$2 to call. Free to fold!

Subtitle: Lessons from Vegas (a long trip report)

Lesson: Flying into Las Vegas at night is beautiful, provided the plane lands on time. If it circles, the city becomes a tantalizing piece of realty shining in the desert. You can see it, but you can’t touch… yet. After a five hour-plus flight, I don’t need the additional foreplay – thanks!

The Golden Nugget was to be my homebase for S&M, so I grabbed a taxi and made my way there uneventfully. The bad news was, after putting in nearly a full (and busy) day at work, I was pretty tired. My reservation was for a king bed, non-smoking. I requested North Tower, hoping for better luck than my stay in South Tower there a few years ago where I couldn’t win a tampon out of the vending machine in the ladies room. The only availability at that time of night was a room with two double beds, and I figured whatever, it’s just me, and took it. 12th floor, which is a non-smoking floor, with a good view of Fitzgerald’s. I compared the room to the one I had at The Mirage in December, and the one here won out by virtue of a bigger bathroom. I unpacked, and contemplated going out after. I had the following conversation going on in my head, reminding me of the devil on one shoulder, angel on the other:
Angel: you’re tired
Devil: it’s Vegas, baby!
Angel: you already have a bad headache
Devil: it’s Vegas, baby!
Angel: you haven’t slept well in the past two nights
Devil: yeah, and?
Angel: there’s no one here you need to impress
Devil: man, your trip report is going to be a dud!!
Angel: shut the F*** up

Lesson: I’m quite happy the angel won, since I didn’t need to go through the money any faster than I ended up doing

It wasn’t the best night’s sleep in the double bed as for some reason I kept hanging off one edge or the other, so my first order of business was to request the front desk if it was possible to move to a room with a king bed yet remain in the North Tower. They told me they’d hold a room for me, and to check back after noon. Then I arranged through their tour desk to get a limo to pick up Jer and his mystery guest (who has since been unmasked as being Sin) at the airport. They were picking me up at the Nugget, going to the airport, picking up those two, then dropping us off at Harrahs, where they were staying. I would stay on the Strip for awhile since several people were expected at Carnaval Court that evening. After that bit of business was accomplished, breakfast looked good at Carson Street Café. The food was good, the prices not out of line and the service was good too, so I was happy. During breakfast, I started hearing from people, starting with Jer who wanted to know if it was hot in Vegas today. I told him it was quite nice indoors so far J After breakfast, I was under orders to pick up vodka and “the trimmings†so walked down to ABC store on Fremont Street. Bought a nice bottle of Gray Goose for just about $40, a couple of V-8 bottles and some cranberry juice. Back to the room to drop off those and my sweater, as the temperature was rising fast, and then it was time to win some money. Or so I hoped…

Not so fast there, young lady!! I took $400 and told myself I’d get up from the table after $100 in winnings or $50 in losses. I was able to stick to that through two casinos before it started getting boring as I was dropping $50 everywhere I went. I did notice that Plaza and LVC had a stupid new thing – their double deck game isn’t handheld anymore, it’s dealt from the world’s tiniest shoe. The rules are still the same, but it’s just not as satisfying pointing to your cards instead of holding them and tucking them when you’ve made your hand.

By now, it was nearly noon, so I headed back to GN to check into my new room. They moved me to a room on the same floor, right near the elevator. Nice. This room, because of the extra space not taken up by the 2nd bed, looked much larger than the first one. I’d happily stay here again. I unpacked (for the 2nd time in less than 12 hours) and then headed out in search of lunch. Just as I reached the lobby floor, my phone rings and it’s Mikey and Cyndi, wondering where I was and what I was doing. I told them I was at the Nugget, and so were they. Where are you, they asked. At the Nugget, said I. Yes, but where at the Nugget? AT the nugget, I repeated. After going through this silliness about three too many times, I said “I’m at that gold thing!!†OH…. You’re AT the nugget. Gotcha.

