June 7 - 14

Trip Report June 7 - 14, 2003

This trip was so busy and so fun filled. It is hard to know where to start. So much fun, so many laughs & some great new & renewed friendships. Not sure I can capture the moments but I will try my best as some of the things u just had to be there to understand. I'm sure I left out tons of stuff but there was just so much going on. I might have mixed up what happend on what day as I'm still in a bit of a fog. Les was sweet and called several times so I have probably got those phone call days mixed up. I had an early morning call almost every day. So I am running on empty. I even got an early one at home today. There is a conspiracy not to let me sleep!!!

Sat.

Danny & I left for Toronto. He took me out to dinner before my plane left. It took me over and hour to clear customs. The officer that I had to clear was asking alot of personal questions. Something that I had not experience before. They did not have the dog check this time & I did not get pulled for a luggage or a pat down check this time either. Then I had that wonderful 2 hour wait for departure. My son's cd walkman helped to pass the time. Boarded the plane and got to my seat. There was one man sitting in the asile and me at the window. We were hoping it would stay that way. However it got better. The emergency exit row in front of us was empty. Very unusual as that is normally the first row to fill up. Anyway he moved up to it and we both had the 3 seat rows to ourselves. Uneventful flight, some rough air at times. I was on the side of the plane that u could see the strip from when we were landing so that was another added bonus to the flight. I got my suitcase and headed for a cab. A shuttle driver told me he only had people who were going to Caesars Palace on his shuttle so it would only be one drop off then he would take me downtown. I thought ok however it seems 6 or so others slipped on without informing him where they were staying. I landed at 10:40 pm and ended up getting downtown at 11:15 pm.

Checked-in took the upgrade to a mini suite, called Candylady & by 11:30 we were downstairs at the Lady Luck celebrating her birthday with herself and hubby Larry. First time I met Larry. He is a very nice and humourous guy. Lot's of fun. We decided to leave the bar area and go sit in the lounge where a very good band was playing. We were sitting enjoying the music and drinks when this intoxicated man kept coming up trying to get us to dance. I declined saying I was tired and just got off a long flight. Then he returns with money. We weren't sure what he wanted but think he wanted me to give it to the singer and request a song as he ended up taking the money to the band and telling them it was from me. I shook my head NO and said I don't know him. He returns for a dance partner. This time I grab hold of Larry's hand and say I'm glad my husband is here to which Nancy laughed. This man was insistant. He returned with a $20.00 and asked again to which we said no. Back up to the singer in the band and says the money is from the blonde as he likes blondes and some other jibber jabber. To which I again say to the singer I don't know this man. The guy did find someone else to dance with and fell flat on his butt. The singer suggested they leave him there but he got up. He kept returning to where we were. Everytime he left I would roll his chair away but he would return. Larry was really starting to get annoyed with this guy and the last time he came back he told him we were Mormon's and that both Nancy and I were married to him so to get lost. I just started laughing. The band was over so we headed up to my room for a bit then called it a night. I was still on est and it was catching up with me. (lack of sleep is a theme to this trip) We made arrangements to meet the next day. When I got back to my room there was a welcome to Vegas message from Hawaiian Roller on my phone. He called from Hawaii to make sure I got there safe & sound. Such a nice man!

