Vegas Vacation Part 3

Ok Aunt Jeannie here goes nothing!!!HEHE!

Tuesday April 3rd (Day 4 of vacation)~

Aaaack I shouldn't of waited so long to finish this my memory is fading fast... I will ask Josh and the kids and get the whole story!

Ok got up and checked out of the Excalibur (we had 2 days there) check out through the tv and drop the keys in the box downstairs then drag our luggage like 2 blocks to our car... grrrrr! We headed over to Arizona Charlies for breakfast ~ Josh being the coupon king had 2 for 1 breakfast coupons and we had $10 each ( Josh and I from our last trip) free money from AZ so we basically ate for 42 cents (not a bad deal for 4) . Now on to the Hoover Dam~ not a bad drive about 40 minutes until we got closer and realized the traffic was bumper to bumper all the way there ... aaaack! It didn't take as long as we thought and we ended up in the parking garage with a good spot and walked to the dam... seemed like a long damn walk to me...ha! Well the Hoover Dam is as big as you think and as far down too, we took pics and read all the stuff then headed back to the car for our trip back to Vegas to check in at the Embassy Suites... yup we got in a lil education for the kids...hehe!

Check in was a breeze at Embassy Suites and our room was awesome.. we had a bedroom with two queens, nice bathroom, a kitchenette with a microwave, fridge and a sink and a small living room with a tv in the bedroom and living room. We had gotten ourselves roped into one of those time share meetings (aaack) for the room at the Embassy for $99 for 3 nights .. the meeting wasn't that bad we just said NO and still got the great room for 3 nights. Ryan grabbed the couch and Beka the other queen bed and everyone got unpacked and freshened up. I took a well deserved nap and the kids checked out the place and the pool.

Later we drove to Bills Gambling Hall and parked (formerly the Barbary Coast) and decided to walk north of the strip... we heard live music on the street and made it up to the Venetian to Madame Tussauds wax museum (had 2 for 1 tickets again..hehe) now we all had a blast in this place and took a lot of goofy pics... then we walked through the Canal Shops at the Venetian and the kids were impressed with how fancy this place was. We grabbed dinner again 2 for 1 coupons at Bella Pannini... and headed back out on the strip to see the sights. We ended up at the Mirage for the Volcano show around 10:30 and by this time Beka was yawning and saying her feet hurt~ I so understand !!! So back to our hotel the kids get comfy and Josh and I headed across the street to the Hard Rock to play our matchplay... cell phones in hand if kids needed us.. We got our fab 5 coupons from Hardrock and played our $20 then headed to Terribles (first time there) some lady in the parking lot asked us for money~ she didn't look so healthy~ gave us a story about having to feed her son and how she had a plate in her head... but I think she was on drugs ... I said well we can get you some food down at the store ( I will feed someone that is hungry but won't give them money for drugs) she didn't want food she just wanted money... so much for the hungry son story!

Now finally on to Terribles (right down the street) for some much anticipated gambling~ ok we are not high rollars I hit the penny slots, Josh likes a lil blackjack but we had fun. I found a machine with a progressive worth up to 614,000 and played for a while when I hit the bonus~ I kept hitting and hitting on the bonus and I only needed one more jewell to win all that money our mouths were salivating like Pavlovs dog~ the thing is I was already up to 28 spins and at 30 spins they give you 1,000 points plus what you won and its over.. well I hit 30 before I got the 3rd jewell ( I know makes one wanna cry) but I did cash out of that game at $282 so not too bad considering I hadn't even played my $20 down to $10 yet... We played a couple rounds of Big Elvis on a penny slot for another $22 and took our winnings and headed back to our hotel for the night!

Wednesday April 4th day 5~

Josh and the kids woke up early and headed downstairs for the free breakfast (omlettes made to order ) but I decided to sleep in. When they returned we all got ready and headed out to Circus Circus so the kids could do the Adventure dome... big indoor amusement park! We paid for the kids arm bracelets for all the rides gave them a lil spending cash and told them to call us when they were done, I thought maybe an hour 2 tops ended up being almost 4 guess they were having fun!

Josh and I headed down to the casino and were having no luck and since I have a thing about how much we can spend per day (money we brought x's days there) I said we need to do something else...lol... as I did not want to do the walk of shame to the ATM...haha! We took a break and had a hot dog and walked around thier stores... then back to the casino and called the kids... they were still riding and weren't ready to go yet.. so we tried our luck again... we won some we lost some but broke even before we got out of there nothing lost nothing gained...

After Circus Circus we headed out to check out the sights by car~ we found Ryan a skate park that was HUGE and watched him skate for a little over an hour... it was a nice break from the strip then we headed to the RIO for thier buffet for dinner.... after dinner we watched the Masquerade in the sky parade and headed back to the room! Kids once again wiped out we must be doing our job!!!

Josh and I again head to Terrible's (it's close to our hotel and we actually like this place) I again head to that progressive game... it still hasn't been won... stick in a $20 I am down to almost $5 and hit the bonus round again, this time I win $92 not bad I am happy! I find my big elvis again while Josh plays some BJ he wins about $40 ( we are not high rollers by any means) but we sure do have fun! I try my luck at some other slots~ no luck, I think I had lost about $30 (not counting my win)when I found Josh again and started playing blackjack on the multi-game machines , he had been playing at the tables and came over to join me. We won some we lost some but we went back to our room ahead for the night so it was a good night! We actually got back before 4 am for once I think it was 2 finally I can get some sleep!