We walked and talked and figured out what sounded good for lunch. Neither of them was down with my idea of saimin at Aloha Specialties Market at the Cal. They don’t know what they’re missing! Anyway, we decided on Binion’s coffeeshop, a place where I’d never eaten. It was a decent, filling lunch – how many ways are there to mess up a tunafish sandwich and some cole slaw?? We gabbed and shared stories, and made a stop at La Bayou before going our separate ways.

Lesson: About 3 dozen people must have all puked at La Bayou in unison very recently. The place smells like a frat house after Homecoming weekend. We all decided the grain train was going to officially start at Mermaids instead of La Bayou because it just stunk far too bad in La Bayou to have to step foot in the place. Let the record reflect that I did not get the extra shot of Everclear this time – I was saving that for Friday night, and I really didn’t think I had two train rides in me for one weekend.

Mikey & Cyndi went their separate ways after awhile, and I returned to the Golden Nugget where I decided to sit at the video poker bar and play a little. I spent maybe an hour and a half drinking three (very expensive) drinks and chatting with a local who swore uphill and down that he didn’t gamble, he just found $20 in his suit pocket so he came there after his morning’s business at the courthouse and spent some time drinking. Yeah, right. Whatever. I believed about every seventh word out of his mouth, but it was still fun having some attention paid to me, and he wasn’t bad looking.

As the afternoon wore on, I made my way over to MSS, figuring I had a chance to see Ron at a table or walking through as he checked in. That didn’t happen, but my phone did ring while I was playing blackjack here (um, just for clarification, I am talking about the card game here). Terry was calling asking who was around and what was up for the evening. When I told him there was a limo and a bottle of Gray Goose involved in my evening’s plans, he quickly decided to crash the airport party (and brought along a bottle of Patron for the ride), so he & his best friend, forever to be known as the Golf **** on T2V made plans to meet me for dinner at Carson Street before the arrival of the limo.

We had a pretty basic, quick dinner at Carson Street – salads and water all around – and were only a few minutes late to get the limo from the back door at the Nugget. Except the driver said to call him since he couldn’t wait at the back door. Except my phone is relatively new so I didn’t know how to find numbers of calls I’ve received recently (unless I missed them) and I didn’t have his number. There is a limo waiting across the street, so we wander over and ascertain that this is where we are supposed to be. Except I had been reserved for a stretch and this limo here is an Ultra stretch. Nice!!!

The three of us (me, Terry & the Golf ****) pile in for the trip to the airport and it doesn’t take long before the Grey Goose is cracked. I’ve never taken much vodka straight up, but I wasn’t going to let Terry call me names if I declined, so down the hatch it went. Not bad! Not bad at all. Oh, yes, these were Terry sized shots too. He filled the glass well enough that when we hit a bump in the road some spilled on my pants, which annoyed me. I really wasn’t in the mood (yet) to suck vodka out of denim. Might get to that point later, but I wasn’t there yet. In any case, we were three happy people and one amused limo driver arriving at the airport to greet Jer and Sin as they arrived.

I got the message from Jer that he was already there and waiting for her plane to land, and before long, they make their way down the escalator. We got her stuff quickly off the baggage belt and got out to the limo. Terry then arranged to keep the limo for one more hour than I had reserved it for. Nice. Before we were out of sight of the airport, the Patron was opened and it was ON. I think we each ended up getting two shots (again, Terry sized… if you think “supersize†fries at McDonalds are a lot, three sizes UP from that is Terry-sized) and the bottle was emptied. We looked at it in disbelief, took a picture of the bottle for posterity (I have the ribbon on my bulletin board at work) and consigned its fate to our memories. Five people + one bottle of Patron = 3 minutes and gone. Then we tackled the Goose. Pretty soon that was gone, and we were lit. I vaguely remember a few things that happened after the Goose died… I’m not sure I should be the one to relate these stories since I don’t really know everything that happened. I’m not really sure these stories *should* be told either… ahem… I do remember making a stop at In & Out since Sin hadn’t eaten. And I do remember that what she ate was not a Happy Meal. They sold her an Unhappy Meal. Possibly that’s too much information.

