Third Time's a Charm PTR - May 2012 - I should give up on planning trips.

[PrincessInOz]

 

[mvf-m11c]

Glad I found your PTR and I will follow along until you get to your TR.

 

[franandaj]

I'd been kind of "stalling" this one a bit so that Arline could get fully onboard with the DIS, now that she's seen some dining reports where we'll we eating she's pretty stoked. Now I have to find some TR's for her with attractions that we can see so that she can get excited about all the fun things we can do!

Glad I found your PTR and I will follow along until you get to your TR.

Thanks for subbing along! I might point Arline along to your WDW TR because you have such great photos she will enjoy seeing it through your eyes. You have such a great attention to detail that I overlook, I love reading your posts!

Just FYI when it comes down to it, I will be doing a separate TR on the DVC - Mousecellaous board because since our trip includes DVC lodgings I get more followers posting the trip there, but I will post a link here to find it once I start the TR which will be about a week before the trip just to give everyone enough time to get on board.

 

[Pinkocto]

Just wanted to wish you safe travels and I hope you have a magnificent trip! Happy Holidays!

 

[rentayenta]

Just FYI when it comes down to it, I will be doing a separate TR on the DVC - Mousecellaous board because since our trip includes DVC lodgings I get more followers posting the trip there, but I will post a link here to find it once I start the TR which will be about a week before the trip just to give everyone enough time to get on board.

So much easier to follow a tr in the DVC section. Safe travels and Merry Christmas.

 

[franandaj]

OK, so our attempt to leave yesterday failed, but I can officially say we're on our way to Vegas! We've reached the High Desert and have 200 miles to go. We'll get there just after sundown.

We'll take things nice and easy. Tonight we will go to the Mexican restaurant in our hotel.

Here's the plans:

Thursday

Blackjack
Relax
Dinner at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse

Friday

Blackjack
Touring
Relax
Dinner at Andre's at the Monte Carlo

Saturday

Blackjack
Buffet
Who knows!

Sunday

Blackjack
Dinner at Todd English's P.U.B.

Monday

Blackjack
??????

Tuesday

Blackjack
Drive home

Among the things we'd like to do but not scheduled are dine at the Hofbrau House, visit the Fremont St. Experience, drive through Red Rock Canyon, visit some other casinos, and do some after Christmas shopping.

175 miles until we are there!

 

[franandaj]

Just wanted to wish you safe travels and I hope you have a magnificent trip! Happy Holidays!

So much easier to follow a tr in the DVC section. Safe travels and Merry Christmas.

Thank You!

 

[rentayenta]

OK, so our attempt to leave yesterday failed, but I can officially say we're on our way to Vegas! We've reached the High Desert and have 200 miles to go. We'll get there just after sundown.

We'll take things nice and easy. Tonight we will go to the Mexican restaurant in our hotel.

Here's the plans:

Thursday

Blackjack
Relax
Dinner at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse

Friday

Blackjack
Touring
Relax
Dinner at Andre's at the Monte Carlo

Saturday

Blackjack
Buffet
Who knows!

Sunday

Blackjack
Dinner at Todd English's P.U.B.

Monday

Blackjack
??????

Tuesday

Blackjack
Drive home

Among the things we'd like to do but not scheduled are dine at the Hofbrau House, visit the Fremont St. Experience, drive through Red Rock Canyon, visit some other casinos, and do some after Christmas shopping.

175 miles until we are there!

Love the Blackjack everyday. Ours would say Craps. Your dining plans sound great- can't wait for some Vegas food porn.

 

[franandaj]

So as you know we didn’t get out of town as we would have liked Tuesday, but we were on the road somewhere around noon on Wednesday. When we first left home, the GPS said we would arrive around 4:45, but that was without potty stops, etc. We never really hit any BAD traffic, just a few snags that were quickly remedied. Here are some shots along the drive.

Here we are packed into the car like sardines! We never expect to see out the back and we own an Expedition. It’s not that we overpack, much, just a little!

