[tragic312]

Ok guys, I have the pics uploaded. So, I'll start off the trip report like that until I can type up everything for you.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...m5aNCa&notag=1

[Dana]

getting an error message on that link tragic.

[tragic312]

Sept. 26 - Day 1

Leaving for Vegas! Yeah! We had a 12:40 flight out of JFK. Everything was packed and ready to go. We left at a good time. But then we hit traffic. We were already in Brooklyn, or Queens, I don't know, but wherever Exit 11 is on the Van Wyck if I'm not mistaken, that's where we hit traffic. And also traffic on the Verrazano.

So, we eventually get to JFK and it was going on noon. When we got to the counter, it was 12:15. There is a block on Rob's name because there is a guy out there with the same name and birthday as Rob's that's wanted for a homicide. So, the woman was a bit grumpy to us that she had to go take this block off her name. I think it was because it was lunch time and she didn't get to go on her lunch break. I'm not saying that she was a really big woman, but she looked very grumpy and it was noon. So, she took her time getting the block off and it was 12:30 when she finally got back to us. So, needless to say, we missed our flight. But, we were put on standby for the 1:40 flight that was a direct flight to Vegas.

After going through security, we had some lunch and patiently waited to get on the plane after everyone was boarded. There was room on the plane for us, yeah!, and we boarded. But, we didn't sit together. We sat a row apart. Rob sat in front of me and I sat behind him.

To be continued......

[tragic312]

Originally Posted by Dana

getting an error message on that link tragic.

thanks for the heads up, dana. working on it right now.

[Dana]

block on his name? Holy cow...that must have been annoying.

[tragic312]

ok, will this work?

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...=8BZN2bFm5aNCa

[tragic312]

Ok, continuing on with TR:

During the flight, I did some homework and took a nap. Watched "Scrubs." we landed in Vegas around 4:30 PM, Pacific Time. we rented a car from Payless. we got to the station, via shuttle bus, and got the car. the car that rob had booked wasn't available so they upgraded us to a convertible. ooooooh. and we got a GPS to get around to Vegas, mostly to the convention center.

Side note, we went to Vegas for an EMS convention and for our anniversary. the convention consisted of us sitting through lectures on various topics and getting credit towards our certifications.

ok, back to the trip report:

after setting up the GPS, we went to Excalibur, the hotel we stayed at. When we got on Las Vegas Blvd, otherwise known as "The Strip", rob told me to close my eyes and wait till the night to see the strip. once we got into the hotel, we were stopped by this woman who asked us if we were married. we said yeah, and she asked how long were we staying. we told her and she brought us over to a desk where this guy talked to us about this time share that the company, GrandView of Las Vegas, was advertising. If we went on their tour, they would give us these adventure passes at the Luxor, dinner vouchers for any restaurant in our hotel, they gave us V.I.P. passes for the Coyote Ugly in New York, New York just to take this tour. we said ok, and got the passes for Coyote Ugly, along with this cruise for two days, two nights.

we checked in and went up to our room to unpack. but when we got in the room, there was a faint smell of cigarette smoke in the air that was covered with some sort of air freshener. rob went to the desk to complain and they moved us to another room with a view of the strip. i wasn't allowed to look out the window until we went outside.

so, after we unpacked, we had dinner at the sherwood forest cafe. after dinner, we went on the strip. it was beautiful. all the lights were soooooo pretty. we walked up the strip to the Bellagio and saw the water show there. it was awesome! i felt like i was in that ending scene of "Ocean's 11" with George Clooney.

it started to get late and we had to get up early for our first session so we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.


more trip report to come......

[WishUponAStar]

I LOVED your pictures!!! It defiantely got me more excited for our trip in June!! Very cool! Can't wait to hear all about your adventures. Glad they changed your room b/c of the smokey smell, that would have stunk... literally

[Voldemort]

Great photos!!

I love Las Vegas. The fountains at the Bellagio are spectacular, one of my favorite things on the Strip.

Looking forward to reading more!

