Viva Las Vegas, Vol. 2

Las Vegas is one of those cities you have to see to believe. It’s like Disney World, only not, because children should never be allowed there. Frommer’s is dead-on when it describes Vegas as wonderfully awful and awfully wonderful. I was worried that Alan might hate it, but I was wrong. The boy wants to move there.

The trip started out great for him. Because of a fear of flying, he started out with a beer at the airport. And because he was headed to Vegas(!), he opted to have a rum and Coke as well. He got the party started right. On the flight, a flight attendant took an extreme liking to him, bringing him three free drinks over the course of the flight (gate to gate is typically only a little over an hour). Alan finally had to mention that he was meeting his wife in Vegas. Starting off his trip with near-scandal!

By the time Alan got to the hotel, he was a sheet or two to the wind. By the time I met him at the hotel, he thought Vegas was the greatest place on earth. By the time we checked in, I was afraid he would pass out and sleep through our show. Ok, he wasn’t that bad, but he might have gotten there had Vegas sunk its claws deeper into him without me along for the ride. I also might have cried when I saw him in the lobby of the hotel; I was that happy to see my lovely drunken husband after a long week at a trade show.



We stayed at the MGM Grand and got upgraded to The Signature, a separate hotel altogether that must have been a 3-mile walk from the regular MGM. But the hotel room was amazing, with all these Cuisinart appliances (why?), huge Jacuzzi tub and hot shower. The shower was especially impressive because I’d taken two cold ones at the Riviera, where I’d stayed all week. Blerg. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but here you go.



We had to pick up our tickets before the show, and our dinner reservations were at the Bellagio, so we headed off to dinner, stopping for a couple of the obligatory tourist photos.



We picked up our tickets for the show and I had a drink or two while we waited for our reservation at Fix, a restaurant where we proceeded to rack up quite the total for our bill. We didn’t really hold back. We both got steaks and salads and wine and this “adult” macaroni and cheese (of course, adult) and creamed spinach. It was sinful, but hey, that’s the name of the city.

I have a great picture of Alan toasting with his wine glass, but this one really says it all.



After dinner we headed to see Cirque du Soleil’s “O” show. It’s the one with the water. And then no water. And water again. And diving and synchronized swimming and trapeze and contortionists and big rocking boats and fire and swinging and flipping. Well worth every penny. Granted, it’s a lot of pennies, but it’s definitely worth all of them.

I have since gotten over my jealousy of the flight attendant. Turns out he was no real threat to our marriage.

Viva Las Vegas, Vol. 1

While I may make jokes about working on an equipment magazine for a living, there is no question that there have been some surprising perks along the way. I've received random gifts in the mail, such as a bucket of Lincoln Logs that doubled as an invitation to a press conference. There was the random tomahawk hatchet that a company sent me that could be used in self defense if needed. But then there was the week-long trip to Europe, which, while there was a lot of equipment involved, still afforded me the only opportunity I've had to date to go across the pond. Five countries in seven days? It was awesome.

And then of course, I've had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas. Again. And again. And again. And again. I've already been to Sin City three times this year for trade shows. Up until this month, I'd only been to Vegas once for fun, and frankly associated the city so much with trade shows that I kind of hated the place. It's not fun to go to Vegas when you're only seeing your hotel, the walk to the convention center, and the trade show.

But then I got lucky.

One day I was setting off to talk to more equipment manufacturers when my publisher saw me walking by and stopped me.

"What are you doing today from 1 to 3?" he asked.
"I don't have any appointments, why?" I replied.
"Want to go on a helicopter ride?" he asked.
(Flashing headlines in my head: "Helicopter Crashes in Vegas Killing Sweet Girl on Board")
My reply: "Uh...I don't know if I can do that...I'll think about it!"

Turns out a company wanted to take him and some other media on a helicopter trip and he was too busy to go. He wanted us to be represented, so someone had to go. Of course I knew that I could not resist a) getting out of the trade show for a few hours and b) having the opportunity of a lifetime to go on a helicopter ride. Alan further emphasized this point and talked some sanity into me. Scared, I made up my mind to go.

Because I made it back safely, I can say that it was a great decision and one of the more amazing experiences I've had thus far. We flew over Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam, into the Grand Canyon, landed IN THE GRAND CANYON for a champagne picnic, then flew back home, hitting the Vegas Strip on the way back to the helipad.*

The view on our way out of town



Lake Mead


Hoover Dam


The Colorado River and the edge of the Grand Canyon



The Grand Canyon


"I can't believe I'm here."



On the way out of the canyon



It was such a surprisingly smooth ride, so if you ever get the opportunity to go on a helicopter ride, whether or not the Grand Canyon is involved, do it! It's a blast.

More Vegas adventure posts to come!

*I just wanted to say "helipad." I don't get to use that word much.

A Tahoe Trip

Several weeks ago Alan and I went on another trip up to Lake Tahoe to go skiing. Alan had felt under the weather a few days before we left, so of course I knew I would come down with another cold. The viruses must mutate when they make the jump from Alan to me because I always get it way worse than he does. We made the drive up on a Friday night with Marti in tow. I always love it when we can bring the little Grizby with us on trips.

After a night's rest, I woke up on Saturday not wanting to get out of bed, much less get up to go skiing. But I'll be damned if a little virus keeps me off the slopes! We decided to do a half-day of skiing instead of a full day, and Alan didn't do much complaining about staying in bed.

Mind over matter


The view from the mountain is quite "Heavenly," more so than you can tell from this picture. The day was cold and snowy; a storm was a-rolling in. If you look closely, you can see the casinos on the right, butting right up to the California line. Nevada takes advantage of every bit of square footage up to the state line.



Skiing uphill, it appears.



Alan, skiing through the Black forest. I did well my first time down and was at least able to capture Alan's photo. My second time down, I fell end over end and wanted to give up.



Marti enjoying the snow. "I thought we left this stuff in Kansas."



We had a great weekend and woke up to 3 feet of snow the next morning for our drive home. After we got help from an experienced chain connoisseur (a tiny old lady) we were on our way.


Thirty minutes in, not yet a mile down the road, and having already suffered road rage of which we are ashamed to this day, we pulled in to get lunch, thankfully, because little did we know that it would be five hours until our next food option. It took us 3 hours to make it 8 miles, at which point they closed down the highway completely for avalanche control. We sat at a stop for another couple of hours, entertaining ourselves and Marti as best as we could. We eventually starting counting, trying to get to 1,000. By the time we made it to 900 we were on the move again. All told, it took us 9 hours to make what is usually a 4.5-hour drive. Our chains were fierce though, and our Saturn made it through the 30 miles of snow like a champ.

A brief hiatus

I realize that I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks, and you, dear readers, are going to have to hold out a little while longer. I've been swamped at work leading up to the "largest trade show in North America" and just haven't had time to slack on the job and haven't wanted to stay on the computer past quitting time. I'm off to Vegas bright and early tomorrow, but when I return I promise you a blog about a 9-hour drive back from Tahoe a couple of weeks ago and all you'll ever want to read about a week in Vegas....and Alan's first Las Vegas adventure!

A preview:


By the way, don't think I haven't noticed the uptick in comments lately. It's been good for morale. Thanks!