First Morning

I love waking up in Vegas… there’s an palpable excitment in the air. But it’s restrained. Like a coiled viper waiting to strike. People are wandering around looking for their next fix. For me and Sly? We’re hunting coffee!

Right across the street from us is the Park MGM with it’s upscale food court, Eataly. We decided to seek caffeine there and weren’t disappointed. Though costly ($5.40 USD for a medium Americano) the quality is amazing!

Sly loves her cofffee!

We’re headed to the M Resort for seafood buffet around lunch. I’m so happy to be here with Sly. I’ve been here three times solo since our last trip here. I’ll break her of her planning bug if it kills me!

Off to Do Some Vegas

I’m in the air at the moment, enjoying an upgraded Aeroplan reward flight in what’s called Rouge Premium. It’s business class on a no frills airline. That last sentence is almost unintelligible.

Didn’t actually finish this post. I was interrupted by the air host (?) offering me a lunch tray, which was unexpected. The meal was outstanding for airplane food. I was quite happy with it

I landed in LAS and grabbed my bags, rushed up to the transit stop only to find that there was a line of people waiting for the bus, which is strange. this is the first time in 4 or 5 solo trips that there’s been more than myself interested in taking the bus. Hellua way to get around, if you can figure it out.

Made my way to the Hertz to pickup my car, a nice, new Impala. As I was making my way to the suncoast, I remembered I wanted to visit the stratosphere (or the Strat as they are trying to rebrand) to visit The Hat Shop. Made my way over there and bought a new hat! I’ll be sure to do a write up soon.

The drive out to the west side of the city was laborious. Lots of traffic and much distance to cover. Arrived in one piece, checked in and was greeted with this view.

Low floor but I’m not bothered as it’s not costing me a thing.

I’m always amazed with the beauty of this valley. The mountains and the color pallette are striking and not to be ignored.

After a bit of recovery time I went down to secure some dinner. It took the form of a pan roast, as mentioned in this space two weeks ago.

It was amazing and it’s taking all my willpower not to have it for dinner tonight. More on that later.

After dinner I realized how tired I was, returned to the room and passed out until 0300 but that’s another story.

Already Having Boatloads

Of fun! Checked in to my room at the Fremont Hotel (not great), saw the Fremont Street Experience, and wandered around a bit before stopping in at Evel Pie.

Pretty decent pizza and a couple of local brews on tap has caused me to sit here for just under two hours. Definitely need to bring Sly here.

No plans yet for tomorrow but will probably include more wandering around in this area. Already this has been more interesting than my first few hours when I stay on the strip. It’s so generic and clean. This area is not.

In fact I have to take note of something that’s been bothering me: I’m not quite sure but I think I’m smelling the aggregated BO of a thousand people. It’s not appealing. And I’m pretty sure it’s not me. Like 80% sure.

It’s really good to be back.

I May Have Put the Whammy on Myself

I’ve been waiting at the gate for the past hour trying to get on the plane. They are having a hard time finding a cleaning crew and security team to go over the plane before we can board.

Now one thing I’ll give for the Air Canada app, it’s providing me with updates quicker than the people at the gate.

I’ll keep you appraised. I need more alcohol.

Vacation Starts with a Bang

Just sitting in the lounge minding my own business and both Kim Coates and Christina Ricci show up.

I’m freaking out a little bit, for different reasons, but maintaining my cool Canadian exterior with a bit of effort.

Could this be a portent of an excellent trip to Vegas? Can’t be any worse than stopping at the roulette table right after check-in, putting 25$ on black and allowing it to dictate the success of failure of my trip. 😁

I’m going to sit here and enjoy my G&G knowing that the week is only starting and I consider this good luck.

Vegas Suffers From Its Own Greed — The American Spectator

Everyone knows I’m a fan of Vegas since Sly and I started the ‘Annual Zaal Vegas Christmas Vactation’. I like vacating in a place that is pretty inexpensive, where I can relax and do things I enjoy (movies, shows, food, gambling) with my loving wife of 32 years (inside joke) and get the hell out of Calgary for a few days. Read on to hear my justifications….

Continue reading “Vegas Suffers From Its Own Greed — The American Spectator”