Las Vegas Rocks

In every way except one..I put back on 1.5lbs of the weight I had lost. I had expected to put some back on really, but I had been trying pretty hard not to snack, not to drink too much, to keep drinking the water, etc. Imagine how bad it would have been if I hadn't exercised control.

Anyways, of course I cannot share much with you in terms of details, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, however here goes.

Day 1: Wednesday 6th

The day started very early with a flight to Sin City leaving Chicago at 8:10am. A huge storm was expected that day, with snow of up to a foot, expected to seriously disrupt flights. We had prepared for this, AJ's first flight, by packing pretty much everything we thought we might need for a long airport stay.

As it happens, the storm slowed down and our first bit of Vegas luck got us out bang on time. The flight was pretty uneventful, although there was some fun turbulence. AJ was an angel throughout. It turns out that the storm hit the Chicagoland area later that day and was so bad that they had to close the Lincolnshire offices, for only the 2nd time in 25 years!!!!

Steve and I had arranged to play golf that afternoon, so when we arrived in Vegas and piled into our 7 seater Grand caravan, it was straight off to check in, hit our first buffet at Harrah's. We were on the golf course on a beautiful afternoon by 2pm. My first drive sucked, and it only got worse for the whole front 9, finishing in 54. The back 9 was much better coming in with 46 to barely scrape the 100. Still we had beer, played golf in shorts, and chatted with a couple of locals on the last few wholes for tips on good places to go.

We had dinner in the suite that night and Steve and I went off for a gamble around 11, returning in the wee small hours, with Steve several hundred bucks to the good, courtesy of his favourite slot, The Wheel Of Fortune. "Come On Big Money" {applause}

Day 2: Thursday 7th
Star got sick, really bad Bronchitis sick, although we didn't know this until the next day. We did some gambling, and I made a few trips to the airport, collecting the rest of the party from the airport, and settling them in, before heading out for the evening for some drinking, gambling, partying, etc. We had dinner at Chinois, with all but Star (sorry Star), where the food quality was excellent, but the quantity on some of the dishes was a little lacking. Lorraine, AJ and Mike went home, and the rest of us ventured to the next stop.

Since my last trip when Steve and I literally saw them hoisting the new signs on the Hooters Casino, we had been itching to see if it would live up to the hype. Sadly, it did not. It looked just liked any other Hooters establishment, except for a decided lack of Hooters girls! There were a few around, but we had expected them to be on every table dealing, serving drinks, etc, as advertised!

We left soon after arrival and went to my favourite place for "Old Vegas", the Tropicana. Only Steve and I were left at this point, so we spent a goodly amount of time at the Pai Gow table, until they closed it on us at 3am. We were still in party mode, although pretty buzzed, so it all goes a bit fuzzy from then on, until I was literally walking back to the room at around 7am, with the workers out sweeping the streets, cleaning windows, etc. We stopped in the Flamingo for a few more spins on the Wheel Of Fortune, before picking up breakfast and coffee and going home.

Day 3: Friday 8th
On only a few hours sleep we headed out to wander around the strip, shop a little, hang out, enjoy the sun, etc. We took AJ to the Mirage to see the big cats and the dolphins. It's quite cool, cos they have a decent area in which to live when they are not on display in the habitat there. I especially love the white tigers.

We had planned to visit the Fremont Street Experience, where they have tried to make downtown Vegas more attractive by closing in a whole street, and covering the ceiling with computer controlled lights. They run shows on the lights every night, it really is something you should see.

Also downtown there was a cage, essentially a large hamster ball, with some guys riding motor bikes around inside it. At one point they had three guys all riding their bikes inside a cage, looping and twirling in a space that was barely big enough for one of them. Again something you really have to see to believe.

Day 4: Saturday 9th
We had planned to attend two shows this day, the Game Show Spectacular at the Hilton and the Three Redneck Tenors at the Luxor. Star had volunteered to baby sit in the afternoon, and Steve for the evening event. With Star being sick, she was still in bed, and so I looked after AJ for the afternoon, and from what the others told me, it was that "spectacular", despite being almost $60 a ticket.

Steve took over for the evening shift, and I have to say the Redneck Tenors were fabulous. Apparently discovered after an appearance on "America's Got Talent", they are three down home boys with great voices and a flair for comedy. Assisted by their manager, "The Colonel" and the widow of a former member of the trio, they run the gamut of everything from Mr Ed to Pavarotti himself, very funny and very talented.

Lorraine and I went to the Tropicana to play some Pai Gow after the show and lost $160 in short order. Fortunately, Steve and I went out later that night for 3 hours and I won it back on the Craps table, where we were HOT, HOT, HOT!

Day 5: Sunday 10th
Steve had stayed out really late again and rolled in at around 8am, so he spent the day on the chair sleeping. Nancy, Rob and Jason were all leaving, and Star/Mike had planned to move for their last night to a plush hotel, Caesars Palace. Once we were done dropping folks off where they needed to get to, we had the bonus of keeping the car for the rest of the day, so Lorraine, AJ and I headed up to Red Rock Canyon, just 40 minutes outside of Vegas.

We drove around the park area, stopping for pictures and stuff, and did a little walking when we stopped for lunch, but the terrain wasn't really suited to the stroller and not great for hiking with a chest carry baby. It is beautiful up there though. If you ever go to Vegas, you gotta go see it.


Sunday night, we took AJ to see the the fountains at the Bellagio, THE best Vegas hotel attraction IMHO, before heading to the Paris to enjoy a sophisticated french menu at Mon Ami Gabi. Whilst out, we took a call from United, who wanted us to move to a much earlier flight (9:25am) the next day, and were offering us $200 per person to do it, so we agreed.

We headed back to the hotel, where Lorraine went home with AJ to pack and prepare for the morning departure, whilst Steve and I headed to O'Shea's for one last go at the craps tables.


Day 6: Monday 11th
The next day home, the flight was pretty uneventful, and the bonus was getting home at a decent hour, with $400 in flight comps.

I will say this though, I feel my age, but I can't wait to do it again!







PS, I have a lot more pictures to upload, been a little busy recently, but I have some great ones of AJ and loads more from Vegas, so check back in a few days, but I couldn't finish without showing you this one.