Sun

I spoke with Danny to let him know that I arrived safe and sound and was heading out for brunch & how things were going.
Nancy and Larry invited me to the Golden Nugget for brunch as they had comped meals there. It was really good, lots or variety and they offered us champange as well. I turned that down as I'm not a champange person. We made arrangements to meet up later as Tmpy was sweet enough to offer us a drive to the LV talk meet at the Sahara. I went back to the hotel to get ready for the meet and Hawaiian Roller called to see how I was doing. We yakked for a bit and I understood everything he said.
While I was waiting outside the GN I noticed a woman standing there with no pants on and a very tiny g-string. She was wearing huge platform spiked shoes which she took off so she could put on shorts. A young guy stopped and asked the man she was with if he could get a pic. The woman now in shorts took off her top to reveal a very skimmpy bra more like pasties and posed for a pic. Then re-dressed put on her spikes, picked up her makeup case and headed towards that famous girlie palour down by the LV Club. Turns out Tmpy's b in law was standing there and seen most of what I did too. Once everyone got there we headed for the Sahara & the meet. There was a nice turn out and we shared some drinks, laughs & took some pics. A nice gentleman approached me and asked if I was Patti in Ontario. Turns out he is a sometimes poster but mostly lurker on the board and was also staying at the L.L. & brought a hat for me. I'm sorry that I don't recall the #'s u used with your name on the board so I will just say thank you Bob from Canada as that was a very nice thing for u to do & I appreciated u coming out of your way to give it to me. It was also very nice speaking with u at the meet and briefly back at the hotel that night. Hope u did well in Laughlin. Thanks for the drive Tmpy. It was great meeting u and your hubby & b in law.
We returned back downtown to meet up with Larry and his cousin Lowell & his caregiver Ricardo. (l have never met anyone with so many cousins as Larry) Lowell brought his little wiener dog with him. This dog sits on his lap in the wheel chair and doesn't move. Most of the hotels expect the 4 Queens would not allow him to bring the dog in. He explained to them that the dog was in training as a retriver and they bought it. I damn near fell over I was laughing so hard. The cocktail waitress even brought a big plastic cup of water for the dog & bent down to give it to him. Lowell said this dog is the best chick magnet. Seems he was right as alot of woman were bending over to pet his dog which in return gave him quite the eyeful.....lol. We lost Larry at the 4 Queen's but later tracked him down at the GN seems the alcohol of the day/evening caught up to him and he was in bed. Nancy, myself and Ricardo ended up going down to the Lady Luck. Where we drank way too many beers. They just kept appearing at times we had more then one in front of us at a time. Nancy couldn't do anything wrong. Everytime she went to the ladies room she would play a machine on the way back to where I was and she would win. I think she left that night with about $600.00. I hit for $150.00 and Ricardo won back his money & some extra later on. Nancy and I phoned Danny (hubby) at about 4:30 am Vegas time and woke him up. It was about 7:30 am at home. He was wondering how many drinks we had but didn't seem to mind that 2 woman woke him up from a sound sleep. Nancy and Ricardo who were kept calling Carlos weaved their way back up to the GN when the sun was rising and I headed up to my room. We laughed alot and just enjoyed our time. At one point I had to ask the waitress not to bring anymore alcohol to us. I guess Ricardo must have been ordering it for us as we weren't but it kept showing up. Nancy was worried that we would have to be sent to detox centre.

Mon

I went to the 4 Queens' to meet up with Nancy, Larry & Lowell. Ricardo/Carlos was still re-couping from the previous night. He was out trying to find a blonde. I don't know if he ever succeeded but when we did see him he was looking pretty rough. I went to the convention centre with Nancy & Larry for a trade show they had passes for. I became Nancy for the day as they had to make up a phony pass at the desk to allow access in for me. Actually they didn't know they were doing that. It was the security gaurd who told us how to sneak me in. I ended up buying some earrings (to replace the one's I lost last trip) and a bracelet. Then we headed over to the Hilton where we gambled a bit and had some ice caps. I don't drink hot coffee but I needed something to regenerate myself. We were still a bit shaky from the previous night. Nancy had a headache. I had an early morning wake up call from someone so didn't get alot of sleep. Which con't on for the entire trip. We headed back downtown & ended up at the Fitz & were playing some slots & video poker. Larry called to me and said Elvis is here and called to him so I could meet him as he knows I am a big Elvis lover. He came over and posed for a pic with me. Such a handsome man. I was in my glory. We were sitting there discussing where to go to eat as we had planned on coming back to see the Elvis show when a change lady and a show girl came up and asked if we had been playing the machine. Then asked if one of us was Patricia. Turns out I was picked to go in the plexi glass money grab box out in front of the casino. They escorted me out, stopped for another pic with the show girl and Elvis then put a blue jean shirt on me with a chain belt and safety glasses to protect my eyes. They put me in this box and gathered a crowd around, started the wind tunnel and I had 30 seconds to grab all the money I could and put it through the slot. They said I couldn't reach anything below the red line which was knee level. I started laughing and said maybe most people's knees but it's my thigh. They changed the rules and said just don't pick it off the floor and it will count. It was so much fun. I'm sure the few beers helped to take some of the embarrassment away. They were yelling at me to kick the money with my feet and when she seen a $20.00 on my shirt she yelled at me to grab it. The showgirl had a mega phone getting the crowd to cheer me on. Turns out I was the champ as I grabbed and shoved $93.00 through that little slot. After they paid me we headed off to Binnon's snack bar. The two men who work the afternoon/evening shift are so nice. They entertained us and then the one gentleman and I got to talking hockey when he noticed I was Canadian. Not sure how he could tell that eh! Found out the next day from the other burger guy that the older one was impressed with my conversation. He told him when we left "now that's a hockey fan" and that I was the first woman who could talk hockey with him in all the years he worked there. Good job he didn't want stats or we would have been in trouble! He also said that they will remember me when I return so I said I would put them to the test.
After we ate we headed back to the Fitz to see Elvis. He puts on a great show. He was wearing his leathers for this show (WOW) and we had seats right up front so he was playing off of us quite a bit. He came up to me and was singing and put his finger in his mouth and doing this blub blub thing with it and Nancy started to fan me. When he started singing Love Me Tender to me I was in heaven. Larry just kept laughing. He got up on a chair that was next to me and was jiratting in front of us doing all the Elvis moves. He sat down and played the guitar at one point. He was extremely good at it. Nancy bought one of his T-shirts at the end of the show and gave it to me as a keep sake. Thanks Nancy I luv it! After the show we went casino hoping & ended up at Main Street Station. I had told BJ in Texas that I would get a pic of me at the Berlin Wall so off towards the mens room we headed. Larry went in to let me know when the coast was clear. As I was about to walk in an employee from the kitchen came out and seen me. He said go for it so I did. We get in there and I hear someone Larry says don't worry it's some guy in a stall at the back he can't see u. We proceeded to take a couple of pics. After Larry turned the camera in the right direction....lol
We were walking down the hallway when security was heading down it. They went into the mens room. I'm guessing the eye in the sky must have seen me go in and not come right back out. We gambled there for a bit then headed back to F.S. Nancy went to the GN and Larry being the gentleman that he is walked me back to the Lady Luck as it was getting really late or early depending on how u look at it.

