I left for Las Vegas on May 4, returned yesterday, May 7. The trip was just an awesome trip. Very tired coz I think overall I had about 12 hours of sleep for the 3 nights we were there. Thanks again Corrine and Leong for inviting me to Vegas. Tammy, i know you will read this, thanks for putting up with my BS.
OK, here is my recap of my trip. Gotta put this down so I don’t forget since I’m already forgetting so easily. I got to Hubert Humprey airport at 5:50 a.m. with the check-in lines a mile long. Checked in my luggage, went through security and once the TSA officer was pointing up on the screen, immediately I remembered: I packed the tube of sun screen which was more than the normal requirement which I don’t even remember what it was. Pulled me aside and checked my backpack and then I told her I think that was what she saw – the tube. Darn it. It was ok.
Met up with Corrine, her family and Tammy. They were already waiting for me and right after I did my bathroom stop, boarded the plane and off we went…..Vegas, baby! Departed at 7:00 a.m. CST on the nuts. The flight with Sun Country airlines was a very pleasant surprise. The service was by far better than Northworse. Sun Country provided a free meal that was the most important thing coz we were famished. I sat next to a couple, Judy and Jim, from Eagan who hve been to Las Vegas and cruises every year. We had a wonderful chat which helped past the three-hour ride.
Once we arrived at McCarran Intl airport at 9:10 a.m. PST, got my luggage and hailed a taxi van. Oh, I always thought Nevada is Mountain time, but it’s Pacific time. The hotel we stayed in was The Mirage.
The pool in The Mirage
Traffic to the hotel was horrible. I was warned not to drive in Vegas. Since we were early, we could not check in, so we left our luggage with the bellhop and off we went to checked out the hotel. The hotel has a very beautiful pool area and to see what else we could do in the hotel for David, Corrine and Leong’s 6-year old kid. We thought of the Dolphin show for him but it was just not worth the money. When we were done scouting around, we needed food. It was still breakfast in Vegas but our stomachs were dying for lunch!! We headed to McDonalds which was right across the Mirage.
Right after our lunch, with more energy, we pounded the Strip. Man, the Strip was just too awesome. We or actually me, took a lot of pictures. We walked all the way to the Coke and M&M’s factory. The weather was great. Even though it was hot with temps of around 80-85 degrees, I was not sweating. The air was just plain desert air – dry to the bone. I was so in need of water coz I knew it when my lips starts to hurt.
Along the Las Vegas Boulevard, The Strip
Bellagio in the background
M&M’s World
Inside the M&M’s World
The “O” at the Bellagio
I sent my separate ways around 12:40 p.m. to meet the van from SinCity Skydiving company to pick me up from the Paris Hotel which was in the middle of the strip. Since I was early, I went in the hotel and boy, very beautiful. All the pictures of my trip will come later coz I’m still downloading them and it’s going darn slow. Anyways, I didn’t go up the Eiffel Tower but managed to walked around for about 15 minutes before I left for my extreme activity, skydiving. The story on my skydiving experience is going to be another post.
I will continue with the rest of the story tomorrow but now here are some of the pictures.
The Smart for Two car. I was not the only one taking a picture of this car.
Inside the Paris Hotel at the lobby
Paris Hotel
The airport where I took off for my skydiving.
The plane on the right was the one I was in for the tandem jump.
The guy who was hired by the company to tend to the parachutes.
Me with my tandem instructor, Brad and Dawn. Both of them were from St Louis Park, MN.