Oh Yeah - Vegas Baby! - April 2-5, 2011

Officially - Nothing happened! We left Chicago on Saturday and returned on Wednesday (1:30 am) morning. That's it, that was our trip.

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NOT! I never was any good at "official" stuff. Vegas was "the BOMB" "the cat's meow" everything they say it is PLUS! I love that place. Norm III and I are giving serious consideration to moving there permanently. I just have to convince him to take me along when he goes.

Ok, as you can see I got a little excited. There were so many things to do, places to see, and so much fun to have. You can really lose yourself in Vegas without hardly trying. I think the best part is that nobody thinks I'm weird or different. Everyone is just so accepting in Vegas. It also helps to carry a LOT of dollar bills. You have to tip everybody for every thing. I think that is why everybody is so happy to see you in Vegas.


Here are some of the photos of the trip (and some of the things I'm not suppose to tell...)

I got to meet THE Blues Brothers!!! They were hanging out at the airport waiting for a flight. Jake and Elwood are guys I really look up to! (OK, I look UP to most everyone, don't go there! You know what I mean.) They really know how to have a good time. I was hoping that they were headed to Las Vegas too. Elwood said no, they were heading to Florida.

On to the gate. I really enjoyed the walkways at the airport. You're not as tired when you get to the LAST GATE on the far side of the airport for your flight.



With all of the security now at airports we had a little time before our flight. Norm III and I decided to have a tasty beverage to pass the time.

 The folks at the ticket counter were very fun and laughed when I mentioned that I thought their new idea of convertible planes was pretty cool. The flight out was pretty uneventful. I mentioned my joke to the flight attendant about convertible planes, he said it wasn't funny in any way. Then he used my convertible plane line when addressing the passengers before take-off. He was just a joke thief!

WE made it! Here we are (Kate, Kyle & Kyle's mom, Laurie) in the garden of the Flamingo Hotel & Casino, on the strip, in BEAUTIFUL downtown Las Vegas! I can't believe I'm here... We were already checked in and ready to go.

Pink birds... No, really, THEY'RE pink!! I don't know how they get them to stand still long enough to paint them pink, but the artist who paints them is pretty talented! I think this is one of those -don't tell- things. But pink birds? Whats next? (Maybe eel sandwiches!!)

Here is Kate and me getting our Rewards cards. They said that we could get free stuff with points that we would earn by using our cards while we there. I'm going to use my card for everything. I like free stuff. Its the best kind.

Woo Whooo! Jackpot!
 Norm told me I didn't need to yell every time the wheels stopped spinning. Then he explained how slot machines worked and yelling woo whoo should be reserved for amounts over $100. I felt a little foolish. The man next to me said it was ok though, that most newbies to Vegas didn't know the woo whoo rules either.

I always told Norm that Elvis wasn't dead! He just got tired of touring. Maybe NOW he'll believe me.

TWO Elvis'  How much more proof could he need?

Oh baby, Caesar's Palace. I wonder if Caesar is home right now? I haven't seen him in quite some time.

Caesar always had good looking girls around. I found this Goddess to talk to while one of the servants went off to find Caesar.

This one place had a beautiful garden inside. Norm said I had to see the butterfly house. I told him I had been to many butterfly houses and restaurants. His puzzled look told me he had never been in a food fight before. Then he showed me this tiny building inside the building we were in. It had bugs flying everywhere! Norm said the bugs were butterflies. Who knew? This picture was made of real flowers! Not only was it gorgeous it smelled good too.

This cool kitty was just chilling outside the Belagio, on the way to some sort of dancing water fountain. I asked if he was coming or going. He was a bit reluctant but said he was going because he lost all of his money. I told him I would help him look for it and he just burst into tears and got in a cab and left.

 Being that sensitive I figured he was from Idaho or something.

Here are the dancing water fountains Jules and Norm were talking about. I asked Kate what Norm and Jules were talking about. Dancing water fountains? It looked like a lake but with no boats or skiers. Besides, how can you get a drink if you had to chase down the fountain? 

Kate said we should just humor them and go along. Sooner or later we were going to get inside a casino for some fun after the sight seeing. I have a video clip of when the water was actually dancing. It scared me at first, but it was really neat. I certainly wouldn't want to take a drink from those fountains. Sometimes the water would zoom 60 or 70 feet into the air and it made a boom sound when it did! I think they need to adjust the pressure on that fountain before someone gets hurt getting a drink.

Now we're talking.  This was on a little street in New York. Which was really strange because I hadn't noticed that we left Las Vegas yet. Those l-o-n-g glasses are not iced tea. When celebrating ones 21st birthday what better way to kick off the celebration than with a glass that is almost than 20 inches tall?

I finished mine first. That was when Norm said we weren't racing. He was ok with it though and got me another one and said I should just slow down a bit. I could have sworn he said we were racing.

This is Nicole and me. Nicole was a great waitress that was responsible for the part of the casino that we were in, (That felt weird writing that; responsible. It just doesn't seem to fit the Las Vegas theme, Las Vegas - Responsible. I think that is what is called an oxymoron. Not the guy at the corner swearing at passing cars or people who won't give him 10 dollars.)  Anyhow, Nicole was nice enough to bring us tasty beverages. I think she thought I was cute or something. I don't exactly remember how we arrived at the conclusion that we should have our picture taken together, but I'm glad we did. 

