Sonya's Semi-Live Trip Report April 25 - May 1

Another adventure to Vegas. I decided to drive again. I know it's not for everyone, but I really enjoy it.

Day 1 - April 25

Long drive. 625 miles from my house to Twin Falls, ID. I know this non-Vegas part is boring, so I'll spare the details.

I had good weather, sort of. Showers along the whole route, but really only one hard rain outside of Boise.

Every time I do this drive I decide going to Twin Falls is too far, but when I get to Boise, I feel like I haven't gone far enough. Not many options between them though, so the extra push to get to TF is worth it in the end.

The bad part about pushing to Twin Falls is that I get into town when it's dark. I've driven into town a few times and come over a big bridge with lots of "scenic overlook" signs all around. But again, it was just a dark nothing when I went by. I know I miss some cool geography/geology by missing the end of the drive. Maybe I'll fix that on the way back home.

Day 2 - April 26

Great night's sleep. The budget hotels sometimes get panned just for being budget hotels. But I had good sleep and the room was very comfortable. Despite having to drag my luggage up to the 3rd floor without an elevator or a bell desk, I enjoyed my stay.

Grabbed a quick bite from the free breakfast and headed out early. Another long day, but first I wanted to go back and see what was at that scenic overlook. WOW! It didn't disappoint.

It was a bridge over the Snake River and the canyon is beautiful. I walked around at that visitor center a bit and then drove down to the bottom of the canyon to check out the golf course down at the bottom.

Apparently this is the local fitness walk because it seemed like everyone in town and their dog (literally) was walking this hill. It almost made me feel guilty for driving down. (almost)

Saw an amazing waterfall and got a score card for my dad to check out. But I had to get going as I had a long day. Quick stop for coffee and I was off.

I love this drive. Lots of people would complain that it's just endless desert driving, but I don't see it that way. I think the landscape is constantly changing and there's always something new to see. But again, I'll spare the details.

The weather wasn't bad. A few showers, but the wind was crazy. I had to fight it all the way south to Las Vegas.

This time I took the shorter of the two routes from Ely, NV to Las Vegas. It was just as scenic, but different. It's basically going down one chain of valleys instead of the other. The difference with this route is that I didn't find a good spot to get out of the car and walk around like when I discovered Cathedral Gorge last year. But I found places to get out and stretch my legs where I could.

Got to Vegas around 6pm. Coming over that last pass where you can see Vegas in front of you always gets my blood pumping. I think that last 20 miles are the longest.

Drove down to Tropicana for the hell of it and then back to the hotel. Traffic was LVB traffic, but not too heavy. There was a line of cars waiting to turn into the valet. It turned out valet was closed and that was causing the line up because every car had to be told individually that they have to use self park. Once it was my turn, I just said "Checking In" and the guy let me through the barrier.

I barely stopped the car and the valet was there. He called over a bellman and I was out of the car and on my way quickly. There was a long line at the check-in, but it moved along.

When it was my turn, I asked for an upgrade to a view room of some kind. She offered me a fountain view room that was a smoking room. That was fine with me.

Got into my room and bellman was there within minutes. I ordered some room service, made some phone calls and relaxed until I couldn't feel the road anymore.

Around 10pm, I went downstairs to look for video poker. I found a Triple Play machine and played on that for a while. Started ordering Vodka Collins... Collinses? Whatever. Cashed out up about $80.

Wandered around and found the Video Poker "pit" where all the machines are. Bounced around there from machine to machine until about 1am and then headed back upstairs, still up, but not as much. I think I'm up $35.

Went online in the room and then tried to sleep.

Once I turned off the TV and settled in, I noticed the noise. It's like a semi truck drives down the hall every minute or two. At first I thought it was plumbing noise, but it was definitely in the wall. It's the elevator. It rumbles by the room every couple minutes.

I have a white noise machine I travel with that can usually drown out anything. This time, not so much. I got a little sleep between 3-5:30 and then the sunshine started to come in where the shade doesn't go all the way down to the bottom. Good MORNING!!!!! UGH!

Threw some pillows in front of the window to block the light, but now I'm awake and desperately in need of a new room so I can get a little sleep.

I wonder how that's going to go. :evillaugh

More later... including pictures if I can find the cable somewhere in all that luggage. Why do I pack so much crap?

 

Because I'm staying here now, I wasn't sure it was a good idea to post it. Some people on the internets don't like me.

My request for a new room was pretty smooth. So smooth that I'm suspicious about what will go wrong this afternoon. She heard my complaint about the room and said they would be happy to move me. They didn't have any rooms available, but will call my room when one opens up. I was promised the same view and "level" of room. We'll see this afternoon.