Lesson: Terry IS the devil.

By and by, we made it to Harrah’s. Jer & I got Sin checked in, and Mark and Terry settled up with the limo driver. I know I owe you guys – that limo was in my name. Thank you. You Rule (even if you are the Devil). Jer & I got Sin up to the room, and I helped her into the shower, then she got into bed and was down for the count. Jer & I returned to Carnaval Court where we met up with Mikey and Cyndi, and Angy, Cyn, Gail & Jackie (the four of them are hereby referred to as “the blondesâ€), Terry and Mark, Bill and Ron. As noted before, we had massive amounts of fun playing a lousy game, paying $1 plus tip for drinks, and having hot dealers. Harrahs may not be a good place for gamblers but they sure do FUN the right way. I don’t remember any particular winning streaks. To be honest, it wasn’t about the blackjack that night. It was about the good company, the good band, the good times. At one point I remember a hefty Buttery Nipple shot landing in front of me, one for Jer and one for…. I wanna say Bill. Might have been Tennessee Cyn. In any case, we gave a count of three and downed them in unison. I remember Ron “I can’t lose!†accumulated the banana chip, bitches and put it away in his pocket. Then he went to use the restroom and the rest of us never saw him again that night. We tried to take his stuff but security said no, they had to bag it all up so he could come claim in. Then Angy pulled the same trick. We tried to work the system for you guys, but the Man kept us down. Both of them had to make a trip back to Harrahs’ to claim their stuff, except I had Ron’s ciggies and lighter in my purse. He may or may not have a picture down my shirt on his camera. I think (hope?) it was out of film…

Anyway, before we knew it, it was pretty much just Jer & I closing up the Carnaval Court. Everyone else was MIA or had officially left, mostly to return Downtown. Jer issued the invitation to crash at Harrahs so I wouldn’t have a solo cab ride downtown in my drunken state, and I figured since I’ve managed to crash and burn the last two trips and land in his room, this would only be maintaining a tradition.

(to be continued)

 

Friday: After staggering out of beds and into the shower (not in unison - sorry... that'll have to be someone else's trip report), Sin, Jer & I make tracks for the Paris breakfast buffet. Sin had never been there before so we had to de-virginize her. I had some Caesars comps from my play at various casinos in Atlantic City, and that covered all but $9 and change for the buffet. I couldn’t get line passes since I hadn’t put any play on my card in 24 hours, but thankfully the line wasn’t bad. I, like so many others, really enjoy the Paris breakfast buffet. We ate until they had to roll us out. Then Sin had to do something with her fraternity at UNLV and Jer & I took a cab downtown to take on the gambling gods.

First stop was Golden Nugget so I could get a change of clothes and brush my teeth. Then we got (or made) a call from Mikey and Cyndi who were chilling in their room at the Nugget. We chatted there for awhile, hearing about the most excellent "don't you dare say a word to me, you cheatin' piece of trash!" line and busting up.

Eventually, Mikey, Jer & I headed out and to Binions to shoot some dice while Cyndi napped in the room. We each bought in for a hundy, but the table was starting really cold. Mikey took the dice first and didn't last long. Jer followed and it wasn't a great roll either. At that point Mikey bailed to another table so I only had Jer to witness my first decent roll. I was only betting pass line at $10 and 2x odds, but made $47 on myself, so I was pretty happy with that. Mikey came back and the table went to hell again. On my 2nd roll, I hit two of Jer's "hornhiyo" bets in a row, but you see I was having a problem reaching the backwall throwing from the angle I was at. Actually on one shot, someone said it was like I used a pitching wedge and Jer said he heard someone on the other end say "bite!" because the dice landed and actually spun backwards one roll. And it landed on 11 or 12. So I started getting heat. If I was doing it on purpose, I could take it, but I wasn't so it pissed me off. Thankfully that boxman went on break and things lightened up some, and I think Jer & I made a little money on that table. I also think it was the only time this weekend that that happened. Sigh...