I love these hills/mtns they have sister peaks in the pass to Santa Clarita off the 14, but due to tectonic shifts part of them are here at the Cajon pass and the other part are off the 14. You all have seen them in many, many, many film shots, it is an iconic spot. The most memorable for me is the one in the original Star Trek when Captain Kirk is on the planet battling the Lizard captain and takes flint and steel to make a combustible agent, but there have been hundreds of films shot there in “outer space”. The place off the 14 is called Vasquez Rocks, but these rocks were once connected to those rocks, but the magic of our planet has moved them a few 10s of miles away.

This is another view of another rock outcropping from that same fault. It spans a large area.

So having been previously engaged to a geologist, I understand a lot about this area and enjoy the history, but these are just some cool looking rocks.

Much of the desert area is pretty flat.

However, there are some mountains the further out you get, notice the long sloping plain in front of this huge mountain.

I love this sign, it always means to me that we are about halfway there!

So here we are on the way to Baker, notice again the sloping plain that leads up to the pointy mountains.

This is a Joshua Tree, if you haven’t seen them before they are really cool, but only grow at certain elevations and water levels. It needs to be pretty dry for them to grow. I would love to have one in my yard, but it would never survive in our humid climate.

So you notice how I keep saying to notice the sloping plain, well this is called an alluvial plain, it is created because of all the peaks that you see in all the pictures. When the wind and rain come through, they erode the peaks and create the alluvial plans that extend down from all the mountains that you see here as the dust and dirt are eroded away from the tips of the moutains. I find this fascinating as we drive through the desert to look at how the plains develop and how they create the roads through the natural creation.

Here you can see the Stateline, just on the other side of the Nevada Stateline, are Casinos, on the CA side, Desert!

So in the center of our hotel where the check in, gift shop and some of the restaurants are located they have an atrium called Mystic Falls. It is all decked out for the holidays and here are some shots of the area.

We checked in and didn’t get a room with king beds, instead we have two queen beds. I didn’t get any pictures before we invaded the room so if I do post any pictures, they will be “occupied” pictures. Believe me, when we occupy a room, we certainly do!

Here are our pics from dinner. We went to Willy and Jose’s in Sam’s Town Casino. Chips, salsa and bean dip

I got a jumbo margarita

Fran got a dinner salad with Ranch.

I got a two item combination, beef taco and cheese enchilada

Fran got a Cheese quesadilla

Arline got a 1 item combination with a Chile Rellano

As we drove into town, Fran noticed that Debbie Reynolds is playing at the South Point tomorrow and the next night. She was so excited and I have not seen her this excited about anything in a long time. Either of our dinner reservations could easily be rescheuled until Saturday, so tomorrow morning at 10AM we can call the Box office and find out if any tickets are still available, then we will figure out how to switch our dining based on if we can get tickets. I’m good and ready to go to bed! Good night all and lasters!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

That is one enormous margarita!

 

[franandaj]

That is one enormous margarita!

It was big, but it looks bigger in the picture due to the angle, it wasn't THAT big.... well maybe it was....

 

[franandaj]

That is one enormous margarita!

The scary thing is that I look pretty "happy" before I even started!

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! Is that margharita huge or what?!


Glad you got there safely and I love your points about the alluvial plains.
Wish I was there to see Debbie Reynolds with you!

 

[franandaj]

OK, so I post all these pics and all you folks talk about is how big the margarita is!!!!! REALLY!!!!


Thank you PIO for apprceaiting the allvuial plain discussion. I really find that stimulating as I go through the desert looking at the terrain hour after hour. It can be trying but to know the formation information, makes me really appreciate the terrain and the geology classes that I took in college.

 

[Pinkocto]

I loved the picture by picture road trip, very nice. I thoroughly enjoyed the rock formations and thank you for including that trivia about Star Trek. I was instantly able to flash to that scene. That Joshua Tree is too beautiful.

How nice that they decorated the trees, even in Vegas the Christmas spirit is alive and well. I hope you were able to get the Debbie Reynolds tickets.

But, you must admit, that margarita is enormous! The waiter must have had to carry it with two hands!

