Three Trips To Vegas

As I wrapped up my weekend before heading back, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my time away with my friend.  I’m coming home with almost half the money I brought with me which is a definite plus and I was smart enough to not take my debit and credit cards. On our last night, Dawny (Weezer) and I (Miss Clairee) went downtown for the Freemont Street Experience and it was fabulous. We danced for hours to a fantastic Reggae cover band from Hawaii of all places. We walked Freemont taking in all the characters and the hourly light shows. Afterwards we got back to the timeshare, put on our pyjamas and indulged in some delicious desserts before putting our heads to pillows. Actually after Dawny went to her room, I turned on the fireplace and put my feet up for a spell to reflect. I was thinking this was only my third trip to Vegas and each time has only gotten better.

Although in all honesty it wouldn’t have taken much to beat my first trip there. It was a “honeymoon” in Vegas where we borrowed my mother-in-law’s new Hyundai for a turnaround trip from San Diego. We arrived late in the night and I spent most of the time in the hotel bed with menstrual cramps while the groom was downstairs gambling. He let me drive back to San Diego and I got us pulled over for speeding. He convinced the CHP officer that we were on our honeymoon so we got cited for seat belt violations instead of speeding. Those were the highlights I remembered in January of 1988. Yes, I know looking back it certainly did not bode well for the marriage but we were young, had just had a baby and we thought we were in love.

The second trip was two years ago in August. I had the bright idea on the way to lunch in a car full of work friends to celebrate someone’s 40th birthday in Vegas. Well, these were the kind of friends that made things happen! Sandy had a timeshare we could use, we all had credit cards and disposable income so an adventure was born! We flew out for a long weekend to celebrate the “baby” of the group turning 40. Now that was a fun (and expensive) trip! We stayed at a timeshare where we floated on a lovely lazy river surrounding the pool during the day. The main birthday event was a strip show called The Men of Sapphire who picked us up in a limo bus and we had VIP seating. It was quite fabulous and I received my first and second private dances. I’d arranged one for myself while my girls surprised me with another one. Our last night we saw an adult hypnotist show at The Paris that was hysterically funny, then went downtown to enjoy the Freemont Street Experience.

I suppose the fireside reflection caused me to think of how I felt after each of those trips. The first one left me feeling a little bit heartbroken and disillusioned because it was nothing like any honeymoon I’d ever hoped to have.

The second one left me feeling like your supposed to feel after a trip with a bunch of girls in Vegas: exhausted and a little bit broke financially (ha ha!) but totally worth it. I mean we had some fun stories to tell in the office when we got back!

But this last trip was the best because it was fun, relaxing and refreshing, which was unexpected given we drove up Friday and back Sunday. I’m not sure I had any expectations really. Although I did admit to Dawny I had some concerns about traveling with a friend because it doesn’t always work out well. However, we proved to be a winning combination! I want to leave you with one final picture of Dawny and me that is not from Vegas. It was taken the day we dubbed ourselves “Weezer and Miss Clairee”. A day she dared me to run through a fountain in Balboa Park and after I did, she grabbed my hand and made me run through it again, this time with her! When I look at it, I wonder how I could have ever had any concern about traveling with her.