Second hand trip report

My parents are on vacation. My mother has long professed that she hates Vegas. She always returns home talking about great food, etc, but she still hates it.

My father used to go to Las Vegas back in the golden days of the mob. He has great stories about seeing shows like Keely Smith, etc. My parents first went through town together on their honeymoon when my mom was 20, so they ended up in some creepy mob bar with Sharon Stone's character from Casino.. the one towards the end of the movie.. strung out on something and trying to sing in the lounge. I thought it sounded like heaven, but my mom lists this as one of the reasons she hates Las Vegas.

So imagine my surprise when they called to ask for some recommendations from me for their trip. It was my mother's 70th birthday last week, my dad's 77th was yesterday and their 50th anniversary is this weekend. They were hitting the road.

My dad has had a long string of medical issues lately. Unfortunately their original trip plans to New Zealand got cancelled because they didn't want to be that far away from doctors. They were talking Hawaii, but dad's doctor doesn't want him flying right now. So they chose Sedona, but they decided to do two days in Vegas on their way out.

I suggested Monte Carlo because it's easy for my dad to get around there. They talked about MGM, but I can't imagine him doing all that walking. Monte Carlo is relatively quick to get him to and from the car to the room, and it's in their budget for this trip.

My mom started texting me from the check-in line at Monte Carlo, complaining about how long it was. I told her to be patient, it moves fast. Then she texted me about the room. She was happy and that's all I cared about.

Later I seemed to just get picture after picture of them drinking, including Cosmos at Cosmo. I got a couple more yesterday of them drinking at the pool. Sounds like this apple didn't fall too far from their tree.
Talked to mom again today from Flagstaff and got the rest of the reviews.

Gaming: Because this is my dad's 77th birthday, they decided this was his chance to win a million dollar jackpot. So they sat down at a "poker slot machine" and put in 2 dollars. They got up over $2, but cashed out $0.48. No million dollar inheritance for me I guess.

Zumanity was AWESOME. They liked it a lot. They were especially complimentary of the comedy between the "acts". Two thumbs up.

Diablo's was not. They said it was about the worst meal that they've ever had. I didn't get all the details about what they ordered, but I know that I didn't suggest that one.

They raved about some sushi they had called the High Roller Roll. Mom kept saying it was at Chi Chi's. Dad said that wasn't the name. I have no idea, but will ask when they get back home. Anyone have any idea?

The Atomic Museum was a big hit. My dad's favorite thing they did. When I was first born, my dad worked at Rainier Mesa and had a lot of stories my mom says that he needs to write down. I've been asking for years but I'll nudge him again when I visit next month.

The other thing I wanted to share is their experience from today. They drove out to the Skywalk on the West End of the Grand Canyon. They said they have done all the other ones, so why not. I tried to warn them.

My mom says she is sending me pictures of the road they had to drive on. "10 miles of washboard road" was her description. Good thing they brought a rental car. Once out there, they said the deal was like $80 per person or something ridiculous and the deal breaker was that they would have to ride in a bus with *gasp* TOURISTS! They turned around, but even all the side dirt roads were blocked off or marked no trespassing so you couldn't get any glimpse of the canyon.

Oh well. They found a side road they said was beautiful and are headed to Sedona.

Just thought I'd share.

 

I've heard some fun ones. My dad's a dustbowl kid and his stories of his 20's when he "went west" are amazing. He's got Dragon software to dictate these stories, but that didn't inspire him. I'm going to give him another nudge when I visit in a few weeks.

I'm glad they are having a good time. I hope Sedona treats them well too. My mom is pretty sad about having to cancel NZ. It would ease the burn a bit if they could have a wonderful trip near home instead.

 

It's not always easy to figure out what she is trying to say. She types away and hits send without looking to see what a mess autocorrect and typos has made of her message.

One time she somehow set her phone to Spanish and her autocorrect was inserting all these Spanish words into her texts. We made it a fun game to try to figure out what the hell she was talking about.