back and broke

Hey all
well we made it back this a:m and we are
totally exhausted. No sleep for the last 24 hrs plus I came home in the hole
I will get a TR tomorrow or the next as I am going to sleep now, hopefully for 12 hrs or so.
We did have fun tho.....

 

That's what counts. Looking forward to your TR.

 

Well I am rested and feeling much better. A bit bummed that I didn't come home a winner but we had a great trip and thats what counts.
This might be a little long and boring but here it goes.
Hubby and I left Wednesday Dec 29th. Awoke at 3:00 a:m and was outta the house by 4:30. We stopped at our stores first to check the locks etc and as soon as we pulled into our darkened parking lot (parallel to our store front door) the sheriff pulls up. Good job boys, glad to see your on your toes. They are terrific about just cruising by, keeping watch on things. Chatted for a bit and we had forgotten to give them a call about our being gone for a few days. No problem, the officer puts us on the watch list and says they will patrol at various times until we return. On our arrival home we find post it notes all over our doors to let us know who and when they inspected our property. We are so appreciative of all their hard work !!
Well onto the airport. We arrive, park and check in no problem ( i love that self check in thing!)
Have coffee and cigs at chili's and the plane takes off approx 20 min. late. Full flight but no screaming babies and pretty smooth. Watch Shark Tales and sleep the rest. Arrived and off to baggage claim. The "RIO" lady (all dressed up like a blue peacock showgirl) is holding a sign with our name on it and in seconds the baggage helper arrives. We find our luggage no problem and off to the Rio limo. A nice touch on their part and very very efficient. It had rained very hard there the previous day and puddles were everywhere! Today was great, no rain and a bit cool. Arrived at Rio in no time with a pleasant driver and check our bags. Off to diamond check in where we find that hubby is now Seven Stars.
Ohhh goodie! They have to take his picture for a new card and I insist he takes his TarHeels hat off!! We get a great room on the 36th floor with a strip view, in the distance the Stratosphere and the beautiful mnts. Room is fine with internet connection. Quick unpack and off to lunch. We are starving!! Went to San Paelo (sp?) cafe, service a bit slow but the spring rolls and pan fried dumplings were great and hubbys roasted chicken salad was huge!. With full bellies we start gambling. Hubby hits for $ 900.00 right off the bat. My downward spiral starts and continues the entire trip....
We stay and play for hours and hours. Finally hit the diamond lounge for a snack and cocktails and back down again. Tired we hit the sack at around 3:30 Vegas time (6:30 am our time!!)
Thursday: our 6th yr anniversary ! We only slept until 7:30 am and hit the SP cafe again for breakfast. Me: eggs benadict, Hubby: country style eggs benedict(saugage gravy,biscuit and country style ham) Breakfast was good but too much food !!! Today I am in search of a new undergarment for my New Years party dress, hubby reluctantly agrees to accompany me on this quest. We take the Rio shuttle to Harrahs, a quick side trip to TI ( here hubby hits again for $ 700.00, my wallet is making a sucking sound)then walk up to the Forum Shops. WOW, we have never been to Ceasars before nor the Forum shops.... Holy crap this place is glitzy!! We find our way to all the fountains (really cool, hubby wasn't impressed) Had a $ 5.00 gelato-tiramasu flavored - YUM. and off for the perfect bra. Well the sales lady a Victoria Secret wasn't very experienced. She tried to tell me I was a C cup. HUH??? I've been a D for years and years... She proceeds to sell me those sticky bra cup things, no straps etc. $ 60.00 and a little apprehensive we leave and hit the casino for a few hours. Needless to say when I get to the hotel room the sticky bra cup thingies DO NOT WORK !. These kids need straps somewhere to lift them from my waist and this just aint gonna cut it!! Guess I will return them tomorrow. We play a while at Cesears where what else.. he wins again.. Me? nope.. Find the rewards center and hubby had enough points for a really cool ceasars tote bag. We head out and finally find the strip.. That place is really hard to figure out. We end back at Harrahs and take the shuttle home to Rio where we eat a quick snack at diamond lounge and I go off to my nail appointment. Let me just say right now that I/we are no way uppity to do type people and I can't stand those who are. Granted I am dressed pretty casual since we were walking around all day but the looks I got from those Salon snobs just pissed me off. They offered every single person a beverage while waiting for their appointment except me. hmmm?? whats up with that. After my nails are done I casually throw out "Thanks for the great service, really glad I'm a Seven Stars member". OHHH! were sorry, we didn't KNOW you were seven stars... Hey guys, it shouldn't matter if I was joe shmoe off the street, treat everyone the same. Cruddy snobby little b*tches.!
Won't ever go to the Rio salon again.
We get ready for our dinner reservations at Voodoo and watch the parade in the sky first. The show is almost the same as last time we were there but it is still pretty cool to see the floats. Head up the elevator and some guy is pissed off at his son for not getting the room he "deserved". Ranting all the way we all had to hear that he HAD to go to his host and DEMAND a new room. His son ignored him. Good for you dude.
The view is so awesome up there, it was dark and the lights oh so pretty. We had to wait about 20 mins. as we were early but had a great window table. Meal was awesome as usual. I started with the blackened ahi tuna and hubby had the oysters on the half shell. We both went with the menage et trois (sp?)which had half a lobster tail, grilled prawns and filet mignon. WAY to much food but still had room for creme brulee. The photographer came by and heck since it was our anniversary we went out on the deck for pics.
Wicked windy out there so my hair was all messed up but fun none the less. Photo guy comes back later and show us the prints. He has them all done up in these nice books. Large ones and wallet ones too. I'm thinking well I'll just pick the ones I like and not buy the whole package... Photo dude see's the seven stars card on the table and let's us know to take the whole deal it is $ 165.00 bucks but if we see the host at the end of our trip they will give us the $$ back. Cool.. we get the package and indeed they gave hubby back $ 165.00 cash, although the host seemed pretty pissed off that the photographed mentioned that to us. lol
We hit the casino again and off to bed around 2:30 am. We had a very nice anniversary night
If your not bored to death by now, I will finish up a tad later.

