Viva Las Vegas!!

Las Vegas - been there - done that - scrapped it!! So that's why I only took a few pics to post - after all, this was a business trip, not a pleasure trip!! But it's always nice to mix a little bit of pleasure into your business, right????

We made the trek to Denver last Sunday afternoon and boarded our Frontier flight to Vegas which arrived about 5:30pm - and as soon as you step off that plane, you know you're in Vegas! Could it be the slot machines at the airport, the weird people you see or the long line at the taxi stand?? Maybe it's the bright lights or the mobs of people - whatever it is, Vegas is in a class all by itself and if you've never experienced it, you need to go there at least once, maybe twice!! Deep down I knew that if we weren't attending a conference there, I would NOT be there!!

Our taxi driver dropped us off at the Excalibur where we were staying and it's interesting that you have to walk through part of the casino to even check in!! It's also quite irritating when you walk in the door and immediately are hounded by the time share people!! I can't tell you how many times we told them "NO" during the next 4 days!

Have you ever thought about how many thousands of rooms there are in Las Vegas??? I would hate to even venture a guess!! Our room was on the 23rd floor, right off the elevator so that was great - and our room was very nice, considering the low price we had paid!! We even had a view out of our "Tower One" room!!

We hurridly unpacked and listen to this: I DID NOT OVERPACK!!! We each wore a pair of jeans and took ONE other pair, along with 3 tops apiece for the next 3 days, a pair of comfty pants apiece and our socks and underwear!! THAT WAS IT!!! I was so proud of myself for just bringing exactly what we needed and it was just fine - I didn't have a meltdown due to NOT having a choice of what to wear - I had no choice but to wear what I packed and I discovered it was not bad at all!!

Glenn had decided we were going to eat at Dick's Sports Bar after looking at the brochures in our room - he said it looked like a fun place and was right on the casino level so we wouldn't have far to go!! We found it and took a seat - I wasn't impressed but decided to give the place a chance anyway!! No menus except what was posted on the WALL in several places and I was totally shocked at the prices!! I must have forgotten for a minute that we were in Vegas!! To make a long story short, we each ordered a pork BBQ sandwich and a drink apiece and the bill was $43.00 - and the entire time this loud, pounding music was playing with a bass beat that was making my entire body shake - I was never so glad to get out of a place!!!

Since we both had classes the next day, we did hit the sack pretty early and actually slept great! The "Stone and Surface Expo" didn't officially start until Tuesday, but we were signed up for classes all day on Monday!! We had decided the night before that we had better find the tram to ride since the convention was at Mandaly Bay - you could catch the tram at our hotel and then ride to the Luxor next and then end up at M. Bay - perfect!! We actually ended up walking to the Luxor through the hotel system and catching the tram there, thinking we had it all figured out when we rode it back to our hotel!!

The Luxor is a really neat hotel and the photo below is taken right where you get on the tram - it was a beautiful day outside although we didn't get to spend any daytime outside, due to our classes!!

I couldn't believe the walk to the Convention Center after getting off the tram! We walked and walked and walked, following the hordes of people heading there!! I'm guessing it was about a 1/2 mile walk and at that point, I realized just how BIG some of these hotels are!! Glenn and I each found our rooms and since mine started an an hour and a half after his, I was forced to just sit and relax and read a book until mine started - such a shame..........

We both enjoyed our morning classes, grabbed a bite of lunch ($10.00 hamburgers) and then both attended the same class for the afternoon and it was NOT good!! The first 2 speakers were so dry and boring that we finally got up and left!!

After winding our way back through the hotels and trams, we headed to the casino at our hotel and had a great time playing video poker and getting served free drinks!! My $20.00 lasted a LONG time!!

I got to choose where to eat dinner and had my heart set on Italian, a restaurant on the upper level of our hotel - but it was closed for a private party that night - darn!! Because we hadn't researched anywhere else, we just decided to eat at the Steakhouse that night - it was excellent - extremely pricey though!!

After dinner, we headed outdoors to walk to the Bellagio to see the fountain - our hotel was all lit up (as everything IS in Vegas) and made for a neat picture as we walked outside!!

To be continued...............