"What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas"

That is... unless it's too funny not to share!

So our weekend began at 5:30 Saturday morning at the sound of Shaun's phone ringing. He doesn't here it; I shove him, and his torso disappears off the bed. He comes up with phone, but it's stopped ringing. "It's just Dan" he says. Well, that means I need to get up. Then Dan calls to say they are on 465, so I have just 5 minutes to get up. I walk outside to the car. I'm starring up at the tree thinking there are a lot of birds and that all the apt's on the other side are shaded. I don't notice that Dan & Jen drove by, got out of the car, and were walking toward me. We laugh and I get them to the airport to see this huge line. So, I go back home, try to go back to sleep, and when the alarm goes off I tell him about this huge line and that we should get there a little early. Well he rushes me out the door and I wind up forgetting a few things.

When we arrive at the airport we don't know where to park. We ended up in what I later learned was Business Class $8 a day parking. Alas. So, we have a lay over in Minneapolis, and arrive safely in Vegas around 5. We are starving at this point because Northwest doesn't give you snacks. Instead they charge you for a $3 snack. We waited for our luggage to come around the carousel for 45 minutes. Then we get on the shuttle that took Dan and Jen over an hour, but luckily only took us a half over to get to our hotel on. As we are deboarding, we call Dan who tells us that Charity and Steve missed their flight, and won't be arriving until Sunday morning.

We arrive at the hotel to find Dan and Jen asleep. They get ready and go to the Celine Dion concert that Dan later described as phenomenal. (This is the only woman he pays to see all weekend, and she kept her clothes on). Amy arrives an hour late around 10 and we walk down to Treasure Island to meet Dan and Jen halfway. They do a show there, which was pretty dumb, but the fire part was cool. We went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday we get up and Amy, Shaun and I head to the pool for some peak sun time exposure. We are called by Charity, who has now arrived, telling us to come get our luggage because we are changing rooms. Apparently we had paid for a room on the top floors and they had put us on the bottom. So, we go back, get Dan and Jen and all of our stuff and get ready to go. We go to Arby's for lunch, which was only slightly overpriced. Then, we went to a Native American shop and I bought some sunglasses, a necklace and matching earrings that I wore the rest of the trip. Then we took the bus down to the other end of the strip and we all walked back except Charity and Steve who took a cab. We walked into most of the hotels on the one side of the strip.

So Monday is where the real fun began. Charity got the brilliant idea to rent a vehicle and drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Sounds easy enough. We also wanted to go to the Hoover Dam, but this is in the opposite direction. So, we get up early and head out around 9am for the Hoover Dam. It was quite fascinating and we took most of the tours and tons of pictures. We head back to Vegas and stop and In and Out Burger due to Shaun's nagging request. I got a double double no bun. It was quite good. No one else was as impressed as us, but what are you going to do. Well, it's 3pm and we are now heading for the Grand Canyon. Now, we have asked several people at the concierge desk, gas stations clerks and the like how long it will take to get there. We heard estimates anywhere from 2 1/2 to 6 hours, with 5 hours being the general consensus to get to the South Rim. Well, we don't have 11 hours to go on this trip seeings how it's already 3pm. So, we opted for the "shortcut." Now this shortcut is on a "partially paved road." Oh, what the hell, let the adventure begin!

We start out on a fully paved road, but with no lines. But it has guard rails, so we think... this isn't so bad. Then... the road becomes unpaved, but with pretty nice gravel. We pass one truck who is stranded, but he's on a cell phone. We're thinking... hey we have cell phone service... can't be that bad. Then... then road becomes more narrow and more dirt, less gravel, no guard rails. Getting more skeptical. Two and half hours later, we have passed a total of 2 other trucks with drivers waving and laughing at us... this should be a sign. Next we starting seeing huge yellow road signs that read, "PRIMITIVE ROAD: ROAD NOT REGULARLY MAINTAINED. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK." Does this stop us?? Of course not! Forge ahead! So, now it's 6:15pm and we see this school house. We get out and learn that the last resident of this county was in 1988, with a population of one. This school house hasn't been used sin 1991, but had burnt down in 2001 and was rebuilt with donations. It was very cool, and we were taking all sorts of pictures since this is the first piece of civilization we've seen in 3 hours. The men look at the map and determine we would have to go as far as we've come to get to the Grand Canyon. Did I mention it was 6:15pm? So, Shaun and I try to convince everyone that the sun sets early in the desert and that we don't have time to go that far. Well, there's another sign that reads, "Whitmore Canyon 15 miles." Well, 5/7 vote was taken to forge to Whitmore Canyon. You can guess who the 2 that didn't want to go were. That's right... the bride and groom. Course, truth be told, Shaun and I wouldn't have even began a journey on a road labeled as partially unpaved. But, when there a group of you it suddenly seems like a good idea. Well, the road got a lot worse, and there were a ton of cows. Oh, and there were so many jack rabbits. We almost hit a dozen of them. So, anyway, we almost drive off a cliff and this is where Shaun and I determine that we've had enough and it's time to turn around. So, Dan decides to go 60 mph all the way back. Oh, and did I mention that we were in a mini-van! It was quite scary. So, we make it back 11:30.

So, Shaun said "we've been in Vegas for 3 days, and we haven't even gambled yet." So, we showered and went down and gambled. I lost $7, and was quite pissed about it.

Tuesday morning we Shaun and Dan woke up and went to a poker tournament. They lost. Jen and I sat around and relaxed while Amy went to the pool. Then we all went to eat at the lunch buffet. Then mom and Travis came over. Mom was apparently doing very well at Bridge. How bizarre. We went to the M&M factory and a few other places we hadn't been before. Jen went back to the pearl place we were on Sunday, and bought a necklace and earrings. She said she was so excited she was going to wear them to bed. I bought a pearl necklace that I'm going to wear to the wedding.

We had dinner at the Blue Iguana. It was one of the best Mexican places I've ever eaten, and it had the best margaritas. We flew back, and arrived at my apt at 6am. Needless to say, I didn't make it to work Wed!

Thanks to Shaun, Dan, Jen, Charity, Steve and Amy for another fun "group vacation" and I can't wait for the next one...