..and it's not the $10.99 Prime Rib or the Gambling. It is a little blonde girl named Samantha. This was a great trip because we were able to share it with Daniel and Becky as well as Dad and Shirley. The only real drawback was the condo, which was an apartment in a rundown apartment complex off the strip and behind a closed Outback Steakhouse. You could see the Rio and the Palms casinos as well as the Gold Coast Casino, but the grounds were rundown and the tenants were section VIII housing at least. I hadn't seen so many Obama supporters in one place since my last trip to the Capitol in Sacramento. The room itself was fine with new granite counters, clean rooms, decent beds and a washer and dryer. The kitchen was large and we had plenty of room to make several meals (mostly breakfasts) in the room.
Samantha loved the apartment and Daniel made it special for her by building a fort out of our bed in the master bedroom. Daniel and Becky and Samantha must have played in there for over an hour. Sam was loving the attention and I think Daniel was enjoying his time with Samantha as well. She has the cutest laugh and she was in there jumping on the bed and making a ruckus with Daniel along for the game. Samantha also learned how to pull out the middle drawer of our chest of drawers and climb up into the entertainment section of the furniture, close the door and play hide and seek. You can see Sam peeking out of her fort and also a shot of her pounding Daniel with the pillow while Becky laughs at them.
We got into Vegas late, as our flight was delayed. We picked up our rental car at 11:30 and then went out to the local Food 4 Less to do grocery shopping. We realized that the car stunk like cigarette smoke and later realized it had New Jersey plates, A coincidence? I think not. When we got into the store, none other than George Wallace, the New Mr. Vegas (after Danny Gans passed away) was in there after his 10 PM show at the Flamingo shopping. We loaded up and got to the "condo" at about 12:55 PM. We couldn't find the right building as there are 13 buildings on site and the guard at the gate directed us to the wrong place. I walked all over the place and left Darla standing outside a locked car as I finally found building E on the other side of the complex from where the clearly over taxed guard thought it was. Those guards stand in the guard shack and wave everyone into the facility, waving at you as if you are his long lost relative or something. Crazy. Darla said there was a suspicious looking guy on the phone within ear shot of her and she was uncomfortable until I got back and we drove to the correct building. He was a little crackhead and I think she could have taken him.
Jennifer drove over the next morning and brought Samantha for swimming. The complexes' pool is probably the nicest accoutrement to the grounds, although as Darla pointed out, it was probably built in the 80's. The pool was not heated, so Samantha hung out in the hot tub, which also was not heated, but was warm as it was heating in the 92 degree heat. Michael came out and joined us and we took Daniel and Becky and Jen, Sam and Mike to dinner. It was Daniel's birthday dinner and he was set on dim sum. We went over to one of the nicer Chinese places in Vegas and the parking lot was empty. It turns out that they had a kitchen fire in the afternoon and were closed. Jennifer suggested Chinatown, a small village of Asian shops close to the Rio. We ended up having a very nice dinner at a Korean Barbecue, where they cooked the food right at the table on a propane grill. The food was good and Samantha was a trooper trying all of the different dishes and really enjoying herself. Darla asked Jennifer if it was possible that Samantha was conceived when John and Jennifer went to Thailand. Friday night we took Becky and Daniel out to the Orleans casino and Daniel got his first taste of gambling. He did ridiculously well, even winning a $140 jackpot on a penny machine (of all things). He walked out of the casino up about $180. Darla and I had given him $200 for the trip to pay for gas and some of his gambling. He did so well on Friday night that he bought half price tickets on Saturday to the Circus Soleil at the Tropicana. Darla and I ended up down about $90.
Saturday we slept in and met Jennifer at her house about 12:30. They had friends flying in from California and one driving in. It was Mike's birthday and he had a gig that night from 10 PM to 5 AM. Mike fixed us a pot roast for lunch and then shish-ke-bob for dinner. The food was excellent and we enjoyed playing with Sam. Darla and I took her out to a park and let Mike and Jen have some alone time to get ready for guests. Daniel and Becky hooked up with us for dinner at Jennifer's and then they took off for their show and we brought Samantha home to stay at our ghetto apartment. When we left, all of the company was there and they were all getting ready for their night out and getting their costumes on. In the hustle, we forgot Sam's bag and Jen called when we got back to the apartment. I decided not to run back to her place, but went to Wal-Mart and picked up some clothes for Sam on Sunday and some overnight diapers for her. She is potty training and doing a great job, but has problems still overnight, although her diaper was dry Sunday morning.