Thursday April 5th Day 6~

We got up and head downstairs for the free breakfast, I was surprised at how good this was. Then we headed the kids over to the Hard Rock for a self guided tour of rock n roll memorablia, the kids enjoyed seeing all the guitars and cool stuff. Next we drove to Bills to find parking and walk to Harrahs to get tickets for the Mac King show (again long lines) still a great value at $7.95 tickets per person with a drink included. The show was great he was hilarious (Josh laughed out loud quite frequently) so did the kids, I think I was just exhausted..ha!

After the show it was off to Sahara for Speed the ride, unfortunetly this was the day that it got stuck on the track so no go on that ride. The strat was on our agenda for the day but we wanted to do it at night so we went the Hilton to use our bogo buffets for dinner (time sure flies when you're having fun) we had never been to the LVH and we were impressed... we should've done the star trek but we never ended up there... Josh was impressed with the sports book at the LVH (HUGE) the buffet was a great value with the coupons and although not a huge selection the food was tasty.

Now on to the Strat to see the view... the kids decided yes they wanted to ride the rides... no way I am... so we used our pov coupons after Josh argued with the cashier on the definition of "the ride package" the kids were able to ride all 3 rides bogo... and we had bogo tickets up to the observation deck. The view was breathtaking the rides looked scary.... but my kids thought they were awesome! After our view Josh and I headed down to the casino to play a while, we didn't have long to play but we won about $30 between the two of us playing slots... then back to meet the kids , we took the $30 and bought the picture package ( I know so touristy) for $19.99 , I figure this was a family vacation we might as well have something to show for it. By now its getting late... we head back to the car and back to the room , it's our last night to gamble so leave the kids with the tv remote and head out... back to Terribles... its right down the road from our hotel so not a far drive... we did ok at Terribles ( broke about even) which is better then losing, Josh was impressed with Terribles players club, with bonus points and 3x Wed he ended up with about 7500 points on his players card and we got 4 free t-shirts also, not bad. Now back to the Hardrock to play our $25 matchplay blackjack coupons. Josh lost both of those...ugggg... but I found my big Elvis machine and won on the bonus round, not much I only won about $18 but we continued to play and lost about $60 for the night... oh well was our last night! Back to the room about 1:45 am ...

Friday April 6th day 7~

(Last day in Vegas)Up early and head downstairs for breakfast... we were already showered and packed... We had to be at our timeshare presentation at 9:30... we had booked this room last Sept for $99 for 3 nights if we attended this meeting... ( We won't do it again but the room was a great deal) the meeting wasn't quite as bad as Josh thought it would be, he frustrated the lady the whole time with questions she danced around and never did answer, in the end he said he could get a better deal in Vegas on his own and we did not purchase... though we never had any intention of purchasing... We found it very amusing when a couple from Alberta upgraded thier package and everyone had to stop so they could announce it and cheer and clap (cheesy to say the least) we smirked a smile, Josh clapped the loudest... he is such a smartass... my daughter was with us (Ryan opted to sleep in the car) she thought it was quite comical but said she sure wouldn't mind having the condo in Hawaii...lol... I said well when you grow up .....finally we are out of there, gas up the chevy and hit the open road towards home.... we have one more night in Wendover....500 and some odd miles later we were there around 8pm... We stop at Arbys and grab some dinner, check into our Super 8 (kinda a dump) and bring our dinner... the kids just want to kick back and watch tv so Josh and I freshen up and head down to the Peppermil casino... in hindsight we should've just went to bed as we were having no luck at all. We decided to head down the road to the Rainbow Casino ~ it's odd in Wendover 3 out of the 5 casinos are owned by Peppermil and the decor is pretty much the same in each~ neon lights and lots of mirrors, easy to get lost in here... though I'm sure thats what they wanted! Right before we called a night I hit the bonus round on a puzzle penny slot for $122 to cushion our losses for the night...hehe! Back to room late for some sleep before we head out on the road again in the morning...

Saturday April 7th day 8~

April 7th~ Saturday Got up , got ready and checked out around 11:30 and head to the Montego Bay for brunch~ Josh had one bogo from the truckers lounge so we used it. The buffet was mediocre but we were hungry and had another 5 or 6 hours of driving to Boise to meet up with my cousin for dinner. We headed to the Bonneville Speed Way to check it out... looks like salt and tastes like salt... not much to see here! Although very interesting... We stopped in Wells Nevada ( I saw an espresso stand) so Josh did a u-turn to get us some coffee but as we got out of the car he said are you sure this is the right place~ on the car it said Bella's gentlemans club... hmmmmm it was the right place but Bella did own a brothel down the road... now you don't see this in Washington... back on the road and make to Boise for dinner, had a nice chat and dinner with Sarah and then head out to find a hotel for the night... no gambling tonight... back to life back to reality...hehe ~ awww do we have to go home!

Sunday (Easter) April 8th day 9

Back on the road early and get back to our car about 10:30 am only 3 hours to go til we get home... Over to grandmas for easter dinner and life gets back to normal tomorrow...... aaaack...hehe and thats our trip in a nutshell.... Peace ~ G