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Running From Heat & Humidity 7/23-7/26 (Live/Semi-Live)

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by rcc4au, Jul 22, 2020.

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  1. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    Tomorrow, we’re leaving the southern heat and humidity behind for a long weekend of fabulous dry heat of southern Nevada.

    Forecast at home...

    [​IMG]

    Forecast for Sin City...

    [​IMG]

    Currently, there’s less than 20% humidity at home but it’s a toasty 98 degrees and we’ve been to Vegas numerous times during the summer months, so I suspect we will once again adapt quite easily to the heat.

    Flying SWA non-stop from BHM tomorrow. I’m currently waiting for check-in (T-57 and counting).

    We’re staying at The Venetian with comp room. This will be our second stay there, but we’ve also stayed at Palazzo 3 times previously, so we’re familiar with the property and like the location. We will have a rental car and plan to visit a couple other properties, but most of our time will be spent at V/P.

    We’re foodies and I realize many places aren’t open and others have limited hours, but we’ve got reservations for MAG and Slice (reservations probably not necessary for Slice, but never hurts). Also, my husband likes to plan everything around “home time” so he’ll remind me that it’s really “9am back home and I would have eaten breakfast 2 hours ago” or “WOW. 6:30pm dinner reservations? That’s 8:30 Central time. Why are we eating so late?” He swears he does it because he knows it irritates me, but I’m convinced he does it because he truly cannot switch between time zones easily.

    Here’s our current itinerary:

    [​IMG]

    We’re not into the club scene or partying people so closures don’t affect us. As for bars being closed - that doesn’t bother us either. He doesn’t drink and I will get an occasional drink from the cocktail waitresses or with dinner and I’m good.

    We’re also okay with not really being able to socialize with others, although it seems I put off a vibe that makes people want to talk to me, so even in COVID times, people still want to converse with me.

    I’m happy to answer any questions while we’re there.

    I’ll also do my best to do live reports, but sometimes I forget and will catch up when I remember.

    Hopefully I’ll have plenty of food and slot porn to share with everyone.

    Now to finish this last work day so I can clean the house. I like being able to come home to a clean house and not feel pressured to jump right back into real life after a vacation.
     
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  2. h0und10

    h0und10 VIP Whale

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    So what time zone is the itinerary in? :goofy:
     
  3. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    [emoji23] PDT for me, but he will always equate it back to “home time.” It’s the damndest thing.

    Do other people have problems adjusting to different time zones??? I mean, I can see if you’re halfway around the world and trying to adjust, but it’s just two hours [emoji2368]
     
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  4. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    All checked in...

    [​IMG]

    Best part of flying SWA right now ... I don’t have to share the inside arm rest with anyone else.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. BoVegas

    BoVegas Low-Roller

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    living off TRs, not going til Sept 4, relax, enjoy, win.
     
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  6. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    I’ve been living off TRs as well. We haven’t been since 2017 and, even with the bizarre events that have put a huge damper on things, we’re still looking forward to this trip.
     
  7. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    Some observations from BHM...

    1. There’s no one here. It’s a small airport in comparison to most others, so there are never crowds like ATL or JFK, but the dip in travelers is very noticeable.

    2. We’re flying on a 737-700, which, IIRC, seats about 150+/- when full. There are 27 total people currently sitting at the gate. There are a few stragglers rolling in every 5 minutes or so. Boarding is supposed to begin at 1320 and the gate attendant just informed us there are 74 passengers and the plane seats 143. I was close.

    3. There are only a handful of eating establishments in this airport. Jim n Nick’s BBQ, Chick FIL A, some sort of hamburger joint, and a Starbucks to choose from besides the Hudson News stands spaced around. The choices for today are the bar (literally the BAR. There’s a sign that says “NO FOOD” at the entrance) at Jim m Nick’s and whatever grab and go options can be found at the line open Hudson News stand. I get there’s a pandemic, but don’t people still need to eat?

    4. There’s a lot of open space around the tarmac and runways that is being put to good use as parking lots for the overflow planes that other airports have no room for.

    [​IMG]

    I had a second picture but Tapatalk didn’t like it being panoramic. It’s really shows the number of grounded planes sitting here right now.

    5. Mask compliance has been almost 100% so far. One guy was wearing his around his chin and a member of the cleaning crew didn’t have one on at all. Of course as soon as I typed that the two people directly across from me adjusted theirs so they’re only hanging by one ear.

    6. There are surprisingly more children among the passengers than I expected. Two little girls quickly made friends at the gate and are playing with stuffed animals while we wait to board.

    7. I witnessed a lady walk right into the men’s restroom and an airport employee quickly yelled, “Ma’am, that’s the wrong one” and pointed her to the women’s restroom which was just one opening in the wall beyond where she stopped. She was clearly embarrassed and did a double take to make sure she was being told correctly.