Tues.

I think I got a wake up call from Hawaiian Roller this morning. I met up with Nancy & Larry for breakfast as they had to leave that day. We had some more laughs and then it was time for the hugs goodbye we got tearry eyed and Nancy headed for the cab. Larry and I hugged some more and off they went. I was walking down F.S. with tears rolling down my cheeks. I had so much fun with the two of u. Thanks for such a great time.
I was heading back to the L.L. and decided to go into the internet cafe. It was $5.00 for 20 minutes so I got online and sent an email home and put up a couple of posts and before I knew it my time was up. I didn't get to all the boards but I tried. I left the cafe' and was standing waiting for a light to change when I heard someone ask if I was Patti. Turns out it was Laurie H. she reconized me from pics on lvtalk. Walked back to the hotel with her. Got her checked in then she went to bed. I went out to the pool for awhile then got ready and headed for FS to listen to the bands. I was solo this night and went to a few casino's, watched a juggling Elvis put on a show. I called the hotel to check for messages and then made my way back. I got to my room and there was a message from the Stardust Boys telling me where they were and what they were wearing & to come join them. Back out I go but I just couldn't find them. I walked up to 2 men and asked if they were Bryan and Kevin to which they said we could be. I thought oh oh before u get picked up for solicitation I better call it quits. I left them a message and said I was doing one more look around. Turns out the house phone I was on at the Queen's was not far from where they were sitting. I was disappointed that I couldn't find them but left another message that I was headed back to the LL and hoped to meet up with them later. I was looking for bleach blondes not golden blondes and Kevin, Bryan didn't look like he was wearing a table cloth...lol. I went back and gambled a bit then headed up to my room. Another late night for me. Crawled into bed with the thoughts of sleeping late.

Wed.

