Viva Las Vegas - A Vegas Mini-Trip Report - And Yet Another...

[swwake]

So we were in Sin City last week and a few have asked how the trip went. I decided to create a Mini-TR to share the details and the fun.

Please bear with me, as this might take a few days to pull together. Also, remember, it's Vegas, so some details may be a bit fuzzy.

I will try to get my sister to help fill in some of the details. She also has additional pictures.

Dates: Thursday, June 19-Sunday, June22
Cast: Joann (birthday girl, AKA Jo), Wes (her DH), Dad (AKA Joe), Sierra (Step-mom), Chris (AKA Dude, my DH), Me (Susan, Jo's sister)

So if you're ready, we're off!

If you make it through this trip report, there's a little surprise at the end - ANOTHER Vegas mini-trip report! That's right, we returned in September and have many more tales to tell. Read on!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay! I am here for the mini TR of your "fuzzy" details on the Vegas trip!

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

I love LV! It's been a while since I've been there. I'm in!

 

[brewzoo5]

I will let you live virtual vegas.
Here we go.
We feel like a rock stars- well.... I feel more like a maybe a 40 year old B list star....

Thursday Report

8:00 am - We flew from Nashville to Vegas and limo man "Johnny" met us at the airport. He wouln't let us touch our bags. He brought us to the VIP entrance of the casino.
There we met with our personal hostess (Lisa) who wears white gloves and carries a tray and follows us around the casino. We got to the suite and Dad had a cart full of chocolates, candies, cheese, shrimp, and wine tray sent for us to the room. Johnny (limo man) took us to the helicopter landing and we we met our pilot - Tony Ferrari who flew us in a helicopter over vegas, over the hoover dam, through the grand canyon and landed at the bottom. We had a champagne picnic lunch in the bottom of the grand canyon. Can you believe it? It was 118 degrees in the shade!!! HOT!!!!! Then we flew back over the valley of fire, a volcano, and back over the vegas strip. I saw Tiger Woods house from up there (somewhere). I got to sit in the front with the Tony. What? Are you kidding ME?
Then Johnny (limo dude) took us back to the casino and we saw Lisa (the hostess with the white gloves and tray - I'm not sure if she is OCD or does magic or if she just likes to wear the white gloves- lol.
We toured the pools and discussed ordering a cabana for Friday at the Venus topless pool. Then we gambled a bit - nothing much to report there, ate a bite of dinner at a cafe and booked it outside to watch the fountains at the Bellagio.
This trip wasn't 24 hours in- and it is insane with fun!!!!
The Friday plans were to hang out in our cabana at the Venus pool, shop a bit, Wes and Dad are playing golf at Cascota. We have reservations at Bobby Fley's Mesa Restaurant for Dinner, then we Go to Cirque LOVE show !!!

I will post more about all that in a bit.

 

[stagemomx3]

So did you rent the cabana?

 

[swwake]

Jo, you are obviously inexperienced at this TR-writing thing.

1 - You are going way too fast, leaving out fun things along the way.
2 - Each step of the report should be a separate post. And leave some time in between for the audience to read and comment.
3 - End each segment with a cliffhanger.
4 - You started halfway into the trip. What about the drive to Nash the night before? The hurried phone calls to everyone and their dog trying to find me at Iguana in Austin? The last-minute decision to go on a heli tour?
5 - You have no pictures! Must always have pictures.

Now, slow down! Or the TR will be over by midnight tonight!

 

[swwake]

So here's the REAL beginning. Dad wanted Jo and Wes to fly out of Nashville on the same flights with him and Sierra. Well, Nashvegas is 3 hours from where Jo lives in Memphis. So Dad suggested that Jo and Wes stay with him Wednesday night.

They would all then leave at 4am on Thursday to catch the 8:30am flight from Nashvegas to Las Vegas. Well, problem here. You see, Jo and Wes aren't big fans of early mornings. They would much prefer to stay in Nashville and be where they needed to be in the am.

So, fortunately, Jo's good friend just moved to Nashville and everyone was already missing each other, so Jo volunteered for Wes and herself to stay with the friend.

Wednesday night:
In Austin - Susan and Chris pack a little, then visit Katie at the restaurant where she hostesses, right on the lake, for a little dinner.

