Vivas Vegas!

I’m back…booo! I can’t believe the week went by sooo quickly. Vegas was great. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have a mother who will subject my feet to new levels of torture but an aunt that appreciates sleeping in and “resting”!

We got to Vegas and were put into the cab ride from Hell. Not only did he make me check the speedometer and take the shoulder of the road to pass, he overcharged by going to the long way to the Luxor! My mother was M-aaad, she now knows ways to make the cabbies honest, threatening them by calling the T.A. We also took in a time share tour…that is three hours of my life I will never get back. Vasilly, a Russian transplant, who was so kind to give us the “presentation”, was not happy with us because “some people like to take vacations!” He was going to make us read magazines for 2 hours because we weren’t interested but instead threatened that the IRS was going to check into us! What a jerk…the best part was the bus ride back where we were able to talk to everyone else who was just in it for the free tickets!

We did reap two benefits from the “stupid” timeshare presentation—tickets to Tournament of Kings and money for the More Buffet. The Tournament of Kings was something that I had heard about and was cool…something that I had never done before. The idea is based on the Knights of the Round Table. They have dancing maidens, a court jester, jousting, knightly games, and sword fighting. It was dinner and a show; we were served a meal (bun, broccoli, steak fries, soup, and a whole chicken) without silverware!

The next day we walked everywhere, Grace and I actually had to buy new shoes to keep up with Mom! We walked all the way down to the Palazzo! Other places we walked included Fremont Street and in the ghetto/dark streets behind the MGM! The worst part about Vegas is everything looks close, until you start walking! Ugh!

Tiffy was also down in Vegas at the same time we were! She was taking in the scenes for Miss Rodeo America for next year when she will be competing. She managed to drag me out and feed me Jell-O shots at Coyote Ugly and convince me to dance on the bar. Her logic was that I came to Vegas to get drunk and make bad decisions and she was there to help accomplish my goals!

When we visited Fremont Street, we went to one of my favorite Vegas places, Mermaids! We had the nicest servers, one was from Ethiopia! She won the Ethiopian lottery and when you win you get to go to America! She made sure to keep Mom and Grace content with Marquaritas and Vodka Crans. We also played the penny slots for over an hour! Mom did get nervous when we were down two dollars! We ended up breaking even!

After Grace left for back home, we mourned her loss by tanning at Mandalay Bay Beach and touring the Cowboy Christmas Booth Shows. It was fun to meander and see all the expensive clothes, jewelry, tack, furniture that was completely western inspired. We also toured the Shark Reef, where Mom touched a sting ray!

It was great to get out of town and be in the sun for a little bit! The room at THEhotel was amazing and I’m glad that Mom had a conference so we could stay in it. The best part wasn’t where we were at, but it was the company and the laughs. So many of it was the little things…the I-guess-you-had-to-be-there laughs, but those are the best!