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Rayn and I left Portland about 7:30pm on Friday night. Before leaving the airport we bought a bag of candy and some espresso. Rayn wanted to be in a sugar and caffeine induced coma by the time we arrived. The flight was smooth sailing. I taught Rayn how to play gin and we made plans for our weekend. By the time we got to Vegas we were hungry and tired but looking forward to the weekend. We had to play a few slots and then wander around like bumpkins a bit before locating the hotel shuttle. We paid our nine bucks and then what should slide up to the curb but a white stretch limo. We could hardly believe it was for us - but as I said to Rayn,
"Welcome to Vegas!" | ||
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We landed in Vegas at about 10pm on Friday, got to the hotel about 11:00 and called
Doug amidst the noise of the casino floor. Rayn was just in awe of the sounds and lights -
all the things you see on TV - the waitresses in thongs and guys named Guido chomping on
stinky cigars and blackjack dealers in sequined vests. We stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel
which has a huge tower with amusement rides on top. As soon as we got unpacked we went
back downstairs to get tickets to the "Top of the World."
The elevator to the top of the tower goes 30 feet per second. Then you get to a reverse bungee ride by an outside staircase to the top of the building which is 1400 feet tall. As you stand in line for the ride, you get closer and closer to see and hear the riders in front of you. At first all you can hear is the whoosh of the bungee and the screams, then Elvis sings "Viva Las Vegas." As you round the last corner you see that just before the bungee goes up, bright orange lights go on below the riders feet. Everyone in line is watching those ahead of them and deciding whether or not they want to go for it. The buildup of tension is delightful! | |||
 View from the bottom of the tower |
We finally climbed into our seats, which faced out from the center with our feet dangling free, then waited forever while they told us to keep our hands in, take off glasses.... then silence and the wait for the orange light. Rayn and I were squealing and holding hands. Then all of a sudden we were flinging straight up at 4 g's. You get to the top, then there is a moment of zero gravity, then a free fall straight down, then BOUNCE-ZING, back up... it feels like you | ||
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floating because you see nothing that you are attached to below, above or behind. In front
of you is the whole twinkling city. It all happened in forty seconds, then we were
climbing off the seat and looking at each other and laughing in amazement. We just rode
the Stratosphere that we had been talking about for months - Wahoo!
We immediately rode the roller coaster which goes around the top six times at 35 mph. The weather was gorgeous - at least 75 degrees at midnight and the view from up there was unbelievable. The mountains nuzzle up to the edges of the city, with the wildly lit Strip running right through the middle. We had dinner at 1:00am. We giddily planned the next day and finally went to sleep about 2:30. | |||
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Saturday we went to MGM Grand. The first thing we saw was an Elvis impersonator which was very Las Vegas and cool. MGM had some rides but the roller coaster was closed because of high winds. So we went on the two water rides and one of those awful around real fast and upside down and sideways Ferris wheels that make me puke. I only went on that one because Rayn was so disappointed about the roller coaster. | |||
 Prince saves the day |
The park was really busy and crowded and kind of stressful so we bagged it early. Just as we were leaving we happened to run across a Prince impersonator which was such a pleasant surprise we decided it was a good omen and it brightened up our mood. | ||
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Saturday night we went to a hypnotist show which was excellent and so funny. They seated us up front because of a problem with the tickets so we had a great view. Before the show, Rayn spent the last of her money on a necklace that had a red strobe light in it that looked pretty wicked in the dark club. Rayn volunteered to get hypnotized and got up on stage but he didn't end up picking her. By the end of the show our faces hurt from laughing - partly at the antics of the hypnotized but also because the hypnotist obviously fancied himself quite a stud and he kept mugging doing these Superman type poses in his tight pants and silk shirt. He was so Vegas, slimy and cheap and over the top. But fun! After the show we watched "The Full Monty" in our hotel room then played cards and ate Doritos and drank pop, and finally went to sleep at 1:30. | |||
