My friends decided for mostly selfish reasons (they wanted to borrow my car for the weekend and I really didn't mind) that they would send me off to Las Vegas in appropriate fashion: via Happy Hour. I was feeling pretty good by the time Stefano and Carrie dropped me off at the airport. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed but I managed. I fell asleep for the entire flight to LV, which was nice and definitely a by-product of my Happy Hour fun.
At the LV airport, I met up with my parents and my sister Shelley, who all flew in on a delayed flight from Houston. We got in our rental car and drove south to our hotel, following directions from the GPS which I had programmed. The problem: our hotel was in North LV. Unfortunately, none of realized we were driving south (it was after 1 a.m. NV time and much later in Houston time) and we went way out of our way...my mom was convinced that the GPS was taking us to somewhere in Arizona. Anyways, we turned around and eventually got to our hotel and sleep.
The next day, we met up with my aunt Vanida and my uncle Jerry who live in North LV. Vanida makes the best egg rolls ever (!!) and I finally got the recipe so I can make them myself now (that most excellent story will come later). She spoiled us with yummy egg rolls, exquisite hot sauce and delectable wonton soup. I always enjoy visiting them.
After that, we went to New York, New York to meet up with Monique, who finally had break time from her b-ball team. We walked around for a bit and took some pictures:
Don't we all look so happy! Next up, me, Mo, Shelley and Jerry opted to hop on the roller coaster ride at NY, NY. Crazy fun...very steep incline at the beginning, a loop and a twist. Mo took pics...and even a video but she has yet to send it to me.
Eventually, Mo had to return to her team and we were on our own, free to do what we wanted. There was talk of going to a show, but I wasn't really interested in anything...maybe except David Copperfield (who my family saw after I left). Ultimately, we all decided to go to Fremont Street. I had never been, only seen it in movies, so that sounded cool to me. When we got there, we saw that there was a zipline down Fremont St. Shelley and Jerry decided that it would be a cool thing to do so they went and signed up. My sister handed me her cell phone and I figured out how to do a video. After a false alarm (video-ed the wrong person...oops!), I got a really good one of her zipping by overhead (even got my uncle following after her):
After some complimentary drinks at the casinos, my mom spouts out that she wants to do the zipline and who wants to go with her. I decided almost instantly that it would be totally worth it for me to take one for the team (I'm not a fan of heights) in order to see my mom on a zipline. And so we went and signed up. Upon arrival at the top of the platform, we got harnessed up and connected to the line. The guy was still talking to us when he released my mom's cable. I was surprised that she was on her way so quickly, and then suddenly, so was I! The guy had told us to curl into a ball to clear the platform at the end of the line but when he released my line, my heels caught on the platform at the beginning. It made me nervous so I maintained my form the entire way. However, this made me pick up speed and when I arrived at the end, I had enough momentum to swing my back out over the edge of the platform. Yikes!...even though I was still connected and there were people working the lines on the platform. I told you I am not all that fond of heights. Anyways, my sis got this video of me and my mom (mine was better!):
We also bought some pictures from the zipline people. For copyright purposes, I can't show them here. But I can show you the pics next time you're around...just ask! They are classic - I'm grinning and my mom looks very dubious of the whole experience. All in all, a lot of fun...I approve of the Fremont St Experience. They even have light shows with music every hour.
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| Hi, Jerry! |
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| Smile, Ladies! You're in Vegas! |
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| Oooooh, pretty colors... |
The next day, we went to see my niece play. I had thought I would miss all of the tourney basketball games but I did actually get to see Monique play one game. I always enjoy that... Plus they won! After that, we spent some more time with Mo before I was off to the airport and my next delayed flight (while my family enjoyed the magical entertainment of David Copperfied - sigh!). I firmly believe that all flights into and out of LV are delayed. Stefano was a trooper and picked me up at the airport despite it being midnight.
A quick weekend and not much time in there for gambling, although whenever we had a little downtime, me and my sis would go play the slots. Fun stuff but I didn't win anything. Shelley won a couple of hundred dollars after I left so I decided I'm bad luck. Oh well...
Anyhoo, I'm glad I went to Vegas to visit with my family. It had been way too long since I had last seen most of them. We should do it again soon.
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