[daisyd]

I was wondering earlier when you returned! I love your photos--your camera takes great night shots! And I love the photo of the big kitty leaning on the glass, lol.

[Dana]

Link worked that time...great pictures.

[Jen]

Great pictures!!

I can't wait for that to me my backyard!!!

[lisalovesmickey]

Awesome TR so far. I also love the pics. I am as much of a Vegas freak as I am a WDW freak! I go there at least once a year and my family room is Vegas theme. Oh yeah, and I named my dog Vegas!

Can't wait for more! I have never stayed at Excalibur and I am curious as to how you liked it.

Lisa

[tink74]

Love the TR! Great pictures!

[tragic312]

Day 2 - Sept. 27

We had an early morning. We had to be at the Las Vegas Convention center in time for our 9 AM sessions. For some reason, rob got a GPS for the car, even though we had directions printed out from Mapquest. so because he still had trouble working the GPS, we were a few minutes late to our first session. they didn't mind though because the rooms are really big and they really didn't notice people coming in late. all that mattered was that you scanned your ID card to get the CEU's (continuted education units, they're like college credits).

so we had a few sessions in the morning and then left to get some lunch. we went back to the hotel and i told rob i wanted to have lunch at New York New York, which is right next door to Excalibur. when we got to NYNY, we were stopped by another time share company, tahiti village. so, after 15 minutes of talking and signing up to take another tour, we had lunch at a Mexican place called Gonzalez y Gonzalez. I had my first ever burrito and it was really good. i was afraid to try a burrito for fear of what would happen to me in the bathroom, but i was glad that nothing happened of the sort.

instead of taking the car, we took the monorail back to the convention center. we bought two 10 trip tickets which in grand total costed $70. the monorail brought back some WDW memories though it was hard to keep disney in mind when the monorail was adversitizing vegas.com. we went back to the convention center for a few more sessions and then called it a day. a lot of the sessions varied on many topics. I took a session that was on women's heart and heart disease and i took another session that was on how to tell the difference between heart related chest pain and non-heart related chest pain. these classes were very interesting to say the least.

after the sessions, we took the monorail back to the hotel to figure out where to go for dinner. rob wanted to go down to Fremont Street for the Fremont Street Experience. i had no idea what that was all about at the time. so, we picked a buffet at the Saraha, because it was the last stop on the monorail and there's a bus at the Saraha that would take us to Fremont Street.

the first monorail stop is at the MGM Grand. while going through the MGM Grand, we came across the Lion Habitat. we naturally stopped there to see the lions. they were just so precious and so beautiful, especially the sleeping cubs. seeing them made me miss my jay and silent bob more. after the lion habitat, we came across the theatre that Lewis Black was playing at. we were glad we came across it so we wouldn't get lost on Friday when we had tickets to see him.

when we took the bus to Fremont Street, we found out that it was the city bus with some very interesting people on the bus and a very dark neighborhood to drive through. when we got to Fremont Street, it was as lit up as the strip itself with the casino hotels and marquees advertising shows. we walked up and down Fremont St. just checking out what was available. we didn't go into the shops or casinos. we had no interest in that. suddenly the lights went out and the massive TV screen above our heads turned on. it was snowy for a minute. i thought alien's had landed because of what the screen looked like. the screen is the length of 5 football fields and plays various images of people dancing, cars racing, etc. it plays for about 5 minutes or so.

after the show, we walked to the end of Fremont St. where there was a man playing a piano that was on a flatbed. He had this huge wine glass as his tip jar. the wine glass had to have been at least 3 feet tall with a 3 foot wide diameter.

we then realized we hadn't found out where the bus stop was to go back to our hotel. so, we walked back to the spot where the city bus left us and found the double decker bus, or the deuce as it's called, advertising "Deuce to South Strip." i pointed it out that we're on the south strip and that's the bus to take. after paying $2 each to get on the bus, we were on our way. after people got off at different stops, we made our way upstairs to sit and enjoy the other end of the strip. we finally got to our hotel and called it a night because we had to get up earlier the next day.