Wednesday, August 5
th, I drove to the Cities to take Troy and Krista to the airport. We parked their van at Denise and Scott's as they returned from Vegas on August 11
th.
Friday, August 7
th, Bob and I dropped Alex off with Mom and made our way to Denise and Scott's. They are by far the best shuttle service ever!!!!! Our flight was supposed to have left at 9:40pm. I was a bit nervous leaving at 6 but on the way, I checked to see if the flight was on time. Nope, 15 minutes late, waiting for a flight from Tampa. That calmed my nerves. Shortly after we arrived at Denise's the flight was now 30 minutes delayed. So, soon we were off to the airport. Since we were only using carry-on bags and I had already printed our boarding passes, we were through security in 5 minutes. Sweet. We walked down to our gate to sit and wait. Soon they made an announcement about the possibility of switching gates but, they would let us know. We never heard anything about switching again. Soon they were boarding and we thought all was good to go. A group of three girls ahead of us decided to sit in a different row than where they were supposed to. When the passengers assigned to those seats got there, the flight attendants did their best to rectify the situation. I even heard one of the girls asking why she was getting all the attitude. Dear Lord! Just sit where you are supposed to!! All the while, back 16 rows by us, was a lady who I describe as an older
Rizzo from Grease, having over-heating dramatics. "oh, it's so hot. Can I get some water? Why is there no air on?" And, on and on and on. The head flight attendant had already explained the air couldn't go on until the main engines were turned on. But, she just kept on talking about the heat and the poor one baby on the plane crying. Which lasted about 3 minutes. Bob and I chucked yet again at how cranky people were. You're on your way to Vegas, Chill! Finally, the plane took off. I had turned my phone off like a good girl and couldn't even tell you how long we sat there waiting for everyone to board and sit. The joys of not wearing a watch. Shortly after we took off, the
captain came on and explained that because of storms we would have to fly over to Fargo and then south towards, Vegas. We flew over some amazing storms. I have the most awesome video of the plane flying above the storms.We ended up landing about an hour later than scheduled. Which put us in Vegas at Midnight, 2am WI time. It was wonderful to not have to wait for luggage. We grabbed a taxi to Paris
Las Vegas. Bob was now also
texting Troy to let him know we had landed. When we arrived at check-in, there was another angry mob waiting for the 1 hotel employee. Apparently, they had been waiting for quite some time. Suddenly, 3 more employees appeared and there was some cutting in line...... Bob and I thought a fight was going to break out. It was crazy. We again chuckle but, not loud as we didn't want to be involved if a fight broke out. Yikes. When it was our turn, we walked up to this very nice lady who we joked with and even offered her a beer. She asked why more people couldn't be like us and upgraded our free room for free. Good way to start the trip. Troy and Krista were now in the lobby and holding our bags. We all walked up to our room on the 27
th floor. I think one of the best parts of each trip is waiting to see the room and the potential for a great view. We also found out Troy and Krista were on the 27
th floor at the Flamingo.
Hmm, 27 the new lucky number? The room was amazing. It was one of the newly renovated Red Rooms. It was now after 3 am EC time and I have been up since 6am with a 45 minute nap on the plane. So, we went out to find something to eat. Troy and Krista had just been at a show and Bob needed a drink. 190 Octane is their favorite. I prefer the
Pina Coladas at the bar we went to. So, we ventured to the Burger Palace
Jen and Krista at the Burger Palace in front of Imperial Palace. The food was
ok. A little high priced but, it's Vegas and that's what we expect now if we're not eating a buffet. From there, we walked a little and I think played a little at.... I couldn't even tell you. I was so tired now that it's all a blur. And, that one drink wasn't that potent so that wasn't it.