My phone rings at 7 a.m. I thought what the hell? Who calls at this time of the morning. Turns out it was Laurie wanting to know if I wanted to go to breakfast. I declined saying it's 7 am and time to be sleeping as my head had barely hit the pillow. Later on I talked to Hawaiian Roller & to Danny & I think Jackie. I ended up getting together with the Boyz. I had already eaten but joined them while they ate and got to know them. They are without a doubt two of the nicest men I have ever met. I was telling them about 2 hotels I was told not to go to alone. So they took me on what we called hotel slumming. First stop was the Gold Spike "not so nice" it had water stains and the ceiling and Kevin could almost reach up and touch it. Then we went to the El Cortez "not so bad". We signed up for slot cards there and were given a picture frame. They did however change the spelling of my last name but that's ok as I don't think I will be going back anytime soon. They had me laughing so much my sides hurt. We headed to the LL to tell Laurie we would share a cab to the pub crawl & where to meet us. We caught her looking her best with her hair up in rollers. Then she says to Bryan and I "is that what u r wearing to the meet?" Think she dished us as we didn't have on any loud shirts or colours. The Boyz and I headed back to the Queen's to get their camcorder and then went to meet Laurie. The cab ride was something else. The driver was laughing so hard he wanted to go with us & gave Kevin his card so we would phone him whenever we needed a taxi. I'm not sure what all the conversations were but at one point Laurie mentioned tuna in refferance to a drunken lady and the boyz and I almost almost fell out the door. Laurie was up front with the driver and got to talking about her last trip and her food poisoning. He started laughing and said this lady needs prozac. Too Funny. I'm sure the Boyz might go into more details on the cab ride in their report. We got to the Barbary Coast and met up with alot of people. The Boyz had a special T-shirt made up for Pish and presented it to him & Kevin had one made up for himself for Sco to read. Everyone got a charge out of the shirts. (there are pics posted of them on several boards) I met Blacklabber and he bought me the first of the 2 beers he owed me. Thanks Mike. We all headed to the next stop which was Oshea's where a group of them got into a game of craps. They seemed to be doing very well. Other's headed for the silver strike machines. From there some went to Stinky Palace and the rest of us headed to Carnival Court. Turns out this is where the pub crawl would end. We just stayed there. Lot's of people, lots of fun & the bartenders put on an amazing show. Eventually Kevin, Bryan and myself made it back downtown. We went and got some shrimp cocktails and then headed to La Bayou to get some yard longs. We watched a light show and took in some casino's. We ended up at the Plaza so Bryan could try and win his dream car & they could win some more silver strikes. We walked in and the smell was overwhelming. They must have just done whatever it is they do to the carpets. It was awful. We didn't last too long. No car but some silver strikes were won. After alot of bad jokes re: the smell & no Bryan it doesn't smell like burning butter or the man upstairs armpit. It was more like an industrial strength carpet cleaner & cat urine combo odor. We headed back out to FS. We went to several casino's and ended up playing roulette at Freemont Street I think. I had never played anything but slots so this was a first for me. We got some beers and Kevin started playing. I bought $20.00 worth of chips and cashed out with $19.50. We went to the LV Club and played wheel with no luck at all. Lost my 19.50. We went to the Queen's and they played a bit of Black Jack but the table and dealer they wanted was full so we headed to the LL. Found a table and sat down. I asked since it wasn't busy if I could sit and watch the dealer said no problem. There was an intoxicated couple at the table but he was so funny. He had to change the F word to duck it as the pit boss told him no F word tonight. This guy kept us in stitches. He just kept rambling on about everything and nothing. At one point he asked why I wasn't playing. I said I didn't know the game and was just there to hold Bryan's hand so he kept it off the table. A bit later the dealer asked me what I was doing. Seems I had a $5.00 chip in front of me and two cards. We told the guy I didn't know how to play but he said that's the best way. So I told the dealer apparently I am playing. The Boyz were helping me telling me when to hold and when to take a card. They told me to hold one hand and the guy said no double down. The Boyz said no but he said go for it. Since it was his money I said ok. I had to ask what to do as he put another chip down. If I got this wrong Bryan will correct me as I kept having to ask him what I did. I had a hard 16 and doubled down and got a 2 for the win!! I was up around 120.00 when the guy asked if he could have 25.00 back for his friend to bring her even again. I said it's your money not mine and he said no it's yours so if u don't want to that's not a problem. I told him to take whatever he wanted. He took the 25 and when we left the table I had a $55.00 profit. Not bad eh! Our sides were aching from all the laughing at and with this guy and the way the dealers and pit boss handled him. It was obvious he has been playing there before. It was now after 5 so we decided to call it a night. Gave each other hugs and I thanked them for such a great day & we made plans to get together the next day.

Thurs.

