Random thoughts on Las Vegas...

Well, back from a fantastic time in Vegas.  I had a great time despite the fact that I felt like my heart was breaking for the first 2 days from leaving behind Paige and Rose.  We dropped them off at 5:30 on Thursday the 26th and proceeded in a taxi to the airport.  We had our massive suitcase and only a purse and a small side bag as our carry on (we decided to just leave our huge camera at home and take photos with my iPhone).  We had our Nexus passes as well, so it felt very very odd to really have no one or anything to worry about as we were in the aiport.  We simply walked pass customs, breezed through security, and headed straight to the plaza premium lounge for free dinner and drinks (alcoholic as well if one so desired--I was too worked up and tired to even think about this).  Our flight was delayed, which was annoying as it took off later than 9:00--and it was a 5 hour flight.  It was a very very turbulent flight and the plane was making these messed up noises.  Not really that fun.  I also knew we were flying over the Colorado mountains in the pitch black which really doesn't put your mind at ease.  But, I knew when we were reaching Las Vegas.  After the longest time of nothing but black out the window, I could see the brightest beams of light.  Las Vegas is much more in the middle of no where than I thought.  And the airport is much closer to the Vegas strip than I thought. The taxi ride to the hotel was no more than 10 minutes away. 

Anyway, here are some random thoughts on Las Vegas.

1. Plane. There will be lots of bachelor parties on the plane ride down there.  Think women in their mid to late twenties touching up their hair and makeup before touchdown.  Two guys in sailor costumes.  Lots of photos being taken that you hope you aren't in, and lot of excitement..."cheers girls!, yay!!" clinking plastic wine cups over the seats.  Lots of gossip and definitely no sleep. 

2. Check in. When you arrive at your hotel at 12:00am local time (3:00am Toronto time), and you are desperately in need of a room and a good nights sleep, there will be loud pumping club music coming from all directions.  And people.  Tons of people in short skirts and extemely high heels.

3. Prices.  You'll get a taste of Las Vegas prices when you open a bag of chips in desperation in the room before going to bed and it's $8.  Also there is a $25 lollipop in the room.

4. Food.  In the morning you'll inevitably hit the expensive, yet tasty, buffet.  The following morning you'll try to go to the coffee shop to save money, which is futile as everything in Vegas is the same price.  You'll have less food at the coffee shop, yet the coffee is $4 each and the orange juice is $5.  The muffins are also $4, and the yogurt is $6.  Now you have eaten less and spent exactly the same price as the buffet. 
(After the trip we tried to figure out where we could have saved money and we figured maybe we could have saved $50 total by trying to scrimp and save).

5. Pool.  Don't bother trying to go to the pool after 10:00am.  You will not get a chair.  People line up at 8:45 to chuck a towel on a chair and leave.  We showed up at 11:00am the first day and were shocked and appalled to see that there was not a single chair free.  We are used to the freedom of Orlando.  After this, we just followed suit and put a couple of towels on the chairs.  They will clear unused chairs after a while which is why i would always leave a few personal items behind...a bag, a bottle of sunscreen, etc. to make it look like you are swimming.

6. Shows--Amazing.  Everything's bigger in Vegas.  "Phantom of the Opera--the Las Vegas Spectacle" was in a specially designed $40 million dollar theatre with a 4 million dollar chandelier. It is a shortened show for your Las Vegas attention span.  Also Ka, which is a cirque de Soleil show has the most amazing stage you will ever see.

7.  The strip: Again--everything's bigger in Vegas.  You will be in a sea of people, many of them drunk or drinking gigantic frozen beverages.  Even as you're shopping in the mall people will be wandering around drinking.  Kind of reminded me of what you could do on a cruise ship, except with younger less classy people. After touring a few hotels you will realize they are basically all the same.  Giant casino and restaurants.  Tons of smoke.  Lots of clubs and bars.  When we go back next time I would like to try a different hotel.  Mirage is the same as the rest of them I assume, so it may be nice to check out a new view. 

8. The Casinos.  You might as well throw your money in the garbage.  I am used to winning at slot machines.  Not winning big, but at least $0.25 here and there. We played a few slot machines over the course of our vacation, really just anything that caught our eye.  We played a fish one and a bird one that we thought Paige would like, and we played a Sex and the City one for Jen.  And we won literally nothing.  We were also unlucky on Blackjack and lost over a hundred dollars.  Slightly more lucky on roulette-- put in 40, were down to nothing, and then went up to $45 for a profit of $5. wow.

So, I survived in Vegas and 4 days away from the girls.  I say I because a)Mike has been to Vegas before, and b) he is used to going away and not to mention leaves daily for work.   I realized that the first couple days were really hard.  I was used to my schedule with the girls and felt very out of my element.  By day 3 however, I was very relaxed and enjoying every minute of no schedules, not cooking or cleaning, eating whenever and wherever we wanted, going to the pool bar, actually reading or closing my eyes on a beach chair.  Pretty sweet.  The first couple days there I wasn't sure I would ever go back there, but by the end I was into the routine and decided I'd like to go back in a few years or so.  I could definitely see more shows and live a little. 

Here's a clip of one of my favourite moments...the Bellagio fountains.  A must see, and definitely in the dark.  the video does not do it justice of course, and does not show the perspective of how high the fountains actually were.

When we got to the airport in Vegas we checked our bags in no more than 1 minute and had a nice 2 hour wait until the plane finally took off.  Sitting in the airport waiting area this is the view:

Notice how Mandalay Bay and the Luxor are literally parallel to the runway?  So weird.  Taking off was so cool to see only dessert anf mountains.  More wonky concerning plane noises.  But the flight was pretty uneventful with leisurely reading and a movie.

When we arrived in Toronto, we bypassed the massive customs line and then Yay! stood waiting for our bags forever.  Grandma and Grandpa were waiting for us with the girls after we had our suitcase.  They were so excited! (The girls were, I mean.  Maybe Grandma and Grandpa were thinking "thank God they're home", I don't know).