Fabulous

Well I'm home and other than a plane ride from hell and foot problems I had a fabulous time. I only wish I could have stayed another day. I flew out Monday afternoon and the plane was a bit scary. I think it had 34 seats total and it bounced around so bad before landing I was actually queasy. After I got off the plane I found an inexpensive shuttle and headed to my hotel. I had stayed at the Tropicana and it was pretty decent. The mirrors on the ceiling were a bit tacky (and definitely NOT a good view of myself) and the room was really far away from the check in desk but it was great for the price. After I got into my room I headed out to explore a bit and I was hoping to go to a show. The one I was hoping to go to wasn't playing on Monday night though. I managed to get across the street and could tell I was going to possibly have problems with my shoes (good expensive shoes, my birkenstocks)rubbing blisters. I had stopped and tightened them up and hoped that would fix the issue but it didn't. After eating a cheap dinner at New York New York and figuring out that the show I wanted to see wasn't playing I headed off down the strip. I made it as far as Bellagio and was had planned to go to Cesar's Palace and the Venetian but I already had a large blister on my foot. I headed back towards my hotel. I stopped in Planet Hollywood and found some flip flops that were a little better but not a lot. I then walked on and when I got to the Walgreens I stopped and got some cheap flip flops, band aid things and sun block. Of course I forgot the advil and for the rest of the trip I ended up paying $3 for 4 tablets at a time at the hotel. My feet were seriously hurting when I got back. I went down to the pool for a bit and then went back up and had my two free drinks at the bar. Those guys were pouring some major drinks that night and my two drinks left me pretty buzzed. I put $4 in a penny slot machine and played for an hour or two. I had at one point won 25.00 and then lost it all again.

The next morning I slept in and when I did get up I got ready and headed off in the opposite direction on the strip to Luxor to see the exhibits that I wanted to see. I started off with my other pair of birkenstocks that I had brought with me but they were hurting pretty bad rubbing on the blisters so I ended up switching to the flip flops which irritated the plantar fascitis. I did make it through the exhibits I wanted to see though. I saw the bodies exhibit which was great. They did an amazing job of preserving the bodies and you got to see the organs, muscles, nerves, veins and everything. It was really fascinating. Then I went through the Titanic exhibit which was great too. I wasn't sure what to expect as I had heard that it was actual items from the titanic but had also heard someone say they had Jack and Rose's clothes from the movie. They didn't. They had a lot of items that had been pulled up and then they had built replicas of what a 1st class and 3rd class room was like and also the grand staircase (like it looked in the movie) which I guess was pretty accurate. I loved the exhibit. After the exhibits I walked through some of the shops for Luxor and Mandalay bay and then headed back to my hotel to rest a bit and change for my show. I left a bit early so I could go out for a nice dinner and had a fabulous steak dinner at one of the restaurants. The waiter was fantastic. As I've mentioned a time or ten, I hate onions. HATE them. It drives me nuts when I go out to eat and make it a point to ask if something that typically has onions in it for them to be left out and yet the waiter or waitress fails to mention that some other portion of the meal has them. Like asking if they're in the cottage potatoes at breakfast and no one mentioning that oh, they're in the biscuits and gravy. Or they leave them off the meat but fail to mention that they are in the vegetables. Anyways I asked the waiter if there were onions in the potatoes and he said no but then stopped himself and mentioned they were in the vegetables and would I like to choose something else. I was so thankful for that and just the extra attention he provided that I left him a pretty good tip. Then off to my show. I've seen The Lion King before in San Jose about 3 years ago and loved it. This time I bought a better seat and was really excited to see it again. I was outstanding. I of course forgot Kleenex again and something about the opening scene always leave me a bit teary. The whole show though is just so fabulous. The music and costumes and acting are all so wonderful. I loved it all. It was over fairly late and I knew that any of the shops etc would be close so I just went back to my hotel and went to bed. By that time my feet hurt really bad from being on them most of the day again.

This morning I slept in a bit again and got up and got ready to leave. I got to the airport a bit earlier than necessary but it was ok. I didn't get to go see as much as I had hoped but I still got to do a lot and I did as much as my body would allow. I really don't think my feet would have tolerated much more walking and even with cabs or buses it was still a lot of walking to the shops etc. I did a little bit of shopping for myself and my sister and her daughter. I only lost $22 in gambling. I hate to spend much money on gambling. I had only spent $9 up until I got to the airport today and then I spent about $13 more there while I waited. I never won much. A little bit here and there but when you're playing the cheap slots you don't win much. Oh well. I still had fun. Now tomorrow I'm back to work for 2 days and then have a 3 day weekend. Hopefully in that time my feet will recover.