After awhile, he & I found Mikey at a blackjack table that Mikey said was hot. Well, it wasn't after we set down. And it went worse when this cowboy who bought in for a pretty sum started doing stuff like standing on 14 vs dealer 10 and so forth, so we decided to bail. We had gotten word that Bill and Blackjack were at LVC, so Jer & I headed there. Good to see both of those fellows. I wish some of their good luck had rubbed off on me though! Had more fun, more giggles, jokes that should be remembered and aren't... stories that shouldn't be remembered and are, but aren't getting told... stuff like that.

Sin had taken a bus from the Strip to Downtown, so the four of us (her, me, Jer & Bill) made our way over to MSS for the 6pm meet, found Mikey and Cyndi sitting near the entrance moping a bit. They said the place was massively crowded and we were highly unlikely to get in. I had called about a month before the event to ask about making a reservation, but the manager had said to call him back when I had a reasonable headcount. No one was willing to openly commit to being there or not, so I never got one. Jer stood in line to ask if a birthday party at the front table was going to be gone anytime soon, when he noticed a huge empty space in the back of the room. When he got to the front of the line he asked about that table, and was told that was for "Becky, party of 25". Hot dang! That's me! They gave me the reservation anyway!! We were golden!

Mikey, Cyndi, Sin, Jer & I got to the table, and waited for what seemed like an eternity. We started being afraid no one else was going to come. Bill showed up, saying Ron was still at the blackjack table (he did pick an appropriate screenname, that boy). We fully expected the blondes to be late also. The Golf **** showed up saying Terry was (gasp!) taking a nap and we told him to get his ass out of bed. Al and his wife were the next to arrive. And he was right - no one seemed even remotely surprised to see him there. Eventually Ron showed up, and was followed by Angy and her blonde contingent. Mark the Golf **** came by to say Terry had gotten out of bed but gone to places unknown. Tonya was supposed to be there, but I didn't hear from her until much later, so we were well shy of the 25 on the reservation, but we were well represented anyway. Much of what happened in there has been shown in pictures. We also ate, enjoyed some of their microbrews, and Ron & Jer closed out the event with a rousing Irish car bomb. Jer's rebounded in the glass and he spilled a not insubtantial amount on my jeans, and Ron's almost rebounded in him like a bad basketball shot but he bucked up and kept it. Barely.

After the bill was paid, we headed out to ride the grain train, stopping in Mermaids instead of La Bayou because of the repugnant odor in the latter. After Ron bought all our drinks (thanks Ron!!) and also bought this friendly black fellow a drink, we had a group picture taken. The black fellow tried to get in on that too. No clue who's camera was used for the picture. Guess that riddle will be solved in a few days, maybe.

