Main Street Station in no time. Interesting side note: The front seats of the shuttle were occupied when we boarded, each by a single person in the double seat. They watched Nyssa struggle up the stairs on crutches and neither of them offered her their seat. I guess if there isn't clearly marked priority seating like on public transit then people will make the disabled walk past the front of the bus. Anyway, arrived at the hotel, checked in. First night already paid, so just one night left to pay for. Did that in cash and the security deposit as well. Mostly because my credit card was pretty much maxed out.
Went over to the Bell Desk before heading up to get a wheelchair for Nyssa. He gave her a choice of chairs, $17.50 a day for the rental. Easier than trying to get around on crutches for the duration. Almost forgot that our room rate came with $10/day food/beverage credit, and they forgot to give it to me at check in so got that from her. Dropped our stuff in the room, changed clothes, headed downstairs for some gambling.
Fairly early dinner at Market Street at the California. We both went for the chicken fried steak. Good, large portion and came with their salad bar. Couldn't finish it all. We were exhausted, so headed back to the room for a nap. I just couldn't wake up afterwards. Thank goodness for a call from someone from one of the Facebook Vegas groups we belong to. J's call was just what I needed to make me drag my sorry ass off the bed and down to the casino. We chatted for a bit, headed out to Fremont, stopped and waved at the camera in front of the Fremont in case anyone from our group was watching (J posted online to say we were doing it). Went to Walgreens for smokes and snacks. Stopped at the Fremont on our way back to do some gambling and had our first go at the new Willy Wonka machines. Lots of fun if you're getting bonuses, big money sucks if you're not - just like most other slot machines. J. was really nice and I'm glad we'd made plans to meet up.
We finally made our way back to Main Street Station. Nyssa stayed up late gambling but I went up earlier, watched a bit of TV and conked out. Early morning flights make for long days when there's a 3 hour time difference.