Busted in Las Vegas

Fred and I drove to Las Vegas last week to meet up with our daughter and son-in-law who were at a Matco convention.  We had reservations for the Imperial Palace because, a) it was right across the street from where our daughter was staying, and b) it was only $20 a day.  Travel Tip:  You get what you pay for!  Suffice it to say, the hotel left a lot to be desired.  Even with a GPS, we couldn't find the hotel, which just shows how crowded and on top of each other the hotels were.  We finally found the entrance, by going through the back and driving the wrong way down a one-way street.  We were already in a foul mood by the time we checked in.  Seeing our room didn't help matters any, but we've stayed in worse. 

Trying to walk down the sidewalk on the Strip proved to be a harrowing adventure as we were accosted every few feet by people trying to hand us flyers for girls to be delivered to our room.  Why they thought I wanted one, I'll never know. 

Fred has a bad heart and has trouble walking any distance at all so, for the most part, we kept our car parked in valet service and took a taxi wherever we wanted to go.  Besides seeing our daughter and son-in-law, the best part of the trip was wandering through the Venetian Hotel.  Now there's a first-class hotel.  The four of us took a gondola ride through the canals of Venice, all inside the hotel.  We were told that couples are supposed to kiss when they go under the bridges and since our ride took us under fourteen bridges, Fred and I got our share of kissing in.  Our gondolier was a woman with a voice as clear and pure as fine crystal.  Fred said, "She has a voice I would pay to go hear." 

While in Vegas, the four of us took a car trip over to Boulder City to see Hoover Dam.  The dam was a magnificent engineering feat, but even more so, was the new bridge that was built a couple of years ago.  We parked the car at the entrance to the bridge and had to walk up either a ramp or steps to get to the actual bridge.  I walked half-way across the bridge, to where I could get a good picture of the dam.  The kids (well, they're kids to me) walked the length of the bridge, going from Nevada to Arizona, a distance of 1900 feet, and back.  Oh, to be young(er) again.   Fred stayed at the entrance of the bridge and waited for us.

Our final highlight of the trip was a mystery dinner theater Friday night at the Fitzgerald Hotel, called, "Marriage Can be Murder."  It was the funniest thing we've seen in ages.  Almost everyone in the audience was involved in one way or another and we laughed from beginning of the show to the end.  If you're in the area, go see it.  You won't be sorry. 

We had planned to go from Vegas to Prescott, AZ to visit friends but changed our minds when we learned that Prescott is at an elevation of six thousand feet.  Fred's heart was put to the test in Las Vegas and didn't need any more stress put on it.   

We arrived home, broke and exhausted, but happy that we'd gotten to see our daughter and son-in-law.

Travel Tip:  Bring your own hangars, hotels seldom have enough.  If you're driving, putting your clothes on wire hangars will help them fit over the hook in the back seat easier.  Plastic hangars are too bulky.


"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
Theodore Roosevelt