 

So Far so good, ncgirl! Sounds like you had a nice anniversary! How did you like the rooms at the Rio? I'm staying there in March and am curious. Kudos to your men in blue for their vigilance!

 

Part 2:
Today is Friday, New Years Eve and all is well in the world. We're up and ready to roll by 9ish, our plan was to go back to Forum shops and return the defective bra but on the way through the casino hubby decides to stay (since he hit again on the way out!!) so I went by myself. Caught the shuttle again to Harrahs and went directly to Cesears. Finally found a sales girl who knew exactly what I needed, D cup and all. A quick try on and voila I am lifted and happy. There was a $ 10.00 differance so I had to buy some red panties (for good luck) I then walked to Bellagio to see the conservatory all the while using my new little sony camcorder. This is the greatest little recorder, so light and easy to use! Hubby was smart not going with me, I filmed so much-stopping and getting every angle-he hates waiting for me to do this.
Bellagio was super pretty as usual. The Conservatory had the coolest decorations. I dropped $ 20 in a blazing 7's and guess what???
Nothing of course! Oh well I am loving this time, alone - roaming around doing what I want and no one to tell me to hurry up. I cross over the street and hit Margaritaville. Have a top shelf and watch the volcano erupt. More fun.
Walk to Harrahs and sit at a lucky star .25 cent machine (playing 3) and stay for a few hours on my $20.00. Lots of fun and finally got some play time for my money. Take the shuttle back to Rio and meet hubby for a snack/drinks at DL again. Let me tell you this place is awesome. They always have great snacky food, great drinks and service. We play for a few hours and then up to the room to get ready for our party. Good thing I gave myself 2 hours.. I freaking hate hot rollers and kept burning my fingers on the little buggers. I was so mad. We are almost ready and I forgot my mascara and hair spray, you know the kind of hair spray that will hold in a hurricane. So off hubby goes for me.
$ 12.00 bucks for a cover girl mascara - geesh.
Now thats mark up. Finally all gussied up, he in his tux and me in my super awesome Ralph Lauren (which I got here at home on a major major discount- hehe)We head to the Rio party. The line is sooooo long, the room is huge and we are next to the dance floor!! Yahooo, we only dance once a year and now we don't have to walk a mile.
Our table mates are a nice young lady and her mom from Montana, a very young lady and her older hubby from Fl another couple who I didn't talk to but they kept taking our picture and another couple from TX. Now the TX lady was a hoot. She wore the silly mask and just loved to drink,dance and smoke!! At one point Fl girl,TX lady and I did a "girl dance only" I think the guys were suprised but this is something girls do all the time. The guys did grab their camera's and I guess they enjoyed it after all.
Dinner was pretty good: started with the shrimp,crab claw and scallop appitizer. Soup: a very odd cream of butternut squash w/toasted pumplin seeds(not my favorite)Entree: lobster tail w/filet mignon-asperagus and a horseradish whipped potatoes. Desert: some funky chocolate mousse made into a peacock. We were too full for desert so I just took a picture of it. They really did a good job with the table though. They had little menus printed up like little picture frames, party favors and real picture frames for each guest in the shape of an urn or something. Funny how free booze and food gets people in the "I'll take anything I can get my hands on" mode. We look over after dinner and there are these people dressed to the nines crawling on their table to retrieve the centerpieces!!! Holy crap guys, go to the freaking gift store. Finally security comes and starts taking them away from them as they try to leave the ballroom. What a site.
The band was really good, too by the way. We went out to the veranda to watch the fireworks which were really good but it was super cold out there. They did provide those tall propane heater thingies you all stand under. Midnight came and I got to kiss my number one guy! After 6 years he still makes me feel special. I am very blessed...