Daniel and Becky met Dad and Shirley after their show (Dad flew in Saturday night) and did some gambling with them at Bill's on the strip.
Sunday we were up and met Dad and Shirley at the Black Bear Diner on Tropicana. It is a "kid friendly" restaurant with great food and even better prices. This is the first time that Dad and Shirley have had a chance to meet Samantha and she definitely bowled them over. We had a great breakfast and then met up with Jennifer at noon. John wanted to see Samantha and we agreed to drop her off at Jen's and then return at 5 PM for dinner. Darla and I had bought rib-eyes for everyone and we were barbecuing at her place. Daniel went with us to Jen's on Sunday morning and then was supposed to leave to go back to LA and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo after dropping Becky in Pasadena. They decided to go get a late lunch (dim sum) at Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast and then were going to come back and get packed up to go. They left at 2 PM and we never saw them after that. The gambling bug must have taken hold as we called several times and finally left for Dad's. He had invited us over at 4:30 for drinks and we finally got there at 5 PM. We ended up at Jennifer's about 6 PM. Daniel and Becky got on the road about 5:30 and he got to Cal Poly after 2 AM. Jennifer talked Dad into designing a pumpkin for Sam and you can see the picture of him drawing it. The finished product was nice and it will remind Sam of our trip. We went out with Dad and Shirley afterward to the Palace Station casino and then the Rio. Shirley did well and was winning at a penny machine. Darla and I left down about $160 in total for the trip.
Monday we went to Jennifer's and took the kids to a park where we barbecued hot dogs and relaxed. I offered to take them to dinner at Maggiano's on the strip, an Italian chain restaurant owned by the same restaurant company that owns Chili's and the Macaroni Grill. I had won a $50 gift card at one of the tournaments for a second closest to the pin. We stopped for drinks at Dad and Shirley's beforehand and got to see them one last time. We thought we might see Jesse, who was rumored to be in Vegas, but he was off with his company people and didn't show up. Dad decided to wait for Jesse and maybe have a late dinner with him and didn't join us. It was their loss as the food was spectacular, the venue outstanding (the view on the strip is of the Wynn and Encore casinos). The food was incredibly priced with pasta dishes priced $10-$15. Samantha had a ball coloring and playing at the table and we enjoyed our last night with them. As we said goodbye I got emotional (shades of Pop crying as we left Vancouver each trip). I had enjoyed our time with the kids so much. Samantha is learning to string words together ("C'mon, Papa, let's go swimming!") and Jennifer is truly at a good point in her life. She is interviewing for a tech position with the Cosmopolitan Casino, the newest on the strip and located right in front of the Jockey Club and next door to Belagio. I am praying that she gets the job as she needs to get back to work. Being unemployed is grating on her, but it has been a blessing for Samantha, who is such a Mommy's girl now.
We met up with Dad and Shirley back at the Gold Coast casino and played for an hour. It turns out that Jesse was busy all night and they never did hook up with him Monday night. They couldn't catch a cold and left after burning through $60. Darla and I were over $200 down and the night was drawing to a close, when I hit 4 Aces dealt to me with a Jack. The payout was 800 coins. I discarded the Jack and was dealt a two for a 4000 coin payout (4 Aces with a 2-3-4). I cashed the winning ticket and left with two crisp hundred dollar bills in my pocket. Sometimes its good to win late.
Well, Darla is waiting for me and I have to watch a bit of TV before bed. Darla and I had a great time. Thank you to Daniel, Becky, Dad, Shirley, Jennifer, Michael and, especially, Miss Samantha for such a great vacation. I hope you are all well. Ciao.
No comments:
Post a Comment