Lakiamia's Diaria: The Vegas Edition, Part I

Here it is: the recap of our week in the desert. I did all my packing that evening and went to sleep well after midnight, only to be awakened again 3 hours later. I had to do an ultra-quick shower and make sure I had everything I needed so we could leave at 3:30-ish. We never leave on time, so it was actually closer to 3:45 when we finally pulled out of the driveway. I said a very tearful good-bye to all the pets (especially Kirby), then tried to put them out of my mind so I could concentrate on the week ahead. I decided to have Grandpa and Grandma pick Kirby up that afternoon instead of dropping her off there for 2 reasons: 1. It allowed me as much time with her as possible before leaving; 2. It wouldn't seem like I was abandoning her because, for all she knew, we were just going out for a drive and would be back later. Get it? Yeah, OK.

Anyway, we had about 9 pieces of luggage (including my carry-on and the video camera), 2 of which were for my souvenir bags alone. Grandma and aunt KoAnn had spent all Friday afternoon putting them together for me. I'd called around town soliciting donations and gotten some BGSU window cling decals from the Alumni Center, some fuzzy bear stickers from Day Mark, Styrofoam model airplanes from Modern Woodman of America (makes sense, since Ohio is the birthplace of aviation!), some nutcracker windsocks that KoAnn had left over from some school activity, and a piece of play money in each one that we'd written "You're a winner!" on them. They were all arranged neatly in plastic bags labeled with my name and tied with ribbons. Very cute! Very heavy, too. In fact, my suitcases were so overstuffed that it was 14 pounds over the airline's 50-lb weight limit. The lady at the counter asked if I could rearrange any of the stuff in it so she wouldn't have to charge us the $50 over-limit fee. I was trying to figure out how to do that when she begrudgingly tagged it and said, "Never mind, there's too long a line here. Just remember it for next time."

We made it through security ok. Dad had to flash his "Titanium Knee Replacement" card for the TSA to prove he wasn't hiding weapons underneath the scars in his kneecaps. I also learned that stiletto-heeled shoes have metal in them, which is what makes them strong enough to support your weight. After that, we had 2 hours to kill. I wanted some Starbucks but it wasn't open yet. So I waited until about 5:30 and went back, but they said it still wasn't open because they were waiting on supplies. This continued until around 6 o'clock, until I finally got in line and put in my drink order just as we were about to start boarding, only to find out the cappuccino machine had broken down. My, my what a morning!

We had a layover in Denver, where it was still breakfast time, so Dad got everyone some Egg McMuffins while I went to a souvenir shop and bought Kirby a little present. I also went to a coffee shop and attempted to get a reasonable facsimile of the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato but, needless to say, it wasn't reasonable enough. We arrived in Vegas around 11 am PST. While we were waiting at baggage claim, Dad went off to rent a car for us. He wanted a convertible so we could drive around with the top down. But when we got to it and attempted to put our luggage in the trunk, there wasn't enough room for all our stuff! So he had to go back and stand in line again to get a different car while Mom, Rob, and I waited outside in the 110-degree heat with our luggage.

At the Palace Station hotel, we tried to check in to our hotel room, but check-in time was at 3 pm and it was only noon then. So we had the concierge take our stuff to a holding room while we went out for a drive. We asked one of the bellhops how far it was to the Grand Canyon and he said about 4-5 hours. Well, that was a little far for us, so we decided to visit Hoover Dam instead. We took I-15 down the strip, filming the landscape and mountains in the distance. I got some nice pictures of the Dam, Lake Mead, and the Colorado River. The water was amazingly clear and blue. It was amazingly hot, too! The dashboard thermometer said 116°! When I attempted to pose for a picture on one of the ledges, it was so hot I couldn't even sit on it for more than a second! I've seriously never known heat like that! It was a dry heat, which made it somewhat more bearable, but it seriously was like walking around in a sauna. We couldn't step out of the air conditioning for more than a few minutes. Even the people who lived there said it was hot. It topped out at 121° that day, which was some kind of record for them.

After visiting the dam, we decided to do some small-town thrifting in Boulder City. I'd seen a few antique shops on the way down so I wanted to stop and visit them on our way back up. I was mainly looking for Strawberry Shortcake stuff. Apparently, though, no one in Nevada even knows who she is. I finally found something in a second-hand clothes store. It was one of those ceramic candle holders that said "Life is just the berries!" and it was only $3! Wow, I hadn't even hit the casinos yet and I'd already found the jackpot!:) It was after 3 by then, so we went back to the hotel, found our luggage, and checked in. Our room was a simple 2 double bed. No mini bar or even a mini-fridge. I had to store my water in a bucket of ice. It felt good to rest, though, as it had been a long day already. But, it wasn't over yet. Rob wanted to go to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at the Venetian hotel. So we took the shuttle to the strip then had to walk several blocks from our stop to the Venetian. My feet were hurting pretty bad by then, as I wasn't wearing the kind of shoes that were good for all-day walking. So when I got inside the hotel, I took them off and walked barefoot the rest of the way to the restaurant. No one seemed to notice or even care. Well, I decided right away that the next time I go to Vegas I want to stay at the Venetian! The inside is painted to look like you're walking in downtown Venice. The ceiling is blue with wispy clouds and the shops look like cute old-fashioned European buildings with thatched roofs and wooden signs hanging on the front. And, of course, there's the gondolas! They weave around the canals under the bridges while the Gondoliers serenade the passengers with rousing Italian arias, all with beautiful operatic voices. We stood there and listened to a few of them. I even sang along when one sang "Con Te Partiro."

Wolfgang Puck's restaurant has 2 different sections: One that's very formal and one that's not. None of us were dressed formally so we went to the more casual part. Even in there, everything is exquisite! The picture-perfect place settings, the titanium silverware, and the waitstaff is obviously trained to watch your every move and make sure you're getting the experience you want. For instance, our waiter noticed that we all ate off each other's plates, so when I ordered dessert, he brought us 4 spoons even though no one else ordered anything. Something else interesting: there's no salt or pepper shakers on the tables, nor any modifiers whatsoever. Rob told us that's because it's considered an insult to the chef to add anything to his concoction. Well, it didn't need modifying anyway. The only downer was the fact that Mom and I were so tired we had to do everything in our power not to fall asleep face-down in our food. It was only 9 pm, but that's midnight back in Ohio, and it had been a very long day.

Anyone who knows me knows I don't eat, I inhale! I'm not one to waste precious minutes by dawdling. The boys, however (a.k.a. the Prednisone Brothers) take their time to savor everything. Mom and I kept trying to hurry them up so we could get back to the hotel and go to bed. Of course, in order to do that, we had to walk all the way back to our shuttle stop, wait for it, and then ride back to the hotel. We didn't get to bed until after 11. Man, I was bushed! I don't think I even stayed awake long enough to watch Jay Leno. But, it's okay because we all needed our sleep for what we had planned to do tomorrow!