Then the lights went out..
Not a few minutes back in the casino and bam
half the place is dark. We look over to one section and people are streaming outta there, all over each other. The area where the tables were still had power and some of the slots.Those people didn't even flinch. I don't think they ever KNEW the lights were off. Poor waiters/waitresses were running their butts off tryiing to apease the crazy ones. One word here about those bevertainers: Turn the gosh darn volume down!! I don;t mind you standing up there dancing and what not but the noise level is way way too high. ok nuff said.
Well the lights come back on and we go up to our room to change into our comfy clothes. There was a bottle of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries from our host "Happy Anniversary" hmmm that was yesterday. Ok better late than never. Change and back down we hit the slots with a vengence. Return back to the room at 5:00 am, I have not won - not at all. Hubby is on a loosing streak also.
Saturday a:m we decide to go to GVR. We shuttle to Harrahs, take the monorail to MGM. A tram up to Mandalay Bay and ask for the GVR shuttle. Huh, I dunno... every where we asked. Finally someone tells us to go to valet and wait but they have no idea how long a wait... hmmm doesn't sound like MB wants us to go to GVR. We end up taking a cab for $20 something bucks.
Boy this is a very pretty area. The casino has a southwestern hacienda type feel. Pretty nice. The slots were good too and hubby twice hit on the random fortunado deal. We got our players cards in case we return and wandered around looking for the TV people. Guess everyone slept in today!! We decide to head back to Rio and wait for the shuttle to MB. We wait and wait and of course it won't be there until 5pm so we take another freaking cab, this time to Rio $ 30.00
So our little outing was kinda expensive.

We decide on Tilted Kilt for some grub and order the wings and salads. I wanted them a little crispy but they came out like they had been in the fryer for 30 minutes. Hardly any meat left on them and dry. The sauce was way way to hot and I only ate 6. We left and took a nap. Hubby slept till 8 and went back to the slots. I slept until 11pm until he got worried and got me back up. We catch a bite at the deli and gamble till 5:00 am. But at 2:00 am hubby hits for: $ 1795.00 and $ 4000.00 yahoooooo, me nothing..
Sunday is our last day, Hubby doesn't want to go with me on my trek to the Stratosphere so I go alone. Shuttle over to Harrah's, monorail to the Sahara, walk to The STRAT . Took in a burger at McDonalds then the tower ride/observation deck. WOW ! I have never been up there and it was a clear day. Amazing view. I rode the roller coaster by myself which was pretty neat then went to the Top of the world lounge to have a drink and watch my Panthers loose. Sad, sad, sad.
Hoof it back to the Sahara,tram to Harrahs, play a bit and shuttle back to Rio.
Dinner tonight was at Buzio's in the Rio. A nice atmosphere and good meal. The oysters rockafeller were awesome, I will order and eat them again every time now. Our entree's were a NY strip w/grilled prawns. The meal was a nice way to end our trip. We had a late check out 6pm and the bell hop took our bags to storage. At 8pm we left via the limo and got to the airport no problem. Flight home was full and I slept the entire way, all 3 1/2 hrs!! I fell asleep before we left the tarmac and awoke as we were pulling into the gate, missed seeing vegas at night by air which I was bummed about. Everthing else went smoothly and arrived home at 8:00 am. We were welcomed by our doggie and kitties ( we had a sitter) and opened up our stores. Oh my, we will never try that again. I was so wore out that we closed early and went to bed...
All in all we had a great trip. I did things I had never got to do in vegas:
Ride the roller coaster at the strat
observation tower at strat
ride the monorail: i thought it was great! and thank you for my pass fellow T2V friend!!
went to GVR
saw the fountains and forum shops at cesears
saw the bellagio conservatory
etc etc etc.
I am glad we are home but am looking forward to our trip back in July with family.
Sorry this was long and probably very boring compared to others but thanks for reading.!!

