All girls weekend was our typical time frame of Veterans Day Weekend. Mom and I headed out and flew direct – I so enjoy a direct flight. Since we were the first to arrive, we caught a shuttle to the hotel. We got there and they had (drum roll please) LOST my reservation…. I just calmly waited, showed the nice guy my printed confirmation from the website (their website, might I add) that stated I had even paid. The funny thing? The money never came out of my account – I double checked and they were telling the truth – it didn’t. How sad is that – I didn’t even notice that something I paid for and put extra money into the account for never came out? It worked to our benefit – and honestly, I think that they were offering upgrades all day long anyway, but they upgraded Janet and I to adjoining rooms on the 4x floor with a nice strip view. Yeah us. The rooms were quite interesting with a foyer door leading into the two rooms. That was nice – just lock the outer door and block open the inner doors and we were able to travel back and forth as we wanted. Mom, Tandy, Linda and I went to dinner that night and went in search of an inexpensive buffet…and my phone lead me astray. We went to the Sahara because a buffet was listed for that hotel – however there wasn’t one that we found. In the mean time, I put some money into a machine and hit a nice little jackpot – I put in $20 and came out with $80. Nice! I then put in $1 and got back $6. I really should have stayed there a while :o) Oh, well – Linda asked about the buffet location and was informed there wasn’t one… so we headed out and went to the Mirage to eat. It was a nice meal and fun to visit for a while.
The next day Sandy and Suzie and Aunt Tuny came into town in the late afternoon. We took the morning to head out to see the new bridge over the Hoover Dam. Yes, I said OVER… it’s farther downriver, however MUCH higher than the dam. The approach to the lake was shocking to me. I would think that the lake is a good 40’ below where I have ever seen it while living in Cedar City and diving there in my certification classes. When we were diving there, our place was in 20’ of water… If I had a car I would have driven out there – however it’s a good 40 miles to the north, so didn’t ask for that much of a drive… I’m sure it’s beyond bone dry now. Anyway… the drive down was interesting to see islands that had been underwater for YEARS now high and dry in the desert sun. Going over the actual bridge was very much a bust as the walls are high to keep folks from rubbernecking on the way over… traffic does NOT slow down at all zipping from Nevada to Arizona. Interesting… we go to the other side, turned around and headed back so we could take the “old” road down to the overlooks and such. Linda and I got out and hiked to the top of the hill to walk over the bridge. We refused to let mom go with us… she would have made it, but would have been done for the day. I was huffing and puffing at the top of it…but that’s not saying much, I’m out of shape. We walked to almost the middle – took a few pictures and headed back down to the car then headed back to town.
While Mom had been sitting there waiting on us, she made the decision she was going to take a helicopter ride to see what we had seen – really? First Helicopter ride at 75? Yes! She did… we went back into town and signed up – we splurged and took the more expensive one and went OVER the dam and around back over the lake – short, but thrilling ride. My first helicopter ride as well – Linda – was it yours too?? How would that be to do our firsts all together as the Autrey women? I’m assuming you have ridden in one in Hawaii at some point in your adventurous life.
We headed back into town and that afternoon Linda and I did a massage at the spa – ahhhhh. The only thing weird about the spa there was there was NO Jacuzzi. I REALLY missed soaking in the Jacuzzi :o( Oh, well… the massage for me wasn’t as nice as what I get at the chiropractors… so my days of spa may be short lived since they are so expensive in Vegas… I guess the expense hasn’t really changed, I have changed. With me now being able to get a massage for $20 why on earth would I pay $100? Hum… yeah, good question.
Dinner was an experiment in choosing a restaurant on the fly. It was OK – but not the best I’ve ever had, however as always it was fun to have us all together laughing, catching up and enjoying our time together :o)
Saturday dawned with a later start… and to be honest, I have no idea what we really did… the “highlight” of this day was the dinner at Sahara and a failed attempt to work the food challenge to our benefit. They have no way to order the 7lb burrito for the table, you have to do it challenge style… however what they did NOT tell us was that you have to sit at the main table for 30 minutes before they will allow you to go back to your own table WITH the burrito and share it. You have GOT to be kidding me! So… we all ordered, told the lady “just a drink – we’re sharing the burrito”… and they still made me sit up there and do the stupid time in the chair all by myself… I was VERY bad advertising for the challenge as everyone came by and talked to me and I let them know how stupid this was to have me sit there and not just “fail” already and go back to the table. What a joke. Mom and a few others hung with me for the duration and I ate my portion of the thing before taking it to the table and having everyone share it. Sigh. That didn’t go well! The burrito, however, was very tasty and good and there was still a LOT left over after everyone else ate a ton of it – Linda even had enough to take home with her for leftovers for a few more days! BIG burrito! Oh, well Angie got the shirt and was happy (pink shirt that says “Official Weenie”)
Janet and I were pressed for time as we were headed out to see a show that night as well. We went to see Cirque De Sole “Beatles – Love” I can honestly say that the HBO special did the costumes justice, however it wasn’t nearly the “typical” mouth hanging open gasping at the antics type of Cirque show. I was a little let down, it was more of a “show” style with production more of a focal point than the acrobatics. Sad, but this is one of the ones I wouldn’t go see again – all the others, I could easily go again!
Sunday was Mom and I headed home :o(