Kevin and Bryan brought their stuff to my room as they had checked out of the Queen's and it didn't make any sense to go to the strip and back downtown to the meets. We headed for the brewery at Main Street Station for the Vex meet/slot pull. The author of Dice Angel was at this meet. BJ Travel had invited him and he gave me a copy of his book and put a personalized message in it. He is a very interesting man. We swapped stories and he said he is in the proccess of writing a new book and was taking mental notes of the stories going around the table. He was nice enough to pose for pics with people as well. After we ate we headed out to the casino for the slot pull. It was done a really good way. It cost 21.00 each. $1.00 of it went into a pot and u put your $20 into a 5.00 machine and took your 2 pulls. Mrs. Houston kept track of how many credits u got and the one with the highest got the buckets of dollars. Congrat's on the win Mrs. H. Everyone also put their slot card in a bucket and the one that was pulled went into the machine. Mine was the lucky one pulled and I got just over 300 points on the card. Everyone in the slot pull also brought a little gift bag with goodies from their home town or country. Once u took your turn at the machine u picked a bag. I got one from Ohio with mustard, salt water taffy in a cute little canvas bag and a shot glass from the rock and roll hall of fame. We got back 10.00 each from the pull which covered the cost for the Gang meet. All of us Vexers headed to the party room that the Gang meet was set up in. There were corn chips and salsa put on the tables. Bryan and I were having one. He put his in his mouth and just as I was popping mine in he went oh this has a bit of a kick to it. I thought oh oh I am going to die. This man likes spicy and eats hot peppers etc. Next thing I know my mouth is on fire. I thought I was going to die. My face is red, I'm waving my hands in front of my mouth, lost my voice and grabbed Sassi's take out coke cup. Took the lid off it and started popping ice in my mouth. She started laughing and said help yourself. My good friend Bryan is roflao at me. The hotter my mouth got the harder he laughed. BJ Travel asked me if I could replay the moment as she wanted pics. No sympathy from this table. Needless to say I passed on any more but those damn Texans were eating it like it was nothing.
They had drawings at the meet for mouse pads, hats, golf shirts etc with the Vegas Gang logo on it. I won a golf shirt and brought it home for Danny. Lots of hugs and goodbyes to people and Sassi, BJ, Kevin, Bryan & myself headed out. Bryan & I walked back by way of the Mermaid so he could get a deep fried twinkie. The others drove back to the hotel to pick up the boyz luggage. I declined a twinkie saying I didn't quite understand the concept of them. One lady said she didn't either but had tried it and it was good. Another woman popped her head around and said she had 3 today already. She had hardly any teeth in her mouth. I told Bryan another good reason not to eat one. He got his twinkie and we headed towards the hotel. He had icing sugar all over his face and shirt. He just looked too cute. He said it was really good but I took his word for it. A twinkie dipped in pancake batter and deep fried just didn't appeal to me. We get back to the hotel to find Kevin had already got the luggage and figured they were parked out front waiting on us. As we were getting into the elevator Kevin was getting out. Down we go and Sassi and BJ are waiting for us. Kevin and I start to get into the the wrangler and it is hotter then hades. Bryan came out with one of the best lines of the trip. But I will leave that for him to put in his report. He had us in stitches. Off we head to the Stardust. Kevin has a ritual when he enters so we all did the kiss the hand touch the glass thing for good luck. He goes to check in and we went to sit and wait. He comes back and says the clerk told him he would have to wait and see what the room was like. Up we go to the 32nd floor (top) and Kevin opens the door. Bryan goes in first and all we can hear is oh my God & this was before the lights were on. The rest of us followed him in. This suite was amazing. Unfortunately the pics I took do not due it justice. It had a full wet bar, couch, coffe table, end tables, a lounge seatee' (that word if for u Pish, since u gave me such a hard time about it...lol). A table with two chairs, a swivel tv , a king size bed, double door walk in closets and a bathroom to die for. It had a double massage walk in shower, a huge jacuzzi tub with all the amenities. It was just beautiful. The view was of the strip and was breath taking. We admired the surrounding for a bit then headed to supper downstairs where we all had steak and lobster except Sassi she had a chicken dish. After that it was out to the casino where we met up with Arnee and Pish. We then headed over to the Ho & Slots of Fun for more silver strikes. Arnee and the Boyz got the all elusive one's from Slots of Fun. Apparently it is a hard place to win them at. Bryan & I went and got a yard long pina coloda and a beer for Kevin. He wasn't ready for it so we found the sweet Pishman and I gave it to him. We had alot of fun and headed back to the Stardust where I said my goodnights and headed back downtown. I had such a dry throat and was hacking and so hoarse that the cab driver gave me one of his unopened bottles of water. Went up to my room checked for messages then headed down to the casino for awhile.

Fri.