 

Not boring ,enjoyed your report glad you had a great time.......

 

Just a shout out to our great sheriff's dept.
While checking our house today we realized that Hubby had left our basement side door open when we left. The Sheriff's dept. closed and locked our door for us while inspecting our home.
Great bunch they are!!

 

NC Girl--

Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your hubby there in Vegas. Sorry you didn't win but we've all had a trip like that.

Thanks for taking the time to write it all up.

Mikey

 

ncgirl,
So where exactly did your hubby hit those huge jackpots? I gotta try it! LOL

 

Very enjoyable read, NCGrl. And how about them Tarheels?

 

Your TR was worth the wait. Sounds like a great time and of course being with your best friend (hubby) makes it all the better. I plan to be in Vegas also in July to celebrate my 40th birthday with my twin sister - yeah she is 3 minutes older than I am, he, he.

 

that menage a trois sounds amazing... Good TR. Thanks for sharing!

 

Hi all, Thanks for reading my report.
RamBill: the rooms at Rio are pretty good, at least the ones we've had. We stay in the masquerade tower. The decor could be updated a bit but all in all ok. If a coffee pot is of importance to you be sure to let them know, also internet access is only available in the masquerade tower (i believe) I am not sure what the purpose of the little window is from the shower to the bedroom but it proved for some entertainment!!!
Hurricane Mikey: My loss was sad but like you said who I was with was most important. I sure would like to get my $ 2000.00 back tho. lol
Weluvvegas: Hubby hit at the Rio, he was playing on one of those 98% return carousels playing a 5 times pay and another on a double triple diamond.
Both $1.00 machines playing 3 or 2. The very next day a man hit and then another right after him on the double triple diamond machine. (of course this is where most of MY money went all four days!!lol)
Jack21: Hubby loves them Tarheels. I pull for Duke so it makes for lots of fun during game time!
VegasKathy: can't wait for the July trip. My daughter is super excited. Her comment "oh boy I can sleep all day and stay up all night" Hmmmm not sure I will allow that... We won't know our dates for a while tho. Maybe our trips will overlap with yours !!
Absolutdrinker: ah yes the Menage et Trois. A feast indeed and one us old fogies can partake in and not feel guilty ...heheh

Thanks again all for reading...

 

ncgirl sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for writing it up, and I didn't think it was boring at all!

 

Just a quick thanks to everyone who posts these trip reports. They are keeping me going!

 

I have two nieces who love to sleep all day and play at night too

The "plan" date we're looking at is July 6-10, being that my twin sister and I are celebrating our 40th birthday, July 8th.

In July 2003 we celebrated our 38th birthday together visiting our brother in Reno. That was a lot of fun but nothing compares to Vegas and being that my sister has never been and I haven't been in almost three years it would just be the best of times!

 

I wish I had a sheriff's dept like that!!!

 

Well our July dates are set for: July 9-14th.
Looks like My step daughter, her husband, grandson(8),my daughter(16), hubby and myself so far. Looking at also going: hubbys sister and her hubby, hubby's niece and her daughter. The more the merrier!!
Yes Jacko our sheriff's dept. is pretty great. They cover a very large territory, not all easy access either (mountain roads etc)