Las Vegas, baby!

Finally!  On Thursday, I got the girls ready for school and then headed down to the Ontario airport. As much as I hate flying, I couldn't wait to get to Vegas and meet up with Ken.  Yes, it had only been a couple days, but I was a pathetic mess without him.  


The flight really wasn't as bad as I feared.  I love to travel, but I really hate planes.  I hate being cramped and confined, and I really hate the feeling on take-off and landing.  My head always hurts and my stomach lurches.  This flight was a bit worse due to the head cold, so my sinuses were popping the entire time.  Ouch!  


Ontario to Vegas is only a 45 minute flight, but it went fairly quickly.  I made sure to sit by the window so I could see everything, and I could not believe how huge Vegas is from the air!  As many times as Ken and I have gone to Las Vegas, I have seen it grow and appreciate it's size, but having seen it from the air and seen the sheer expanse of the city is something different.


I found the shuttles easily and got my token to head to the strip.  I could see Mandalay Bay almost at all times, but the shuttle went a very windy and indirect route to 6 hotels before I got to Mandalay, so rather than 10 minutes, it took 35 minutes.  Poor Ken was waiting for lunch for me, and I was starving by the time I arrived.  


There are no words to describe my happiness at seeing Ken in the hotel lobby.  I know that I survive just fine without Ken, and he without me, but until I am in the same room with him, I am always amazed when I learn that I hadn't taken a full breath of air.  Suddenly, I'm with Ken and I am truly able to breathe.  Again, it just cements the epitome of pathetic-ness, but it's true.  


Ken got my into the hotel room and I quickly unpacked and then we rushed down for lunch at the Show.  The food was incredible, and I was impressed.  I have been to trade shows before, and I either had to purchase my own food or the provided lunch was barely passable as "edible" but it got you through.  Not Big Rock Sports.  Pecan crusted Halibut, there was steak, and some other great entrees. I loved the spinach salad with dried fruit and walnuts and the Champagne Vinaigrette was divine!  


After lunch, Ken and I walked the entire floor.  We went up and down each row looking for items that would be best for the raffle since Ken had gotten the go ahead from Neil the night before.  I found some great pink stuff for ladies, and then we looked at Trap items, cases, etc.  

The amount of money that the Club actually spent was very low which means that the money we get from the raffle will be mostly profit.  Hopefully, the Club will be very pleased with all of the work that Ken did to get the best ammo deals as well as the raffle prizes.  


By the end of Thursday, we were exhausted but starving.  We dropped things back off in the hotel room, and Ken wanted to show me the little Irish place he found.  He said he had a beer there the night before and really enjoyed himself.

So, I have to stated that I have NO idea how to pronounce the name of the pub, but the food was excellent, the staff was wonderful, and it was a fabulous place to kick back, relax and enjoy yourself.  They have a live band every night which was fun.  Unfortunately, Ken and I were completely too exhausted to stay out and enjoy ourselves.  

Ken and me at Ri Ra Irish Pub in Vegas

We walked around the shopping plaza to see what there was.  My favorite place was a type of eatery/sweet store.  I didn't go in, but you better believe I'll check it out next time.

There's not much I can add to this.  Love the name and the pictures!

Between neither of us sleeping while apart plus all of the walking around for the afternoon, we dragged ourselves back to the room to sleep.


The next morning, we got up early since the Show was going to end at Noon.  We went to find some additional items that Neil suggested as raffle prizes.  The really great thing was that the requested air rifles ended up getting donated once I started talking about why we wanted them to the rep.  Sah-weet!!  You can never go wrong with Free Dollars!  


Ken got the order in and we got checked out of the hotel.  We had some time to kill before our flight, and on the way to Margaritaville (Duh! - so had to go!), Ken and I realized that we really should have spent the money and stayed an extra night.  We were both very worried about being able to stay awake not only until our flight but to drive home.


Margaritaville is always amazing!  I did forget to purchase a new T-shirt for my collection however.  The Volcano Nachos were PERFECT as was my margarita.  Ken and I always split this plate, and we are never able to finish it all, but it tastes so good!  We never order anything else except for a margarita for me and beer for Ken, and this day, we were too tired to enjoy more than one drink.  More than one would have made getting around far too difficult.

However, on my way to look at the shirts from the Smuggler's Hold, I got very distracted when I saw a sign for the Margaritaville Casino.

Casino???  Margaritaville???  Oh YES!  This particular section of the Flamingo Hotel had been closed for a long time, and I never knew why.  Since Ken and I haven't been to Vegas in so long, I had no idea this was coming.  Totally SAH-WEET!!  

I think that the next time we come to Vegas, we will be staying at the Flamingo just so I can be near-by!  My love of all things Margarita, flip-flops and Jimmy Buffet know very few bounds, and this was no exception.  The casino was staffed by some amazingly wonderful people.  Everyone was happy and helpful, they loved to talk and have a great time.  I lost my $20 but I was able to make it last over an hour.  I always know I should quit when I am up $60, but I'm always having too good of a time.  No big loss which is cool.  Ken made $5, so we were good. I made sure to get myself a new Rewards Card.  I had to!  My original one was the plain gold card, and my new one sports the Play in Paradise with the Margaritaville logo.

Yay for me!  I was so very bummed that there were no souvenirs for the Casino yet.  I would have LOVED come chips, playing cards, a pin for my collection....something!  The pit boss at the Blackjack table we were playing at said that is the top question they have been getting asked since the Casino opened in October - what and where can they purchase the souvenirs. Totally bummed out, but maybe they will have something by the time Ken and I are able to get back there.  


It had been almost two years since Ken and I went to Vegas.  We've tried to go many times, but it never worked out (the time we stopped through for lunch with the girls last May does NOT count as a real visit since we didn't stay and play).  We determined that we would find a way to get back there and enjoy ourselves together.


We used the monorail and tram to get back to the Mandalay Bay.  We gathered our luggage and headed to the airport early so that we could at least sit and wait rather than constantly walking around.  I really didn't want to spend too much more money since we were trying to stay on our budget.


We got to the airport very early, managed to get through security quickly and then found a couple chairs at our gate.   I picked up some snowglobes for the girls and chocolate for Val who was watching the girls for us, and then we sat and waited.  Ken managed to get a nap while I did my best to keep watch for our boarding time.


As we were lined up waiting to board the plane, Ken and I were talking about changes we hope our Gun Club will make over the next year.  A man directly in front of us asked if we had been at the show and we responded affirmatively.  He introduced himself as a rep for Hornady and we all started chatting.  He ended up sitting across the aisle from us and Rick asked about the things that we purchased since we don't have a Pro Club on site, so I started talking about our annual banquet, the raffle prizes, that we own our land, etc. and he immediately offered a donation to our Club for the raffle.  Oh yes!  Just by chatting as I normally do, I got an offer for 10 cases: pistol, long gun and archery.  Nice!!  


Ken and I managed to get home and then crawled into bed.  There is absolutely nothing better than our amazing mattress and Ken in the bed with me.  After 5 days, I finally slept!!