A Reunion to Remember, baby!

May 28-31, 2004 - Las Vegas, NV

Wow, this weekend is just about over. It kinda flew by, but not really. Which was great, because there was lots of fun to be had. It just is inevitable that the fun times have to end, I suppose. What a crock!!!

Anyways, here's the 411 on what happened. I had Friday off, and I used it to get my apartment ready for company. I got the car washed (your wheels have got to look nice!), went grocery shopping, and basically killed quite a bit of time until 10 or so when Jason, Wendy & Richella arrived. By that point, I was feeling a light buzz, but after they arrived, I just started drinking homemade rum & cokes like those things were going out of style. Silly me. Before I knew it, it was already 5 in the morning, the sun was coming out, and I hadn't gone to sleep yet. Great. So I ended up passing out for a few hours, and in no time I was awake and hungover as hell. Yay....

During the next half day, I was a zombie. Oh, I hate hangovers. They suck. A lot. So while I was trying to regain my human form, these other folks who were here started drinking...again. Jason and JJ got themselves lit by noon. Ugh. Anyways, we could check in at the hotel at 4pm, so I tried to recover some life and be normal again while others went and did stuff like get groceries and haircuts. Finally, I exited my cave still wanting to die. I didn't think I'd make it to the Las Vegas Hilton without puking, but strangely enough, I started feeling better. Guess it's that fresh air and sunshine that eventually helped me. I got to the Grand Vacations Resort at the hotel, and found it to be kick ass!! These are full suites and they are nice. Very nice. The Las Vegas Hilton is not on the strip, as it's just off the strip on Paradise Rd. If the monorail was actually working, it wouldn't be a problem to get to the strip, as there is a monorail stop at the Hilton that could take us to Sahara or all the way to the MGM. That monorail will be super handy one day! Anyways, after we all get settled in, Ilyne & I went to the pool. Ah, it was great to go to the pool! Only for a little while though, as we then met up with everyone at the Hilton to watch the Lakers-Timberwolves game. Well, I caught at least the last 3 minutes of it, where the Lakers tried to make a rally to overcome something around an 11 point deficit. They did make it only a 2 point difference, but unfortunately not in their favor. Amazing nonetheless. By this time, Kasey and her boyfriend Kevin had arrived. After the game was over, we fixed up and went to the Hofbrauhaus (of course). That place is always good for an entertaining time. Kasey got to do a 'birthday' dance there, courtesy of JJ telling them it was her birthday (it wasn't). Plenty of beer was drunk, which helped everyone get on the way to being tipsy. The typical next stop was the Hard Rock Hotel. That place really is the place where the young and beautiful go. And on this weekend, it was extremely packed! We didn't stay long as we had another destination to reach: The Beach! But the taxicab line was way long, and then Jason disappeared over to a limo. Then he waved us over, and we were off in our first limo of the vacation to the Beach. The realization was made that if you are in a bigger group than 5, you have to take multiple cabs..... or a limo! It just makes sense! It was awesome. We finally got to the Beach, and inside, the fun began immediately for me as I got to partake in a body shot. There are pictures of it somewhere, but not here. This IS a family site for fucks sake. ;-) I stayed for a while, but I eventually left with Scott Thompson, who had arrived with Byron as their wives had stayed at the hotel that night with the kiddies. Scott & I went to the Hilton to gamble some. Well, that didn't turn out so well, as I lost $80 pretty handily. I was cursed with getting nothing but 13, 14, and 15 on the blackjack table. Joy. That was enough fun for me that night and I passed out at the hotel. Yep, right there on the blackjack table. Heh heh. Not really.

The next morning, Sunday, I wasn't hungover! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After getting ready for the day, I went with the Thompsons and the Kellys to go see Shrek 2 at Boulder Station. The movie is hilarious, and is the type of animation that entertains kids on one level but is entirely different and hilarious for adults. My one line review of the movie is that it is hilarious and highly recommended! After getting back from the movie, we then spent quite a few hours at the pool. Poolside relaxing is the best kind!!!! Around 6pm, we then got ready to go to the Paris buffet. That was my idea, but I really didn't think that one through. You see, it really didn't seem all that crowded at our off-strip hotel. But on strip, it was definitely a Memorial Day weekend crowd, and the Paris was packed, as was its buffet. A 45-minute wait later, we got to sit down and eat. We couldn't stay too long though, as 6 of us had a Prince concert to go to at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Oh yeah!!!!! Well, like the night before, the taxi cab line at Paris was out of control, and once again, we found ourselves in a limo. This time though, we got a little screwed as the Paris valet said it would cost $55 but when the limo driver dropped us off, it was now $75. Charletons. But we were there, as it seemed everybody else was. This was definitely a big concert weekend for Vegas, as Prince was at Mandalay Bay and Madonna was at MGM Grand. I was tempted to go to the Madonna concert, but $300 tickets kind of threw me off. A $75 Prince ticket was much more palatable. The concert was outstanding. Prince seems like such a freaky little guy when you see his pictures and his interviews, but when he's on stage, he owns the audience. He's got a sense of humor, he knows how to work the crowd, and he knows his audience. The songs he picked were great, and the one song I really wanted to hear, "Let's Go Crazy", was his 2nd song performed. "Purple Rain" was the encore song, which became obvious when he ended the concert without singing it and the houselights didn't come on. Very cool show! You even get a copy of his latest CD, Musicology, as part of the ticket price, so it's even more of a good deal. After the concert, we took our last limo of the night and vacation, which frankly, I'm getting used to. I think I need a limo for getting to work tomorrow, and to lunch, and to the gym, and then back home...... Our destination after this was one the girls really wanted to go to for some reason, and that was Spearmint Rhino, one of the biggest strip clubs in town, meaning probably one of the biggest anywhere. And the highest quality too, if you get my drift. Amazing looking women hide in here and are so scared of everything they just go and tear their clothes off. :-) That was a nice way to end the night.

Which leads me to today. I woke up tired and needing a vacation to recover from this vacation. I took Kasey and Kevin to the ultra-crowded airport, then had a buffet breakfast with everyone who was still here. We then checked out and we said our goodbyes, and I came home to a 5-hour nap. And I still don't think I'll have problems getting to sleep tonight.

Anyways, it was a fantastic vacation. I am seriously bummed it's over, as it was something that provided a light at the end of the tunnel during all the crappiness at work. But I still have some good things lined up, like seeing Dad and Pat this next weekend in Los Angeles. Below are the pictures I took during the weekend!

Shoot me an email if you have any comments!