A Room With A View

Ah, Vegas! Sin city, or more aptly, vice city. Jean and Clint devised a plan to take several of us down to Vegas for a weekend of gambling, drinking, lounging by the pool and shows. We flew out of Grand Junction at 8:15 pm on Thursday and arrived in Vegas at 8:30 pm. Thanks to the wonders that are timezones our hour and fifteen minute flight only took 15 minutes.

We loaded into a couple of cabs and headed for the strip. As we approached the strip we could see massive hotels with more lights than all of Paris. Fortunately we drove right passed them and headed downtown. We were looking to go old school and you don't get much more old school than the Sahara. Visions of Dean Martin and Sinatra danced in our heads as we arrived at the legendary Vegas landmark. Those visions were quickly dashed by real life visions of fat people from the mid-west smoking, drinking and feeding slots.

We checked in and headed downstairs for a bite to eat and the best of all Vegas activities; people watching. There is no shortage of things to gape at, from the 65 year old cocktail waitress in the mini-skirt to the stereotypical, Joe Pesci pit boss keeping an eye on anything and everything.

Now, Adriane and I are hard workers. We don't easily part with our money, certainly not just to make more money for the House, so we did quite a bit of watching. Well, Adriane did do a bit of a turn at the craps table- but she had no charmed beginners luck as was expected, so apparently losing other peoples money turned out to be just as unsatisfying as possibly losing your own. A little drinking, and a lot of watching. You really can see it all. It is quite a freak show.

The next day we spent drinking rum drinks and lounging around the pool like 50's movie stars. After some fun in the sun we headed out to the Wynn. For those that don't know, the Wynn is a 2700 room, massively expensive hotel, casino with shops and a luxury car dealership. Well, we decided to go have lunch at the Red 08. Lunch was awesome, but let's just say it was a bit spendy. If you can't go big in Vegas you shouldn't leave the mountains.

While we were all at the Wynn, I (Adriane) was reminded of just how much I love my husband. After passing by an exquisitely proportioned live model in very sexy lingerie (who stood so still that most of the men of our group thought she was a mannequin), Tom made notice ( of all things) how scary her shoes were. Of course, maybe that was sweet just for my sake, but note to self- No scary shoes.

After lunch the ladies took off for a little shopping and the men went back to the Sahara to watch some hoops.

Ladies shopping was an interesting experience- Five girls with money burning through thier pockets to purchase the next juicy find at "The Attic"- a trendy consignment shop located very downtown. I think its called the matress district, when you are not a tourist. We knew we would find some unusual goods. In fact Vegas is very surprisingly similar to Colorado in that the odds are good that you will find the goods odd. ( or something like that) Needless to say the metallic lame skintight jumpsuits and 6" high platform boots inspired giggles and thoughts of our next phenominal halloween costumes. Audra was killing it in her faux leopard fur pimp hat. The prices were atounding for used treasures- one might think you may be paying extra for the residual "stories" these items must have collected along the seedier side (walks) of Vegas. EIWW! I was tempted by a vintage plastic 80's full sized basketball telephone (with hand stand), considering the underlying MArch Madness theme, but the novelty wore off when the price tag said $80!! (I grew up with that goofy trash! Now I know how my mom felt when I brought home "treasures" from her generations youth)

The men sat and watched hoops in the Rich's suite in the Alexandria tower as the sun set behind the desert mountains in the distance. Much to our surprise Kat returned to the suite as a brunette. Caroline came in as a blond and Jean with red/copper hair. Audra's hair was flashy purple and Ms. Adriane had the fancy brunette with the blond highlights. The ladies were wiggin'! If they had sluttier shoes, one would have thought them to be "professionals". ( We ARE the TRUE pros T- that's how we all managed to get married ;)

A night in the casino followed cocktails in the suite. Lots of drinking amid lots of smokers was the theme for the night as some of the group got down to some serious gambling and partying. Ralph focused on the blackjack while Clint and Pete got down to some craps. Jeannie, Audra and Kat bounced around while Jimmy and Bruce focused on video poker. Adriane, Caroline, Garret and I mostly watched.

A few people were feelin' a bit rough on Saturday morning and some hadn't been to sleep yet, so the pool was looking quite attractive. More lounging and drinking rum drinks made up most of Saturday until it was time to go to Love, the Cirque du Soleil Beatles show. This was definitely the highlight of the weekend for me. The show was typical Circue du Soleil; incredibly acrobatic, frolicking good fun.

The next morning we hit the buffet and fed like cattle. Then we packed up and checked out. Some more casino time preceded the trip back to the airport and the flight back to Junction. After a quick drive back up in to the mountains, we fell in to bed, worn out and happy to be back in our little town. As soon as my head hit the pillow, the alarm went off and work and reality beckoned.