Dice in Hand (paula) who got into town late the night before finally connected. We decided to head down to the strip to see Big Elvis and were going to meet up with Kevin and Bryan around 5 at the Aladdin or Disney on Acid as we now call it thanks to Kevin.
Well the Big Guy was on holidays but Tom Jones was his stand in. We sat and listened to him. He was really good. He came to our table and sang What's new Pussy Cat. He wanted someone to wipe his brow so I gave Paula a napkin so she could. He came up to her and she handed it to him. He looked at me and said doesn't she know how this works? So I wipped his brow, his face, his neck his chest. Then he says it's tit for tat time. Everyone laughed and he was a gentleman and only wipped my neck. After the show he came and took his pic with me. Then Paula and I headed to meet the Boyz. We decided to do the slot tourny thing they have there. What a hoot. We didn't win the big cash prize of the day but I did manage to get the highest score of the four of us. We had our choice of a gift or 20.00 towards dinner. We all went for a gift. Bryan and I got a nice fleece pullover with a zipper neck, Paula got a blue jean jacket and Kevin got a carry on luggage bag. We also go back 10.00 in free play and could have gone to see a show but it didn't appeal to any of us or to the spa which I think Paula was going to do after we left as she had a few more days to stay after we were gone. The boyz also won some silver strikes here. We went out to the dessert passage to the rain storm, stopped at Gidiva Chocolates where Bryan spent almost 10.00 for two. Kevin dropped 1/2 of his on the floor and Bryan was telling him at those prices u better pick it up and eat it....lol. Kevin didn't agree. We headed to Paris on a silver strike mission and Bryan went to get a collector balloon cermaic cup. We got seperated in this casino and ended up waiting for each other at the wrong bars. I knew they wanted to film the fountains so over I went and I found them. Not an easy task. Guess that's why I am in charge of search and rescue on LVI
The original plan was to meet Sassi and BJ and all of us were going to do the Parade in the Sky. The boyz headed down and I went back to the Barbary Coast where Paula was to let her know what we were doing. She decided to stay and gamble and meet up with me downtown in the morning. So off I go to the Rio. Sassi and BJ couldn't make it and we decided just to watch the show as we were running late and didn't figure we had time to get the tickets etc. I warned Bryan to be careful as some people go nuts for those beads that they would probably throw their first born child off the balconey for one. A short time later an older couple in front of us reached up to catch the beads. It went off his finger tip and landed in front of my foot. I bent down to pick it up to hand it to him. His wife almost knocked us over to get it. If looks could kill I would have been dead. Another set of beads fell on Bryan's foot and this woman was in there like flint grabbing them up too. She was a woman on a mission as she headed into the crowds for more. They r only beads lady not gold. We went to the deli at the Rio for some much needed nourishment. The pizza was really good. Kevin said his chili dog was too. Bryan also got fries with cheese on them. When we were leaving I found out once again why Kevin calls him Messy Marvin. He picked up the tray and dumped it all over the chair and some on the floor. Now this is one broken ashtray, icing sugar face and tray dropage. He cleaned up his mess and we headed for the Palms. The longggggggggggggggggggggggg way. I thought we were going to have to carry Bryan he was so exhausted. He was cracking me up with his " the hotel keeps moving farther away jokes". We finally get to the Palms and the eye in the sky called security to come card Bryan. He got carded almost everywhere we went. I told him to enjoy it while he can. Kevin excused himself for a moment and came back to say he heard a bunch of girls screaming and looked to see what the commotion was. Turns out Sting was in the building. Kevin won some money at the Palms then we headed over to the Gold Coast the SHORT way and took the shuttle to the B.C. We had a beer and they gambled a bit. Then we called it a night and went for a cab. I con't downtown and proceeded to loose 60.00. They went back down to the casino at the Stardust and played cards forget how they did. Couldn't have been too good or I would have remembered. I decided when I got up to my room to pack so I could sleep in the next morning. I crawled into bed sometime after 4 and just tossed and turned. I had a hard time sleeping.

Sat.

