In Need of a Vacation

We returned from Vegas at about 4am today. We were aiming for 8 or 9pm last night. What held us up? I wish I could say we decided to gamble more, but we left Vegas at 1pm yesterday. We were held up by the massive amount of traffic leaving Vegas on President's Day morning after Chinese New Year and NBA All-Stars Weekend. Traffic was 0-10 mph for the first 200 miles or so, and then we hit another patch that was 0-2 mph for another 20. We drove 18 hours. I'll say that again. 18. hours. driving. in a car together. tired as hell.

It wasn't as horrible as it sounds, though. I enjoy driving and Pete and I had fun hanging out. After five days completely with each other 24/7 I was pretty happy with us just getting along. :) That's a lot of time to be in close quarters with one person--even if you love them dearly. We did quite well.

The trip was amazing. We stayed at Binions downtown instead of on the strip and hit a lot of the outer-lying casinos. Definitely took the opportunity to shop around while we had the car. Here are a few highs and lows from the trip:

hi: staying in a downtown quirky hotel with lots of character on fremont street

lo: plastic mattress covers (eeewww--although I fixed them by adding the covers from one bed under the sheets of the bed on which we were sleeping).

hi: winning my first Vegas hold-em tourney ($35 buy-in for a $300 1st place payout at Excalibur, along with another 4th place $75 payout in the second tourney)

lo: losing it all in video poker

hi: The Price is Right live show!!!

lo: paying extra for a specific type of massage that didn't end up being all that great anyway

hi: the spa facilities at Caesar's Palace - the coolest thing was the arctic ice room (pun totally intended). The room is 55 degrees (and remember you're naked) with heated benches and snow. Very very interesting experience.

lo: crazy amounts of people there for the all-star game

hi: celebrity run-ins: Lots of big tall basketball players and wannabes walking around with skanky girls. Busta Rhymes tour bus passed us on the drive home.

lo: Pete's phone went missing in the Venetian (the very same casino where Pete tore his quad last year). We had walked away and Pete realized it was gone, and when I called it someone answered but wouldn't talk. After they turned the phone off, we reported it stolen. A while later I thought I'd try calling it again and the guy finally answered and actually gave it back to us. I'm not sure that was his original intention, but at least the phone wasn't gone.

hi: FABULOUS food. Dinner at Alize was incredible (Thank you, Pete!!!)--probably one of the best dining experiences I've ever had. Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill was amazing as always. And Red Rock's buffet was one of the best we've seen. Yummy yummy food.

hi: finding THE ring I want!

lo: finding THE ring I want only at Harry Winston.

hi: the tigers and Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden (always my favorite thing)

It really was such a fun trip. I'm so happy to be home, though---and ready to go curl up with our kitty!