Vegas Baby!

Well, I survived Trip 1 to Vegas. There was a bumpy start to arrival and a bumpy end but the middle was greatness! After picking up the rental car, parking at the hotel, checking in and walking half way around the world to the elevators to our tower - we open the door to our room to discover it had not been cleaned since the last occupant. I'm not saying I'm the neatest hotel guest but these folks were pigs. Thirty minutes later a 100 yr old bellhop brings the key to our new "strip view" room one floor below. By the time we'd dropped the luggage and hit the casino floor - it was 12:30 CT. There was a big part of my brain screaming "go to bed stupid" but the part that won tore me straight down to the casino where C&G were waiting for us. 2 hours of Pai Gow later and I was up a whopping $21. Dh was up $410 at roulette so we called it a successful night and went to bed.

The next morning, he went golfing and I caught up on some much needed sleep. I woke up at 8a when he left and called home to check on the kids and then went back to sleep thinking I'd sleep another hour or so. I woke up at 12:11pm!!! Guess I needed that. A few hours of blackjack, one 10 minute stress massage at the BJ table, and one bubblebath in the room later and it was time to C&G and all the rest of the gang at Ellis Island for some delicious barbecue. (For those of you that have known me a long time, you'll know what I gave C for his 40th bday when I say - I regifted the item he gave my father for his 50th bday. It's something we've used as a hat when playing certain drinking games that require head wear. ) After dinner, we all went downtown to gamble some more. I didn't have much luck at any of the tables (especially not 3 card poker - not sure why I ever play that game since I've never won a thing at it). By midnight, we were beat and headed back to Flamingo.

Saturday, Dh and I had a nice breakfast in the hotel and went out shopping on the strip. We hit a few of the shopping centers inside the casinos and picked up a few souvenirs (including something from the Coca Cola shop for dear Ms. T's new kitchen and some blue M&M stuff for my favorite son). We had a great time but by the time we made it back to our hotel - I thought my feet were going to give out. C&G were waiting for us at the casino next door so we spent the afternoon gambling with them at Bill's. Then they went with us to Margaritaville for dinner. After dinner, they headed back downtown and we were planning to follow but while Dh went to the room - I found Crazy 4 Poker! $300 in the positive later, we decided it was too late for downtown and after all that walking in the morning - we were ready to call it a night.

Sunday morning, we headed over to Caesars Palace to shop. That is the one full of all the designer stores - Gucci, Coach, Versace, Prada.........I felt like I was in Confessions of a Shopaholic!! I did not buy a single thing but had a great time window shopping. Pete Rose was signing autographs in the sports store so we had him autograph a baseball, had our pic taken w/ him and shook his hand. Nice guy. Figure the ball is an investment! On our way back out of the shopping area, we came across the Pussycat Dolls Casino in front of Club Pure (which is where the Dolls perform their burlesque routine each night). The dealers at these tables were all Dolls and dressed for the show. The music was pumping, I was singing along and I managed to break even after 3 hours of blackjack with Dolls Jennifer and Karen. Think Dh lost money but he really didn't seem to mind much - wonder why? We left there just in time to get ready to head to Bally's to see "Jubilee". We were seated just under the stage - I mean my knees were up against the stage and I had to look up to see the dancers. Needless to say, there were things way too close for comfort from my vantage point (and I do not mean the topless dancers - I mean the thong clad men in the show - I'm just too old to have those stuffed packages that close to my face). It was a beautiful production and I'm really glad we went. Right before the show started, I started feeling bad and by the time it was over I'm pretty sure I had a fever. So afterwards, we went back to the room so I could take some Tylenol and Benedryl in hopes of kicking this in time to enjoy my last night in Vegas. I managed to feel good enough by 10:30 to head back down to the casino by myself for a few hours. Bad idea. Never gamble when you feel lousy - I lost everything I'd won (which wasn't much). I went to bed feeling even worse.

Monday, we had to pack up, load the car and leave Las Vegas. As we turn in the rental the lady points out some damage to the back bumper. I'm pretty sure nothing was there when we rented the car as it was so new it didn't even have plates yet. So with heavy heart, Dh and I walked to desk to put in the claim - the whole while thinking we would have to pay for the damage or file a claim on our insurance. NOPE! We were so tired when we got the car that we agreed to some sort of insurance (which my father has always told me never to buy) so the damage was waived and we were on our way with just enough time to grab some Burger King and run to the gate as the plane was boarding.

As I was eating my BK, I realized I had not eaten anything in 25 hours. Yep, I went 25 hours w/o food and never even felt hungry. I think the sickness was the reason. We ate lunch on Sunday at Cheesecake Factory but I didn't even eat half of my lunch pasta so the fact that I wasn't starving for dinner or breakfast the next day is pretty odd for me. Maybe that Slim stuff I'm taking is really working?? Maybe it was the drainage? Who knows but I do know this morning my stomach was growling on my way to work before breakfast. Maybe I should move to Vegas where I'd eat less????

Heading home now to take some more sinus meds and hope my head doesn't explode on the commute. Here's hoping there are no illnesses on Trip 2 to Vegas in April. And here's hoping my feet stop hurting by then!!!