Las Vegas

December, 2004

After many years of traveling at Christmas, we decided to stay at home this year. It was very nice to wake up and see our new (artificial) decorated Christmas tree. The great thing about it is that it did not die while we were in Vegas!

I guess you get the picture about Mom’s luggage. It really does make me laugh every time I think about it. Our flight to Vegas was a bit of a nightmare…..2 hours on the runway in Boston in a snowstorm, missed connections, no available flights, etc. We finally flew from Dallas to Orange County, CA, then to Vegas. Total travel time exceeded 15 hours. We will never take a non-stop again!

Our friend Steve was going to ride this week with us. We saw him the night we arrived but he took ill and spent the rest of his visit in bed! Bummer.

We originally booked this trip as a “mountain biking trip”. Little did I know that I was going to shatter my left leg a few months before going. Even so, I rode five days straight and felt better every day. While we kept mostly to the Mustang Trails, we did venture up into Hidden Valley and onto the old NORBA 17 mile loop. Both Laurie and Althea rode, as did Heather Fisher. Everyone did great, especially Laurie, who could be a bike racer if she put her mind to it. I keep reminding her she got my legs!

It rained for three days but we continued to ride. The record for the most rainfall ever in a 24-hour period in Red Rock Canyon was broken with over 2 inches of rain. The normal yearly rainfall for Las Vegas is something like 4.5 inches! Many of the streets were flooded, and the main road to the Canyon closed because a car flipped over in the wash. Several of the trails we ride bikes on turned to running streams. Some of the locals said they had never seen water like this on the trails before.

The sightseeing with Mom was fantastic. We saw many of the major hotels and shops, the Guggenheim Exhibit at the Venetian, and the Monet Exhibit at the Bellagio. The garden area of the Bellagio was particularly beautiful. Among the Christmas decorations there were polar bears made of 25,000 white carnations. Mom loved Red Rock Canyon and said she wished she could go back there (me too as long as I have my bike!). Our dinner at Olives was very memorable…..really fantastic food.

We saw the show “Tony and Tina’s Wedding”, formerly a Broadway show. It was quite funny and the food was as bad as most weddings. Many male entertainers seemed to hang around Lauire (no surprise there). We also got photos of Colt with the Bride and a Bridesmaid. Laurie and I tore up the dance floor ( I had to dance with one leg). The Wedding Photographer even asked me if Mom was single!

For New Year’s Eve, Las Vegas closed about four miles of the strip and launched fireworks from the roofs of several hotels. It was quite spectacular.

The Orleans served as a comfortable base of operations again. We got to stay in the new building and the rooms were very nice. We gave the French Market Buffet a lot of business at breakfast time. Lauire made use of the cushy spa. Steve survived off Room Service and the in-house Subway. Mom tried three rooms before finding one that was decorated to her liking, and did not have flooding in the bathroom.

Like most trips, this one was too short. We look forward to going back again…..with our bikes.

-=Dave