Saturday morning came
waaaayyyy too early. I think I slept about 4 hours. Not sure. Later morning, we met up with Troy and Krista and headed down to the Wynn. We had only been there briefly to see
Spamalot previously. Our goal was to win buffets there and
pig out!! While the boys played, Krista and I went to look around. We ventured towards the shops and almost passed out while looking at the pricey clothes. Even the Hotel specific gift shops were insane. I will never pay $90 for flip-flops. At that price they better walk around for me. We did witness a lady walk in and ask to purchase 8 gift cards, each for $150. We both gasped at the same time on different sides of the store. It took us quite awhile to get the free buffets but, we did and boy oh boy was it amazing.
My first plate of food.
OMG, so amazing!
Yes, there were other plates but, I was too hungry to take photos of them. We didn't end up eating until 3pm Vegas time. And we hadn't had anything to eat before this.
After lunch, we wandered down to the Encore, it's apparently a hotel/casino that caters to a more alternative lifestyle. While walking around, we found a sign that said no strollers allowed. Interesting. I kind of liked it as I am a firm believer kids should not be in Vegas.
Krista and I had decided we were going to go see
Bally's Jubilee Saturday night. We had picked up tickets and met up with the boys and made our way down to Hooters. They had a free play offer that was interesting and we hadn't seen the casino since the change over from San
Remo. The free play was crap. Oh well, it was free and it did waste some of the time we could have been playing our own money. I enjoyed the hotel gift shop greatly here. They had anything Hooters you could ever imagine. I was going to get Amy a new shirt but, then I remembered she already had the uniform. Silly me.
Bobber with the Hooter's car.
Krista and I went to the 10:30 show that night. It was very good. Great costumes and set changes. We even made new friends who were from Texas. They host scrapbook weekends. Krista and I thought they may be more comfortable down at Encore. wink wink. Fortunately, they stopped talking when the show started. By now, I was so tired, I actually fell asleep for a couple minutes during the performance. It was then I decided I needed to call it an early night. And by early, I mean it was still 2:30 or 3 here in WI. I slept really well. Our bed was perfect. I would have liked to take it home with me.
The Eiffel Tower from our pool. Sunday morning, we opted to go to the pool even though it wasn't overly warm out. We figured, we're from Wisconsin and we can handle this. And, handle it we did, for about 5 minutes.
Brrrr......
The plan for today was, Denise and Scott were to arrive around 9:20am. Which will cause me to back up. The only reason we were able to go to the pool was their plane was delayed. Something about a part having fallen off and they wouldn't be able to take off until
noonish. Since they were to pick up the rental car, we were able to venture to other areas and the pool was one of those areas. The other place we went was the Orleans. A slightly older, cheaper version of the Rio. It was a fun environment and none of us had ever been there. We also ate at the
FuddRuckers there. Oh for yummy.
Another view from the pool area.
We arrived back at Paris just before Denise and Scott were set to be there. With the rental car, we were heading to Hoover Dam. Dam. The ride to the Dam was hilarious. If only I could remember more of it. I do have a picture of a broken
dvd/
vcr on the side of the road.
lol
Krista, Denise and I on our way to the Dam. Part of the new bridge is behind us.
We went way down there. I had a slight panic attack. I didn't like the tunnels we had to walk through. Freaky. Plus there was an area that had these ginormous pipes underneath us with 80, 000 gallons of water rushing through it every minute.
Bob, me, Krista, Troy, Scott and Denise in front of the Dam after the tour.
The new bypass is under construction and looks to be quite a site. The cables will be removed upon completion. I don't think you'll get me on it!!!! Next we walked all the way across the dam and into Arizona.
I am in Nevada and Bob is in Arizona. I'm not a big fan of these long distance relationships!!!
lolAfter we shopped for a while, we made our way Downtown. Denise, Scott, Bob and I were staying at
Binion's while Troy and Krista were staying at Fremont. We checked into our rooms and met to have dinner. We chose the Fremont buffet because of the great coupons I had.
Our room at
Binion's. #1701
The view from our room
We watched a couple of
FSE shows and the next time I found Bob, he was terribly crabby and
having the worst luck. So, I took him to go find somethings at the
Walgreens and a different casino that maybe would work better for him. After all, we were in the
vicinity of more than one. He makes me laugh sometimes. Well, fortunately, our luck changed.