It might have had something to do with how many times she passed by with tasty beverages... (Or she was just being nice to the crazy people) Thanks Nicole.

One thing I have always known. If you want to really impress the ladies, it is all about the bling! If you can fellas, rock it. The ladies always love a guy with a lot of bling.

Some of the fun sights we saw. A giant Statue of Liberty made out of jelly beans. It would take 2 or maybe 3 movies to eat. A really cool tent for camping. Norm said I couldn't get it because he didn't want to carry it all night. 

Sleeping Lions (my favorite kind). Notice that they were sleeping until Norm decided to put me up by them. Then they were ALL awake and looking at me like some sort of appetizer.

Let the fun begin...               

and continue...

I heard a familiar sound as we walking through one casino. I told Jules it sounded like a dialect of gnome that I hadn't heard for a long time. So we went to investigate and sure enough I found fellow travelling gnomes! 

We hit it off immediately. I thought hanging with my gnomies would be a blast!  They were spinning the reels and chattering and ringing bells and I was chattering right along with them. We were talking about our travels and the old country and good old fashioned eel sandwiches.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that one of their clan wasn't very friendly and had sticky fingers. No, he wasn't eating candy or anything. He just reached in and picked my pocket of a $10 dollar bill. I wanted to say something and get my 10 dollars back. Norm said it was better to leave it alone so we just left. I don't mean to be judgemental or anything but it sure wasn't very nice of that clan to take my money and not even say thank-you.

After that little fiasco we decided it was best to head back to our hotel for a few hours of sleep.

Five hours later Kate & Kyle were at the door asking if we wanted to go to breakfast.

I will say this, the food was out of this world. No, I didn't find any eel sandwiches, but to be honest after a champagne breakfast I quit looking.

More about the food

Tell me where else in the world can you get cotton candy as a dessert choice?                                                       Anywhere? No? I love Las Vegas...

This dessert worried me with the ball things on top. It looked rather bizzare, which is why I just had to try it. I just needed to gather my strength to venture out that far. It was great! Raspberry & pistachio... mmmmm....

After breakfast we lounged about by the hot tub and pool for a while.

I talked up Norm III for a bit. We were debating the better make of car. He is sold on "bow ties" which is strange because I have never seen him in a suit. I figured him to be a Chevy guy.

I got a bit tired after enjoying the hot tub and decided it best to lay in the sun for a while.

Those are not all my empty containers.

I had help. Even though they won't admit it.

Transportation was easy. Buses, taxis, even a monorail like Disney World. Although the ride wasn't as smooth as Disney.

 Escalators, elevators and more moving sidewalks helped get you around too. We still walked 5 miles the first day and 8 miles the second despite the transportation that was available. Laurie had on a gadget that counted our steps.

The casinos I think were my favorite places. I loved all the clatter, bells, music, lights and especially the cheers when someone hit a jackpot.

Except.... the Monkees game.

Jules hit a winner on this game. It seemed like it was going to be a huge jackpot with all the noise and music. Considering how long it went on we thought Jules must have hit the jackpot of jackpots, because it wouldn't stop!  It turned out that she won about $30. It got to be embarrassing sitting there while it kept going and going. And LOUD! It was the loudest machine we had ever played. We didn't play that one anymore. I'm not knocking winning $30, it was just too over the top for such a modest win.


More to my liking! Bells and flashing lights.

This is Tiffany. My mystical way with women is what drew her to our area. She made sure we had tasty beverages while we played. Tiffany was especially nice to us and is a fantastic person and beverage provider. She is originally from Indiana. At least I was guessing that from her name tag. Don't we make a nice couple.

Besides Tiffany, I met some other interesting folks.

This couple wouldn't tell us their names. I think it had something to do with the amount of cash they had won. His friend just kept calling him Red. Norm said they were just the kind of people I should expect to meet at vintage trailer rallies. That sounds like a fun time! I can't wait.

This is Aaron & his girlfriend, Rachel (pronounced Ra-shell) . Aaron is a lifelong friend of Norm III that moved to Las Vegas a few years ago. We had dinner with them and then took a few pictures. Aaron said he was a welder. I think he was a proctologist though based on the goose he gave me while taking this picture.  Norm cropped the photo because this is a family type blog and we don't want any issues with the censors. Aaron and Rachel were a lot of fun! Slightly crazy, but fun. I think fun people attract fun people.

This is Brittany and Laurie. They were recently engaged and were in Las Vegas to celebrate. I think the glasses they had kind of advertised that the party was on! (Hi guys! I told you you would make the blog. Congrats on your upcoming nuptials.)

This guy was real tight lipped about his name. 

But Toby Keith was easily recognizable. Beer for My Horses is my favorite Toby song. Anyone that would take care of their horses like that is ok in my book.

I was a bit tired of walking on Tuesday afternoon. Not finding any benches I thought it might be ok to sit on the hood of a car.

It wasn't a good choice... Orange is not a complimentary color on me. Besides the county didn't have any shirts that fit me.

I now understand the saying of What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.

Until next time,

Travis