    8. With the terribly slow boarding of the past with people seemingly acting like they’ve never boarded a plane before, I’m hoping the new way of boarding 10 at a time is more efficient. It’s always amazing to me how it seems people lose all common sense in boarding or trying to get through TSA checkpoints.

    Boarding is beginning...
     
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  8. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    Have a great flight and a wonderful trip!

    RICHARD
     
  9. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    Two seater exit row. I am, however, sharing the middle armrest, but I suppose that’s okay since it is my honey I’m sharing with.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
  10. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Following along. Good luck!
     
  11. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    Thanks. Taxiing to the runway now. Pilot said bad weather halfway and gusty winds for landing in Vegas. Let’s hope not.
     
    • Funny Funny x 1
  12. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    We’re about halfway through the flight. Only minor turbulence so far, but that’s meant we’ve had the seatbelt sign on for all but about 3 seconds of the flight.

    I have seen several cool rain showers and dark clouds just outside my exit row window. The first shower was near (best I could tell) Childress, TX and the second was somewhere a bit west of there - Turkey, TX, maybe.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And these grass circles... I always like seeing these for some reason. I snapped this before the rain showers so this was most likely somewhere in OK.

    [​IMG]

    Everyone is quite spaced out on the plane. It seems everyone is complying with mandatory masks and everyone has been quick to put the mask back on after eating their snack mix and cup of ice water.

    The flight attendants have been very nice. I asked for a cup of ice to finish off my own bottled drink and they brought it right back.
     
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  13. HHW

    HHW VIP Whale

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    Following along - have a great trip!
     
    Trip 18: Carrie-ing on!
    Trip 19: Just the tip (of the Road Trip)!
  14. carolineno

    carolineno VIP Whale

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    Have fun! I really want to go to Mesa Grill but we might end up at Border Grill for the outdoor seating. Following along!
     
    Ladies getaway, somewhere on the strip with a pool :)
  15. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    Notes from LAS:

    1. People are still rude.
    2. Most women don’t know how to dress their age.
    3. Smoking in the shade while leaning your kid in their stroller in the 103 degree heat is apparently a thing.
    4. The airport was much busier than I expected. Still less crowded than I’ve seen it in the past, but there was still a good bit of people wandering around.

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    National Rental Car Executive selection is by far the worst I’ve seen in a while. Two options: Nissan Altima with cloth seats or Kia Optima with cloth seats. I feel sure they aren’t doing all the cleaning they claim to be doing on their little placard hanging from the rear view. I did find 2 Altimas with better seats but they both smelled AWFUL. one smelled like stale cigarette smoke and the other of skunk. It could be the time of day we got in, but it’s really unfortunate to see such terrible selection.

    We settled for the Kia. White with just over 12K miles on it.

    We typically have good luck with car selections but not this trip. They’ll not get a stellar survey when I get the email.

    The traffic on the strip was pretty light. It took less than 10 minutes to go from the rental car pick up to the parking garage at Venetian.

    As someone has recently mentioned about the selection of visitors here right now, there’s a LOT of “trash.” And a lot of that trash is currently waiting their turn for the front desk. Young crowd. Lots of colorful hair. Very little clothing - and for some, that means a HELL OF A LOT of skin showing. Disgusting is the one word I can think of to describe some of the sights.

    We wandered through the casino and it was very busy. No plexiglass partitions at any tables that I saw and there’s absolutely no way to social distance with as many people as there are here right now. A quick glance around and it seems there’s 100% compliance with mask use, but I haven’t wandered around too much since we got here.

    The check in line is limited to one person per room to decrease the number of people in line. It helps because there are a lot of groups of 4+ people hanging around waiting on whoever is in line for the room.

    [​IMG]


    I’m not going to let these negatives bring down our trip. I knew it would be “different” this trip - and it definitely hasn’t disappointed in that category.

    We’re going to get settled in the room then wander a bit more. I’ll post some pictures from the wandering to hopefully better translate the current vibe.
     
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  17. nonahs

    nonahs Low-Roller

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    Smile. You’ve arrived. Don’t let the little things annoy you in any way. Laugh, smile, and then give those things no mind. You’re home.
     
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  18. Romanova

    Romanova Low-Roller

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    What surprised us on our recent trip was the scooter squads. People all over the place on those little rascal scooters.
     
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  19. rcc4au

    rcc4au Low-Roller

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    This girl and her friend were scoring as fast as they could down the strip. I saw maybe one person that truly needed one - and several that needed one but were walking.

    [​IMG]

    This guy wouldn’t get out of the way. Twice he tried to back up but I refused to move. I know it isn’t nice, but I was peeved because I had already walked all the way around to come into the aisle behind him thinking he’d be heading out facing forward. His daughter looked to be about 10 and was sharing another scooter with a little girl that was probably 4.

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. B T

    B T ‍♂️

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    This is why we can't have nice things. So annoyed of these scooters going too fast inside the casino's and on the strip. Need to lay a spike strip on the speeding scooters lol 99% I observed didn't have any disabilities.
     
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