We stopped on Fremont Street to look at the light show that was just starting up. I have to say that although the colors are certainly more brilliant than the old display, the choice of material has gone down the toilet. Sin & I agreed that this was totally cheesy. And neither of us has anything against go-go girls either. Right about then I got a call from Vegas Tonya who said she was stuck at work and just now to a point where she could consider coming out. But when I told her our destination was El Cortez, she hemmed and hawed a little and said "I think I'll see you tomorrow". A few minutes later, I got another call from Terry asking if we were still at MSS. I said no, on our way to El Co. I should have told him to stop by Mermaids on the way down so he could join us on the train. Blackjack was the first to finish their yard with everclear. To tell you the truth, I never finished mine. I wasn't feeling up to snuff at all, and didn't want to make things worse. By and by we made our way to the El Cortez, where some of us played craps and some played blackjack, and a few of us just spectated. I tried craps with Al, Jer & Mikey. Jer & Mikey bailed pretty quickly to blackjack, while Al & I toughed it out and did horribly. Terry showed up and joined the craps table but none of us (nor anyone else on the table) could roll to save our lives. Right about then I noticed Ron with his head on a Texas Tea slot, a security guard standing over him worried that he was gonna hurl right there on the slot machine. I asked him if he was ok, and at least he answered honestly. "No, I'm not". He wanted a taxi to MSS so I asked the security guard where that could happen. It didn't sound like the easiest task to get him a taxi, and I couldn't even begin to lift him off the chair, so I hollered for help. Terry, apparently our designated babysitter for the weekend, came to the rescue and I think Al as well, and maybe Mikey. I wasn't as bad off as Ron, and mine wasn't 100% an alcohol related problem (although that certainly didn't help) so I opted to sit down for a few minutes. My seat was at a blackjack table where I was told that Ron had refused to take a hit... he stood... on an 8. Since we all know that he is an extremely good player, that's when we realized just how bad off he was.

It wasn't much later that I decided I needed to hit the hay soon. A very strong lack of sleep, even before Vegas, combined with a minor stomach bug that stayed with me for about 48 hours, and on top of that quite a bit of liquor, kept me from being on my A game that night. Sorry Angy, I party pooped out on you again. Thankfully I was able to make up for it this time.

 

Saturday: I was happy to get most of a good night's sleep and woke up feeling infinitely better than the previous several days. Jer had said call me when you get up, so I did, a little after 9. Not too much later, he called back saying he was just getting up himself. We discussed what we could do that day, and I had a plan. We had talked about doing this at some point, and this seemed like the ideal way to do it. We were both going through our money at an alarming rate, so I suggested a low-stakes poker game so I could actually sit down at a live game (I have played online only). I heard the Monte Carlo might be good. Then we talked about getting something to eat. I showered and took a cab down to Harrahs (more than a little of my disappearing money went towards cab fares) and took a bag of stuff to change for Voodoo that night since I figured I'd be hanging out on the Strip all day.

Once I got there, Sin joined us and we decided that a breakfast/lunch at Ellis Island sounded yummy. We were right! I had the $4.95 steak special again, with baked potato and green beans and opted for soup instead of salad (my tummy was still too iffy for roughage like salad) and their terrific root beer. While we were there Sin & I signed up for their players club and got free points and a match play which after lunch we turned into a double down (push) and a split 8's (won both). So Sin paid for the cab ride to Monte Carlo on Ellis Island's money. Sweet.

I got my phone going on the ride over to MC and told Terry and Al "MC-poker - now!" or something to that effect. Eventually Al showed up but Terry was too chicken to lose to me and Sin. He need not have been. Neither of us could do anything except respond to the dealers "$2 to call" with our own copyrighted response and the title of my trip report: "Free to fold!" I did have four hands to play. My very first hand, I was the blind, so I checked with Q-8 of diamonds. Flop comes out 3 diamonds. I check-raise a guy on the other end of the table, who calls me. Ends up him & I in the pot and I knew there were only two cards that could beat me, but yeah... he had one of them. He had Ace and something else of diamonds. Later I got pocket rockets and the flop comes out J K, something like a 7 or 9 I think. Guy had trip J's, with the pair in his hand. The following two hands in a row I was dealt big slick so had to call, but both flops came out garbage... first hand I think I stayed in til the turn but I still had nothing, the next time I saw that hand I folded it after the flop when others started raising. That's poker. It was fun. Oh, and during play I get a text message from Terry, who gives me the advice to "Blind straddle". Nice.