Now I'm off to Wynn. Dan says he might want to stay there so I'd better run some $$ through the casino so they remember I exist.

Thanks for the well wishes. I will be looking for that dealt royal today.

 

Okay, okay... Peer pressure has gotten to me and I've started writing again and looking for pictures.

I will finish this trip report. I need to get approval on pictures from a few people and I'll post when I can.

 

I was driving alone so I took lots of breaks. I left Twin Falls at 9am and got to Vegas around 7pm. It was about the same on the way back, but maybe got there closer to 7:30. When you see the pictures of Chandelier bar, you'll understand why it was a rough drive.

Boise is about an hour further than Twin Falls. If you have two drivers, you should be good. If you have a bladder larger than a thimble, even better.

 

Sorry about that delay. I didn't want to reveal too much about what I was doing at the moment and then I got all caught up in the activity and neglected to finish the trip report. Now I'm back home and mostly sober, so it's time to continue.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah, pictures...

Here are the shots I took from the viewpoint in Twin Falls. Yes, that is a big bridge and lots to see down in the canyon. I had to drive down to the bottom to get a score card from the golf course. At the bottom I spotted this gorgeous waterfall. Wish I had more time to explore, but I had to get to Vegas.







In Vegas I was staying at Planet Hollywood. Here is my first room. It was Popeye themed.









And here is the best dinner ever. After 2 long days of driving, it was fantastic. It's a Buffalo Cheese & Chicken panini with fries and a beer. YUM!

 

I've always found Popeye a bit creepy. That Robin Williams movie was the creepiest.

 

Day 3 - April 27

Back to the trip report. I reported my problem with the elevator noise and then decided to head off to check out Wynn. I am embarrassed to admit this was my first visit there. When I walked in the door I saw the atrium area and thought "Did I make a wrong turn and end up in the Bellagio Conservatory". I hate to be critical, but look at this picture and judge for yourself. Look familiar?



I'm just saying... I went over and signed up for a Red Card and then had a quick $50 diet coke at the VP machines. UGH!

About that time I got some texts from CoasterKikky. She was playing VP over at Bellagio and I decided to join her. Got my car from the valet and headed to Bellagio's Sports Book Bar to meet up with her.

We sat at the bar and I slipped a $100 bill into the machine and started to play. Lance, our bartender came over and made me a wonderful drink. He was fantastic. When your drink would get less than half full, he was right there with a new one to replace it. Needless to say, we had a GREAT time and I played on that $100 for hours.

We chatted and people watched and drank and drank and drank. At one point the bartender made Kikky a margarita. He said that if it wasn't the best margarita she had ever had, he would drink it himself. Kikky said she couldn't honestly say that it was the best margarita she had ever had mainly because she couldn't remember every margarita she ever had. But this was a good one!</p><p align="left">We wandered off towards Venetian to find Kikky's husband in the poker room. We made a brief stop at Margaritaville. It was literally in one door, a loop around the bar and then back out the same door. Does this mean I can check Margaritaville off my list of casinos to see?

We got to Venetian and headed to Grand Lux for a quick bite to eat and about 4 glasses of water. Other than our fries being on the extra salty side, the food was good.

Kikky and Hubby were headed to Cosmo and I needed to get my car at Bellagio and see about getting my new room before heading out for the night. We walked back to Bellagio together and then I was off to Planet Hollywood again.

When I arrived, there was a HUGE line to check in. On Friday evening? Who could have known, right? Luckily they had a Key Line to pick up keys with only 3 people in the line. I got in that line and watched the check in line move as my line stayed just where it was. I don't know what the woman at the counter was doing, but she took forever. I saw the guy make up keys 3 times for her, but she kept stepping back to the counter and then he was back on the computer, typing away.

The poor guy in front of me in line had a few other people waiting for him. They kept bugging him to hurry up like he controlled the line. I thought he was going to blow a blood vessel if she went back one more time. Finally she was done and the other people went quickly. I got up to the counter and they gave me my keys to my new room. I was down one floor (23rd floor) and about 5 rooms further down the hall. This time it was the Willow room.

I checked out my new room and it was fine. Worst part of the room was this creepy doll thing from Willow on the wall by the bed. The best thing was the giant picture of Val Kilmer over the bathtub. Oh.. and the view didn't suck either.







After a quick perusal, I went back up to my old room and called the Bell Desk to help me move all my crap. He was there in just a minute or two and I was moved. Much better.

The part you're probably waiting for comes next.