So much for sleeping in. My phone rings at 6:15 a.m. seems the calls just kept getting earlier each morning. It was Vipershots from Mich. she said no one had heard from me in two days and she figured I would be in my room that time of the morning. She phoned my hubby on her other phone and put the two phones together so she could be in the middle. Such a crazy woman! We talked for awhile, then I called Danny and then I said so much for sleep and went and had my shower. I had about an hour of broken sleep. This was my last day in Vegas Paula and I decided to check out and we headed to Casino Royale where she was staying for the next couple of days before she headed to Harrah's. I was keeping my stuff in her room till I headed for the airport. We went over to Harrah's for a bite to eat and met up with Sassi as she was leaving. Told her we were going to the Stardust to say goodbye to the boyz. She said she was too and called BJ who was just driving past Harrah's on her way to do the same thing. Paula decided to gamble (told her I was putting her in a 12 step program) and Sassi and her mom and I headed for the Stardust. Met up with Bryan and he went and got Kevin. The ladies gambled and I went with the Boyz while they ate. After they ate we headed out to the casino where BJ and Sassi were gambling. They all did a bit more gambling then it was time for them to finish packing and get ready to go home. Anyone who knows me can atest to the fact I get teary eyed when I have to say goodbye to people I have become close too. When it was time to hug them goodbye it took every ounce of strength I had not to loose it. I caught a few tears before anyone seen them. Well if they did see them they didn't say anything. I did have a private moment at the restroom at Casino Royale when us ladies returned there to meet up with Paula. I truly didn't want to see them leave. They made this trip so much fun for me. You are both really special guys and I miss spending time with u already. Over at Casino Royale the ladies all played craps, I watched and mom went to Denny's. We made arrangements to meet at 5:00 at Harrah's. I went to get my stuff out of Paula's room and couldn't get in. I was sure I had the right room but tried a few other doors. I couldn't find Paula so I went to the front desk and luckily the girl there was the one that checked her in & reconized me as being with her so she checked my ID and gave me a new key. Over I go to Harrah's where Paula found me and we had our teary hugs and goodbyes and off I went with Sassi and her mom. We went to the Aladdin where there was a small goodbye meet. Her mom went gambling. After we said our goodbyes we went and played the slots for a bit. Sassi seen one of those bikes that tour u around the mall and said I always wanted to do that come on. So off we go to tour the mall we had a blast waving at people and joking with the driver. It was a wonderful way to end the trip. Off to the get her mom and to the valet. Sassi was nice enough to take me to the airport. I hugged her mom and then her and she said don't start & I said I'm trying not too. Originally I was told my flight was at 11:20 pm so I didn't look to close at my itenary till the last day. Then I noticed it was 10:10 pm on it so off I go with time to spare. My flight was delayed. It didn't board till 11:30 pm. The pilot said they were going to 35000 feet and had a good tail wind so we would be in Toronto in about 4 hours give or take. I didn't get an empty row this time but did have an empty seat in the middle. There was an older man sitting in the aisle seat that was very pleasant he was on his way to England to see family. He would end his sentence each time by winking at me. After he ate he fell asleep till just before we landed then he started winking again. Too funny!!
I didn't sleep on the plane, had about an hour of broken sleep the night before and was looking pretty haggered when I got through customs and up to arrivals. Danny was standing there waiting on me but didn't seem to mind how bad I looked. He gave me a nice big hug and kiss anyway.
This was a great trip. Lot's of memories, meeting of old friends and making of new one's. Special thanks to Nancy & Larry, Sassi & BJ Travel and especially to the Stardust Boyz for making this trip so memorable and so much fun. I can't begin to thank you all enough. I had a blast.

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[ June 18, 2003, 07:42 AM: Message edited by: pattiinontario ]

 

Great trip report! The money cage sounds especially fun and exciting!

You and I were in vegas at the same time. We were there June 6 thru 13 and stayed at LV Club, heck we were probably gaming in there at the same time.

With your Elvis thing you should go check out Elvis A Rama, you'd really get a kick out of it!

 

Nice Trip Report Patti.

I arrived early at the Sahara for the Sunday Meet and realized that my hearing aid had conked out on me (I usually turn it off in the casinos). My lip-reading skills aren't all that good - ergo my short visit and early departure. A pleasure to meet up with your and your friends ever so briefly back at the LL.

I do enjoy your timely postings of hotel bargain rates - keep up the good work.

 

Bob it was a pleasure meeting u. Now I know what board u r from.....lol.
The lady that was with me was my friend from ILVB board. The man was her cousin's caregiver who had been given the night off and got just a little carried away with the Vegas experience....lol
Thank you once again for coming to the meet and bringing me the hat. I hope that u did well in Laughlin.
Maybe u r going to have to start carrying a back up set of batteries like we do for the camera.