Once the poker game broke up, Jer was on the phone to Angy arranging the settlement of the bet they made in March. It was going to be a lunch, but he was far too full from Ellis Island at lunchtime to eat, so Angy opted for dinner, at Rio (ended up being Buzio's... what a gal!). Sin said she had some work to do, and Al and his wife were unclear on their plans. I realized I had not given Terry a hat I'd scored from the President's Cup golf tournament the previous weekend, so I headed back downtown and caught up with him, Mark and Tom at MSS watching football. Talked for a little while, then went & got the hat and returned just as they were paying off their bill. We started to leave, but a $5 blackjack table caught our eye so we all sat down. The dealer was an older woman with enough spunk in her to not take any of Terry's shiat. In fact she dished out as much if not more than she got. It was fun watching them duel. The bad news is, she was also dishing out crappy cards, and all three of us went through a hundy in near-record time. Hate when that happens.

All 3 of us walked over the bridge to The Cal, where T stopped to buy some chocolates at Ethel M's for the family back home. As we walked, we gabbed about a wide variety of stuff, but somehow the conversation turned to Bloody Mary's and how one was necessary right now. We stopped at ABC where I picked up a V-8, and they bought both a Red Bull and a Rock Star energy drink thingy to mix with their very interesting vodka. By very interesting I'm talking about some of that handmade stuff from Trader Joes, with homegrown habanero peppers in it (and they'd been there several days). I went back to their room at the plaza and they poured me a shot of the stuff. I'm not huge on massively spicey, but I was game. Dear God in Heaven. That was merciless. No way could this stuff be downed like a shot. Wow. We drank a little, and I got to spectate as the energy drinks took effect first on Mark, then on Terry. Pretty damned funny actually. I was wondering what I was going to use to scrape these two boys off the ceiling with.

We made arrangements with Ron & Bill to meet up at MSS to get a cab to Rio for 7pm. I remembered from March that when I needed a taxi from MSS they sent me down to the Plaza since they don't have a cab line there - they have to call one to come to MSS. So we re-arranged to have the two come down to Plaza and get the cab from there. I went back to the Golden Nugget and changed. If you remember from earlier, my stuff for the party was in a bag at Harrahs. All the stuff I really wanted to wear, plus my makeup. Sonofa.... well girl, this is why I overpacked. I still had a couple outfits to choose from, so I did, and got back to the Plaza before either of the guys were even remotely ready. Ha! Score one for the chicks!

They finished up pretty quickly once I razzed them enough about how I walked to another hotel, decided what to wear, changed into it, freshened up, brushed my hair and my teeth and walked back before they were done. We went downstairs to wait and had the incident Bill describes with the bar with no alcohol. Bad timing. Terry & Mark ran into their friends, who ended up wanting to come with us for at least part of the night, so we ended up needing two cabs. Dang, there goes that Fantasy of me and four guys in a taxi... maybe next time. At least I did manage to contine my tradition of flashing thong in front of the Plaza while entering or exiting a vehicle for hire. No other way to get into a mini van in a mini skirt and of course all these... ahem... gentlemen were saying "ladies first!!" Right. Mark, Bill & Ron got into the lead cab, while I got into a mini van with Tom, Terry, and... sorry - I can't remember the other fellows' name... my bad. The first taxi heads off down Main Street and our cab driver says they're being long hauled - the freeway is the fastest way to go... do we want to follow our friends or take the fast way. Hell, yeah, let's race them their. Which is how we ended up beside the freeway near the downtown factory outlet stores with a flat tire, waiting for someone to come rescue us. Sin called me with the question of the trip... I think nearly every single person said or texted it to another at some point: "Where you at bitch?". I told her our tale of woe. We made it there, eventually and found everyone, including our favorite bartender from March, at Bamboleo.

My first order of business there was to order a Terry, our drink from March, and one for the fellow they're named after. I'm pretty sure I owed him a few (actually much more than that) after he picked up the limo ride on Thursday. Soon, Sin & I discovered we were very hungry and did serious damage to a smoked pork quesadilla at the bar. Suitably nourished, we started drinking. Not too long after, I got a call from Tonya, which she perfectly retold in her one day trip report. Very soon after that, she shows up. Wonderful to meet her after several conversations we've had online. Ready to do it again in a couple weekends, girlfriend??? (me neither, but I've gotta try anyway).