Circus Circus Rollercoaster |
Sunday we had room service breakfast, then went to Circus Circus and to the Grand Slam Canyon theme park where there is a totally killer roller coaster that has two loops and a corkscrew. We rode it 5 times. We also rode the log flume (twice) and the Ferris wheel which gives you a beautiful view of the whole park. Rayn rode the pirate ship but I had to draw the line there because the last time I rode one of those it gave me the whirlies so bad I had to sit down for 1/2 hour. We got there early, just after opening, so it was not very crowded and the lines for rides were short. They also had dozens of midway type games and video games - Rayn won more cheap toys and a coffee mug. | ||
We got a caricature of her on a red chopper in thigh high boots. We ate total garbage - churros, soft pretzels with nacho cheese sauce, cokes, hot dogs, and pizza. We stayed all day and had a blast. We did notice at some point that we both were missing Cannon very much because we kept seeing cute little babies and wanting to grab them and give them kisses and hugs and tickles. We decided not to kidnap any babies - but still looked longingly whenever one passed. At 5:30 or so we went back to the hotel because my feet hurt so bad I almost couldn't walk - I needed a break. (Although Rayn thought we should just stay out on the strip until 4 am every night because - Hey, it's Vegas, baby.) We had been seeing people running around with Mardi Gras beads all weekend and Rayn was really hot to get some of those beads. We finally asked someone where they came from and found out there is a free show at the Rio every two hours where they do a Mardi Gras parade. I was psyched because I finally found something for us to do that didn't cost anything and Rayn could get her pretty beads. Double bonus! We decided to catch the 8:00 show and took a cab over to the Rio. Later I found out that the cabs are usually a total rip off but we lucked out with a nice cabby who told us all about his family and took us straight to the Rio. | |||
The result of spending late nights trolling for mardi gras beads | This casino had a Caribbean theme with a whole section recreating the New Orleans French Quarter clubs, voodoo shops with magic charms, talismans, candles and incense, a shop full of beads & feathered masks & sequined vests, an exotic liquor store, a store of jazz music and instruments. In the twisty cobblestoned alleys there was Jazz music playing and crickets and a canal running through full of animatronic bullfrogs and 'gators. We had just a few minutes to browse before the show started at 8:00. We noticed that people were crowding around all over the casino floor looking up... We staked out a place and waited. | ||
The level of energy was building noticeably as more and more people arrived. Then the show began... instead of floats going around on the floor they are on tracks hanging down from the ceiling above the casino floor. There were several floats made up to be sternwheeler river boats with jazz bands and dancers and celebrity impersonators and voodoo priestesses - everyone singing and dancing and waving at the audience below. It was unbelievable! A giant Louis Armstrong balloon inflated from the ceiling and dancers came down in suspended cages. There was a huge sweeping staircase where the king and queen of Mardi Gras came down to sit on their throne. Jesters in bright costumes ran around the floor doing acrobatics and jumping around and cackling crazily. At some point I noticed that the crowd was getting more and more wild and jumping up and down gesturing to the performers. Rayn was grabbing my arm and pointing up... the performers had handfuls of the beads and were throwing them into the crowd. Apparently the louder and wilder you act the more chance you have to be favored with beads so Rayn and I were waving and whistling and jumping to try to get the attention of the performers. Everyone else there was after beads too so the energy and noise level was rising but it was not frenetic or scary, everyone cheered and clapped and smiled at each other when someone nearby caught beads. When I caught my first beads I put them around Rayn's neck and she grinned and laughed and clapped for more beads. It was wonderful to see her so unabashedly excited and silly. We each caught two necklaces and were sore from hopping around and yelling. Although the show lasted about 15 minutes I was sweaty and tired - we had a bit of a wait for the shuttle back to the strip and then another shuttle to our hotel. We met and talked with a number of people and found that the energy from the show was infectious - everyone was laughing and talking on the buses. | |||
 The Hard Rock Cafe |