I hope your companions woke up in better spirits. I don't want to assume who was grumpy

 

[Leshaface]

Glad you made it there safe, although squished.

Thanks for the pics on the way to NV. Now I know what to expect whenever we get to go. Zzyzx - that's such an interesting exit!

Goo! It looks like the margarita is bigger than your head!

 

[rentayenta]

That margarita is bigger than your head! Yummo! Thanks for the pics. I love Zzyzx Road!

 

[franandaj]

I loved the picture by picture road trip, very nice. I thoroughly enjoyed the rock formations and thank you for including that trivia about Star Trek. I was instantly able to flash to that scene. That Joshua Tree is too beautiful.

How nice that they decorated the trees, even in Vegas the Christmas spirit is alive and well. I hope you were able to get the Debbie Reynolds tickets.

But, you must admit, that margarita is enormous! The waiter must have had to carry it with two hands!

I hope your companions woke up in better spirits. I don't want to assume who was grumpy

Fran was the grumpy one, she almost always is. She's napping now while I DIS.

Glad you made it there safe, although squished.

Thanks for the pics on the way to NV. Now I know what to expect whenever we get to go. Zzyzx - that's such an interesting exit!

Goo! It looks like the margarita is bigger than your head!

We listen to audio books on long drives, it helps make the drive go past quicker. I've never actually exited the freeway there, it's in the middle of nowhere, but I've always liked that road name.

That margarita is bigger than your head! Yummo! Thanks for the pics. I love Zzyzx Road!

OK, OK, so the margarita is bigger than my head! But you know what? That one was $11.99 and the little one that Fran got (you can see it in the picture with the Quesadilla) was $6.99. So who got the better deal?

 

[franandaj]

So this morning I woke up around 7:30AM. I figured I was rested enough, did a little lasting and decided to ask Fran when she wanted to get up. She said we would hit the buffet at 9AM, so I showered, got dressed and we were all ready to go. First we stopped and got our slot club cards. Fran went by the Kiosk to pick up her *Free* offers, a $5 free bet, and $10 in dining credit.

BTW because of our last trip here in January, the first two nights of our stay, the rooms are also comped! We went to the buffet and our total for the three of us was $6.99.

Here are some pictures from the buffet.

They were carving Ham if you cared for it.

They had corned beeef hash, scrambled eggs, potatoes, these little premade omelets (Arline said it was gross)

Bacon and Sausage

Hot cereals

Yogurt and fruit

There was more stuff here, but somehow my camera got put on “take 5 copies of each picture” setting. I could tell it was acting funny because it was taking so long to take the pictures.

I sat down and here is a picture of my plate.

I guess I didn’t’ get a pic of the waffles and pancakes section. They also had cold cereal and an omelet made to order section. There was a whole nother area with pastries, muffins bagels and all kinds of stuff. I had an orange juice and I sucked it right down, it was sooooo good. Then I had another, then I had another, and then I started to regret it.

I didn’t lose my breakfast, but I felt queasy for a little while. We decided to go play some blackjack. Arline has never played so we told the dealers and they were all very nice, helpful and understanding. We went through three different dealers, the whole time I was drinking waters, until the end I got some wine, Arline had a water and some iced tea. Fran had a couple sodas. There was one point where all three of us got blackjack on the same hand. I wanted to whip out my camera, but no photos allowed in the casino! I reckon that we paid about $13 per drink!

At that point we came back up to the room, Fran has been sleeping, I have been working on the TR. We did get the tickets to Debbie Reynolds for tomorrow night, so I shifted our dinner reservation to Christmas Eve. Arline and I are going to Walmart to see if they have a jacket for her and also get some OTC meds we forgot to bring.

Then it’s on to Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse for dinner tonight!

 

[Hawleys]

Popping in to say "hi"!

Loving your trip report, as usual. I don't know how you find the time to post while you are on vacation. Heck, I can't even find the time to post after vacation.

Ok, don't hate (and don't tell Fran), but I had to look up Debbie Reynolds on wikipedia. Have a wonderful time at her concert! And I'm so glad that Fran is feeling well enough to travel.