After downing several at the bar at Bamboleo (where Heidi definitely remembered us... she didn't tell us about the nightmares but I'm sure she has them) we repaired to the entrance to Voodoo Lounge, where most of us, having forgotten the get two in free passes we all dutifully printed out from online, paid $20 to enter. And Tonya was on the money again about the stamp on the wrist. You know how if your sleeve has elastic on it and it's too tight, how it leaves a mark on your arm? Looked exactly like that. We boarded the glass elevator and sped up the outside of the Rio to the top. My white skirt looked really funny under the black light in the club. We all seemed to be of one mind... none of us wanted to hang inside - we all made a beeline (after buying drinks) to the outside patio and gasped in unison at the absolutely gorgeous view of our city spread out in front of us.

On the patio, most of what can be told has been... drunken dancing, couch stealing, funny DJ announcements, etc. I'm not sure there is anyone I knew there with whom I did not dance. And that includes all the girls too. It was a very fun time. We spent quite a bit of time up there. It was hard to tear ourselves away from that view, but it was getting more crowded. It was so difficult to get from the patio to the restroom that Tonya invented the "squeeze as much male tushie as you can" game between the outside and the ladies room. Nice.

I'm not sure exactly how, but noises started being made about going to a strip club. Cheetah's was thrown out, but Jer prevailed with Scores. Ron got a limo, and piled in a couple of hotties he'd been gabbing with and dropped them off at Caesars. Then we dropped off Ron at MSS, but not before he got a special something from Tonya and Sin. Bill was going to bail at MSS too, but decided to hang with us and head to Scores. So it was Bill, Jer, Sin, Terry, me, Tonya, Mark the Golf **** and Terry's friend Tom along for the ride(s).

We found Scores to be very crowded, not surprisingly, but were told that it would only be 10-15 minutes to get in. Bill thought they were using standard restaurant lingo and really meant 30-45 minutes, but they were right and soon we were ushered inside to pay our $30 to get in. I thought I heard $100 for a table, which I thought was ludicrous but someone else says I was wrong. I had never been to a strip club before so it took a minute or two to realize that most of the women in the room worked there and there weren't that many patrons who were female (there were a few, other than the three in our party). We were seated and it wasn't long before a very slender brunette all of a sudden sat down on my lap. My friends had pegged me to get the first lappie, and I had NO clue what was going to happen. Very rude. I probably could have enjoyed it more had I known anything at all, at least been able to watch a couple first, but these guys had to see my virgin reaction. Well they got it. Guess that means we just have to do it again, right?? And that's probably enough said about that experience, all the way around.

I got back to Downtown and to my room around 4:20am, and knew that I needed to pack and get to Harrahs to retrieve my stuff before my 1:30 flight. I was invited to join the remaining crowd at Jillian's at 10am so after a scant amount of sleep, a shower and packing my suitcase, I ventured down there. And waited until 10:30 and no one was there. On the way back to the Nugget, I bumped into Al & Deb, and just after that Terry and some of his friends showed up. Terry and Mark were each on their cellphones, and Al made the comment that it would be funny if they were talking to each other. I quickly said my goodbyes and headed back to the room to grab my stuff. Thankfully hubby had checked me (and Bill, and Jer, and Sin) in for our flights so we all got our A boarding passes, so I didn't have to worry about that, but the rest of the morning turned into a comedy of errors. I got to Harrahs to find the room had already been made up and my bag was gone. So I called housekeeping, who said security/lost & found had it. I called them and was asked to leave a message. WTF?? I got downstairs as soon as I could, and was very grateful that Harrahs has a mostly decent reputation for customer service. I told the clerk I was checking out that room, and needed some good service... she was on the phone instantly and said someone would bring my bag up in 10 minutes. I told her 10 minutes would be great, but if they aren't here in 20 minutes, here's my address and you're going to have to mail my stuff to me. Thankfully they arrived in good time, I stuffed everything into my suitcase in the lobby and ran out the door. The cab line had gone down quite a bit in the 45 minutes I'd been in there, so it didn't take long to get going. Then the driver decided the main departure section was too crowded so he took me to a different area - and I had NO clue how to get down to departures to print out my boarding pass. I made it to the gate ahead of a lot of people, still and all, plopped myself down on the floor to read and eat my greasy nasty pizza (first thing I'd eaten all day). Then my phone rings. It's Tennessee Cyndi. "Hi girl!" "I can see you!!!" "Huh??" "You're on my flight.... look at the front of the B line". "OH! then I guess I know what city we're stopping at on the way to Baltimore"... too funny. She took a seat behind me and both of us napped most of the way to Nashville.