In Jackson, TN - Jo and Wes arrive ad Dad's house where Sierra has cooked them dinner.

In Austin - 7:00pm - Katie runs to our table saying "Aunt Jo is calling me. Why would she be calling me? I can't use my phone at work, so will you please call her back?" At this point, I figured it must have something to do with Jo wanting to know which of Haley's pics are controversial and needed to be removed from myspace. (That's another whole story for another whole mini-TR.)

So I call Jo and we have a very strange conversation. She says...

(Sorry, I have to go to a reception...will finish this one a little later - how's THAT for a cliffhanger?)

 

[irene_dsc]

Jo, you are obviously inexperienced at this TR-writing thing.

1 - You are going way too fast, leaving out fun things along the way.
2 - Each step of the report should be a separate post. And leave some time in between for the audience to read and comment.
3 - End each segment with a cliffhanger.
4 - You started halfway into the trip. What about the drive to Nash the night before? The hurried phone calls to everyone and their dog trying to find me at Iguana in Austin? The last-minute decision to go on a heli tour?
5 - You have no pictures! Must always have pictures.

Now, slow down! Or the TR will be over by midnight tonight!

Bwahaha - good thing you guys like each other!

(But, yeah, I was like, wait a second... this is going awfully quickly! I need details!)

 

[brewzoo5]

well, ok then....

i will slow down. I just didn't want to bore anyone...

I don't even remember what I said to susan when i called her..... I guess I will have to wait for her post to see

Jo

 

[stagemomx3]

At this point, I figured it must have something to do with Jo wanting to know which of Haley's pics are controversial and needed to be removed from myspace. (That's another whole story for another whole mini-TR.)

You can't post that and then not tell us the story!

 

[tinatark]

Did I miss it when you said where you were staying?

 

[swwake]

Yeay! I am here for the mini TR of your "fuzzy" details on the Vegas trip!

So glad to have you along.

I love LV! It's been a while since I've been there. I'm in!

You will love this. How long has it been?

So did you rent the cabana?

Well, Missy, you will have to wait and see, now, won't ya? (I love suspense!)

Bwahaha - good thing you guys like each other!

(But, yeah, I was like, wait a second... this is going awfully quickly! I need details!)

We're sisters. We don't have to like each other. Or is it the other way? We have to like each other?

well, ok then....

i will slow down. I just didn't want to bore anyone...

I don't even remember what I said to susan when i called her..... I guess I will have to wait for her post to see

If people get bored with trip reports, they skip over the boring parts. Most readers want details, details, details.

I guess I left you in suspense too!

You can't post that and then not tell us the story!

Well, I will leave it to Jo to tell the myspace story.

Did I miss it when you said where you were staying?

Depends on which version of the TR you're reading. If you're reading Jo's, she didn't mention it, but that may be because we hadn't made it to OUR hotel room yet.

If you're reading my version, you wouldn't know yet, because I am giving details, going slowly, and keeping you in suspense. I'm evil like that.

 

[swwake]

Wait a minute - back up...

When Katie came to our table to tell us that Jo had tried to call her, I checked my phone and saw that Dad had called and left a message. The message was: "Susie. This is Dad. Call me as SOON as you get this."

I remember saying to Chris at that point "I wonder if we are canceling the Vegas trip? Something must have happened"

So I call Jo and we have a very strange conversation. She says...

"Hey, we're thinking about a helicopter ride. Would you rather do it tomorrow (Thursday) or Sunday morning?" It took me oh.....about....half a second to say NOT Sunday morning. They don't do Vegas like we do. We stay out late. Chances are high that we will rather sleep Sunday am at 6:30 than go on a heli ride. Besides, with a hangover (or still heavily loaded), a heli may just be the LAST place I want to be.