We had about 45 minutes between shuttles so we walked around looking at the world famous Vegas strip at night. I took more pictures and we found a horrible/wonderful souvenir shop with the worst of ticky-tacky I have ever seen. I bought an Elvis license plate for Doug and a replica of Elvis' drivers license for my office. Rayn was hungry so we grabbed some McDogfood and headed for the shuttle. Back at the hotel we had killer onion rings and Caesar salads for dinner and then Rayn ordered a hot fudge sundae which ended up being bigger than her head. We were still being pretty silly and that made us laugh all the more. We trundled up to our hotel room and watched "Good Will Hunting", then played cards more, determined to stay up as late as possible on our last night. | ||
Monday we got up at about 9:30 to the sound of a maid vacuuming the hallway, crashing the vacuum into the door of our room, and talking rapidly and loudly in Spanish. Apparently we were the only guests on the floor or something because she obviously felt no need to be quiet. I would have thought that 9:30am in Vegas is like 6:30am everywhere else. Hush! Our flight didn't leave until 3:30 so we wanted to get to the Strip to make one more attempt to ride the roller coasters at New York New York that had been closed all weekend. We checked out, stashed our bags and grabbed a shuttle. | |||
The elusive roller coaster at New York, New York Casino |
The roller coaster at New York New
York was indeed open so we ran through the insane maze of casinos, malls, stairs, the
arcade... only to see a HUGE line. We both decided to bag it and concentrate on winning
some more cheap stuffed animals. You can never have too many cheap stuffed animals. (In
fact we later determined that for the fifty bucks we spent at arcades we got at least
$3.79 worth of stuff.) | ||
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It was getting close to time to leave
so we started walking back to the bus. On the way Rayn persuaded me to try one of those
enormous slot machines so I put in one of my last dollars and actually won 30 bucks. I was
absolutely shocked, but managed to get to the cashier to trade the tokens for real dinero.
By this time we were fatally late and had to practically run six blocks to make the
shuttle in time. We were so hot and sore from running - then the bus driver gave the same
speech we had heard every time we rode the bus - about how tall the Stratosphere is, etc
etc, with the same corny jokes at the same point in the speech - compounded by the fact
that he spoke a very obscure dialect of English that almost nobody on the bus could
understand... well it was all too much for us and we giggled and snorted our way back to
the hotel - exhausted but immensely entertained.
We lucked out and got a cheapo shuttle to the airport almost immediately. The line at the ticket counter was short so we had time to get one more crappy meal - this time Pizza Hut. As we taxied away I caught view of all the casinos we didn't even get a chance to see during our short trip. Next time we are staying for a week. The flight was uneventful - although we were in the very last row right next to the toilet so we got to watch all the people with small bladders walk back. I encouraged Rayn to take a nap because she had these red bags under her eyes from the late nights and constant exposure to cigarette smoke. She assured me she absolutely couldn't sleep on a plane, then proceeded to snore on my shoulder for half an hour until the peanuts and drinks cart came. We had a cards tournament, playing go fish, gin, speed, secret, and crazy 8's and ate Oreos and talked about how much we missed Cannon. The flight went very quickly, and we got excited when the scenery started looking familiar. It was great fun seeing Doug's beautiful freshly painted car, and seeing Cannon, and making him look at all our tacky souvenirs and pamphlets from the places we went. We were surprised to find that the Easter Bunny visited and left us each baskets full of goodies. Cannon and I took our film in for one hour developing while Doug cooked dinner and Rayn worked on homework left undone while we partied in Vegas. We had a delicious home cooked meal of macaroni and cheese and told stories to Doug about our adventures. I was so tired but wanted to do bath time and snuggle with the baby before bed time. Cannon was totally silly and adorable in the bath and perfectly cute and soft and dreamy at bed time. After we stuck him in his crib, we checked out the pictures. I was actually able to stay up long enough to enjoy the feel of my own bed before crashing at about midnight, although this morning I was extremely late for work. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be off Vegas time. I'm ready to go again - next time I want to ride down there with friends so I can get some gambling in and ride the strip. Viva! | |||
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© Angela McMahon | 04/14/98