Vegas Trip- Part 1

After surviving our daughter's wedding two weeks prior, I surprised Ms. Duck with a much needed trip to Vegas for a little R&R. If you've never been involved in planning a wedding, the stress level gets pretty high, so a getaway was just whet the doctor ordered.

Since it was Saturday and neither was working, our daughter and new son-in-law drove us to Love Field in Dallas, a two hour trip that kept us from having to worry about parking. Love Field is a nice sized airport, nothing like the colossal D-FW, but parking there is a problem.

I received a call from my sister during the drive. She explained that our mother had taken a tumble and was in a local hospital ER awaiting x-rays on her ribs. If they were broken and had done any damage to her already suspect lung, surgery may be necessary. If that was required, we would have to return home.

So my gambling began long before we reached Vegas as I bet that the ribs were not broken. And I wouldn't know the results until we landed at McCarren.

Fortunately, my bet was a winner and the injury was diagnosed as bruised ribs.

Our flight went off without a hitch. Once in Vegas, we grabbed our bags, caught the shuttle to the rent car plaza, selected our chariot for the week ahead, and were on our way to Sam's Town.

View of the atrium from our room at Sam's Town.

After checking in and getting our bags to the room, we were both hungry and walked over to the Panda Express in the casino area and had dinner.

Then we went to bed.

Damn we're old.

Sunday morning we were up early (for Vegas), checked out and took our bags to the car before returning for our first round of gambling on the video poker machines. Deuces Wild was our pick and as noted in the picture below, did not disappoint.

Four deuces was good for 1,000... nickels. I also hit a straight flush on a
Bonus Poker machine for a nice payoff!

We were getting hungry and decided to invest part of my $50 profit and grab some breakfast at TGIFridays. The food was tasty, but the service was slow. Ms. Duck and I thought it might be our waitress' first day.

At least I hope it was.

A few more uneventful hands at the VP machine and we decided it was time to go. Ms. Duck wanted to stop in the gift shop on our way out, which is not one of my favorite things, but I actually found a ring I liked. The cashier asked if I would like to apply my player points for a discount. After the price reduction my price was ...FREE!

Yea me!

After I made my awesome purchase, we drove across the street to Walmart to pick up our supplies for the week. We've all seen the "People of Walmart" pictures and this one had more than their share.

Wow! Just wow.

From Wallyworld we drove to the Cosmopolitan to set up shop for the next five nights. Once unpacked, we strolled next door to the Bellagio to cash a couple sports bets I had my daughter place when she was here a couple weeks before.

After walking thru the casino and a few of the shops, we crossed over to Planet Hollywood and had a couple sandwiches from the Earl of Sandwich before heading back to the hotel and calling it a day.

We had been in a hurry unpacking and I didn't notice the interesting decor in our room. Monday morning while sipping on a cup of java and waiting for Ms. Duck to get ready, I took a tour of our temporary abode.

Here's the wallpaper pattern in the bathroom/dressing area.

Interesting, huh?

And here was the picture that was hanging near the toilet.

I've always liked balloons.

And this one was above the couch.

Not exactly your typical hotel wall artwork.

Speaking of artwork, once Ms. Duck had finished make up and hair, we drove to the Fashion Show Mall for an early lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Since they were still a few minutes away from opening, we walked a few doors down to the Lawrence Art Gallery.

I was an art major and readily admit to being an art geek, so to be able to see works from Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Warhol, and others always makes my day. They are currently expanding, so I'll have to make it a point to stop by on our next trip.

After filling our tanks with a nice meal at the Cheesecake Factory, we walked through the mall and into Caesar's casino. We found a couple quarter video poker machines, ordered adult beverages and played for a while. Somewhere around drink number two or three I hit a Royal Flush! Nice!

A Royal at Caesar's! The picture ain't too good.
You'll have to trust me :)

Once we collected our bounty, we found the valet, picked up our car, and drove to the Orleans. I headed to the sportsbook to place a bet against my favorite baseball team (Astros). They aren't playing well and I liked the pitching match up, plus I figured if I had to suffer thru another one of their losses, I might as well profit from it.

A couple hour of video poker with Ms. Duck didn't result in much of a change in our bankroll and we decided to head back to our hotel.

We located our ride in the parking garage and drove back to the Cosmo to give their casino some action.

My hot streak continued, cashing out my $100 original investment for $100.03. I'm sure the Cosmo board called an emergency meeting to try and figure out how to cover such a huge loss!

We called it a night and headed up to the room where I dreamed of ways to spend my new found fortune :)

Part two coming soon.