So the call was strange because Dad was on his phone in the same room. He was talking to the reservations agent for the heli service. So the call went sorta like this:

Me: So now we're doing a heli ride?
Jo: Looks like it. Hold on.
(Muffled talk in the background)
Jo: OK, now what?
Me: So now we're doing a heli ride?
Jo: Looks like it.
Me: Are we doing the sunset one? You know that's the one...
Jo: Hold on. What Dad?
(Muffled talk in the background)
Jo: OK, I'm back. What about the sunset cruise?
Me: (Silence - I think she's talking to Dad)
Jo: Susan?
Me: Yeah?
Jo: So what about the heli?
Me: What about it?
Jo: Hold on. Dad - how much more is the sunset ride?
(Muffled talk in the background)
Jo: Yeah, so twice as much.
Me: (Silence)
Jo: Yeah, twice the cost.
Me: (Silence - I still think this is a conversation in Jackson, TN)
Jo: So do you want to go or not?
Me: Pass the queso.
Jo: Susan?!

You get the point.

 

[stagemomx3]

 

[swwake]

So after all that, Dad booked the heli ride before we finished the phone call.

I guess we're going.

The confusion lied here: I had heard about the heli tours and the only one I knew about was an "up-and-down" where they flew you over the strip. I had heard that they were about $85, but for $99 or so, you could do the sunset one where basically you fly over the strip during daylight, then the lights come on as the sun goes down and you get to fly back over the strip with all the lights on.

I didn't know there was this fancy-dancy tour that we took. So once I heard about that, I was fine with not doing the sunset one.

So we hung up. Finished dinner, and went home to finish packing. Jo and Wes headed for Nashville, and I assume Dad went to bed.

We finished our packing and were "too excited to sleep", so we stayed up watching So You Think You Can Dance and waiting for Katie to get home from work.

We had to get up at 5:00am. Dad had to get up at 4:00am, but that isn't much different from normal for him, since he runs a kennel and turn-outs are at 5am. Jo and Wes had to get up about 6:30 I guess, but I have no idea what they did. Maybe she can fill us in.

Tomorrow: Airport adventures

 

[irene_dsc]

We're sisters. We don't have to like each other. Or is it the other way? We have to like each other?

Lol - I tell my kids that I may not always like them, but I'll always love them. So, something along those lines???

 

[swwake]

Lol - I tell my kids that I may not always like them, but I'll always love them. So, something along those lines???

Yeah, I think that's it.

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

You will love this. How long has it been?

Since 2006. My parents on the other hand, LOVE Vegas! They love LV as much as us Disers love Disney! I hope to go back in maybe a year.

That heli tour sounds like fun!

I can't wait for more!

 

[brewzoo5]

So far that sounds like an accurate account of what happened Wednesday night.

We finished our packing and were "too excited to sleep", so we stayed up watching So You Think You Can Dance and waiting for Katie to get home from work.

We had to get up at 5:00am. Dad had to get up at 4:00am, but that isn't much different from normal for him, since he runs a kennel and turn-outs are at 5am. Jo and Wes had to get up about 6:30 I guess, but I have no idea what they did. Maybe she can fill us in.

Oh but there was more going on.
All that chatter that was happening in Jackson that Susan couldn't hear was Dad, Sierra, Wes and I just kinda freaking out about the last minute decision. Wes was in delimmaland because he had already committed to playing golf in the morning with the VP of marketing for Resorts International (who had set Me, Wes, Susan, and Chris up with a suite for the weekend - free - more on that later). He was torn between the golf game with the guy who got us the suite at a NICE golf course or a heli ride through the Grand Canyon. Not to mention, at this point Wes wasn't able to read my dad as to whether he was going to gift the heli ride to us, or if we were going to be paying for it. At 500.00 a person, that was considerable!

So, we left Dad's house and started on the way to Nashville and the more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't pass up the heli ride. So, Wes called the Vegas guy and cancelled the golf game and we called Dad back and asked if we could add Wes to the ride. By this time it's about 9:00pm and the Heli place was closed. So my dad, and I don't know how he did this, called the heli pilot and was told that they could add one more person. BUT, we needed to call in the morning ASAP to get it before someone else does.
How were we going to do that and be on the plane by 8:30? We would be boarding by 6:15 Las Vegas time. Would that be possible? How are going to get Wes on the heli? How can we go and leave Wes out of such an experience? How are we going to have any fun if he can't go, knowing he wants to be there with us?
Now we were all in delimmaland.....

 

[Charleston Princess]

This has been awesome so far -- lots of suspense and you aren't even at the airport yet!!!

Can't wait for more!