One of my new favorite machines.
Bobber's machine hit something nice next to me at the same time. When does that ever happen?!?!
The pool at
Binion's. It really had some nice views of downtown, the mountains and the strip. We would
definately stay there again.
Bobber's relaxed because we have our favorite shuttle driver with us.
Back to Paris. I hadn't gotten any pictures last time before we messed it up. Denise and Scott brought us back to the Bally's area and then took the car back downtown. We inturn, took their luggage to our room until they could check in. We joked about them needed to have a 27th floor room. After all, our flight was delayed, their flight was delayed and Troy and Krista's flight was on time but they were delayed waiting for the baggage carousel about an hour and the rest of us were on the 27th floor of our individual hotels. But, more on that later.
While we waited, we went over to Planet Hollywood. While the boys played (sound familiar), Krista and I went in search of a La Salsa. La Salsa is my most favorite Margarita in all the land. And, it had been quite some time since I had had one so, I bought a big yard! Dam, it was good. Oh wait, we're done with the Dam for now. After drinking and playing for some time, we met up with Scott, who was picking up tickets for Peepshow for that night. We went back with him to Bellagio with him to check out their room. Apparently, Denise had scored a sweet Suite by asking if there were any complimentary upgrades available. I've taught her well. We met her by the candy factory and we went to their room on, you guessed it, the 27th floor. That is now my new lucky number. Their upgraded floor had key only access.
The bed isn't made because housekeeping was just in for the turn-down service. They had lit incense, closed the drapes, and turned on "light jazz". It was a pretty cool room. They had robes and slippers to use, remote keypads for the curtains and lights, a mini-bar (don't touch), and the most unbelieveable bathroom ever. I couldn't count the number of toiletries in there. It had a seperate shower and jetted tub and phone. Just incase, I guess. Crazy. I would love to stay there sometime. But, I would probably end up with a regular suite and it wouldn't be as nice so, I will wait awhile.
Next, we checked out the pool and wandered around the Conservatory. We even played for a while and had pretty decent luck. Who knew!? Troy and Krista were leaving shortly to head to the airport. Their return flight was scheduled for 12:55am Vegas time. Since Denise and Scott were going to their show, Bob and I walked down to NYNY. We paused momentarily to decide if we were going to go into the Monte Carlo and then kept on walking.
One of my favorite pictures from this trip.
The only exciting thing that happened by NYNY was that I took close to 10 pictures for other people on this balcony. Apparently, I looked trustworthy. Or maybe they thought I knew how to use a camera based on mine.
On our last full night in Vegas, we ended up playing for a long, long time at the Imperial Palace. Above is another one of my favorite new machines. 30 cents to play 60 lines. And, great bonuses. By now, also, it is Bobber's birthday!! Happy Birthday to Bobber!!!!
Tuesday, we made our way back down to the Wynn. Denise and Scott met us and we ate the buffet again. Yes, it was that good. No pictures this time though.
Denise and Scott, chillin'!
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:55 am, Wednesday morning. So, we spent the day playing around at the Wynn, Strat, Treasure Island, Mirage, Harrah's and Paris. It was only the second time we had played at Paris on this trip. I had also placed sports bets at Bills. I'll let you know if my long shots payoff!
The return flight was awful. The gentleman sitting next to me was talking to his business partner periodically and when he wasn't, there was a japanese couple who met by the back bathroom and talked non-stop. Arrg! I think I forgot to mention our flight was arriving in Minneapolis at 6am. My hope was to sleep on the flight and be ok to pick up Alex when we arrived back home. No such luck. I think I slept about an hour. Bobber was able to sleep more, which was good because then I could sleep while he drove home. We also slept after we got home.
All in all, it was a good trip. We got to spend time with some great friends in one of our favorite places. What more could one ask for.
I wonder what the next trip will have in store..... Stay tuned!!!