I went through almost all of my bankroll, but it was completely worth it. Is it March yet??

 

Good TR Becky. You remembered alot more than me but I'm starting to piece it together. Texas Tea huh?? Damn, it's all coming back now. I remember the Elco spinning & Terry getting me out. Standing on 8, Texas Tea, security... well now it's all making more sense... stupid Everclear . Once again we had a great time. I believe that I have the group pic at Mermaids. Hopefully I'll have them all posted tomorrow.

 

Well now I know what you were doing when I wasn't around! It's really neat to see these reports so I'm up on what everyone was doing when I was either sleeping, working, or studying. All I have to say is I've got your back and people better watch out when we hit Cheetah's in March!

 

Wow...how did I forget that grab the asses game? Darn tequila! But now that you mention it. That was good fun. I think we grabbed about 10 didn't we? Plus I seem to remember having a couple guys stop and want to be grabbed.

Good times! Can't wait until I see you all on your next trip out here.

 

good report!!! sounds like you guys had fun. Is anyone going to be there in december, week after christmas??

 

Taz, keep your eye on the section called "Vegas Get Togethers". It might be a little early for late December but you never know. It was Beach Crazy talking about her Birfday which inspired the madness that came to be known as S&M that we all lived and (barely) survived last week.

 

For the record, Bill and I were completely fine with the FSE go-go girl light show.

Good times, although I'm disappointed that we never got a real T2V pot going at the MC.

 

Well Doc all I gotta say is that Mrs. Doc agreed with Kikky and I....

 

Becky, you rock.

I'mm getting eye strain.

 

Amen to that.

Gotta love these trip reports!

 

Great TR Becky. Only 15 days left until your return engagement. I don't think I can hold a candle to the rest of the T2V gang in the alcohol consumption department.

Marty

 

Nor should you - I believe that's a fire hazzard.

 

Whew.... I'm tired and worn out just reading that one. You covered a lot of ground Becky, that is for sure.

My question after reading some of these TR's -

Did the Downtown "Blue Cooler Guy" get any T2V livers? Or does he just go after ones that still function....:evillaugh

Don't know if I coulda kept up with all that partying and buffonery....I must be out of practice.

Good read.

 

I didn't see the blue cooler guy. Jer said he did, but he's the only one who mentioned to me that he'd seen him. I think blue cooler guy has figured that none of us have functioning livers and the kidneys are probably pretty shot too. Pretty darn strong stomachs though!

 

great report! i laughed at your "im at the nugget" exchange.

thanks for sharing!

 

CK...you "do" rock Wish we could get to Vegas as often as you do....twice a yr seems to be our vacation time & budget limit. We'd luv to meet up w/ you sometime! Hmmmm..... was that a thong I saw under your white skirt? Nicccccce..... Dino

 

Did I leave money at the table too? Or did I just vanish into thin air? I told Mikey I thought I left money at the table, but he said I didn't have anything left. hmmm.

Great report, girlfriend!! It was really a great time. We'll do it again.

 

Yeah, girl, you left money there too, although I have no idea how much.