Sun, Sin and the Serengeti

It has been a little more than a week since my wife and I have returned from Vegas. An excellent time was had. You have to watch out though, because not even Disneyland makes as vigorous of a cash grab as lovely Las Vegas. We survived it and came out of there pretty much right on budget. Without further to-do, here is a recap of our week long journey.

It all started at the Detroit Metro Airport. Everything there went smooth until we hit the security checkpoint. During our stay at the checkpoint I was treated to everything short of the cavity shirt. Rubber gloves were involved. I believe the term that best describes my experience is accosted. As trying as that experience was, it pales in comparison to what happened next. In fact what happened next shaped the whole rest of our journey and is even the reason this post took me so long to get out to the world.

After my gruff treatment at the hands of the United States Government I was admittedly a little down. Things changed about halfway down to our gate, when I turned to see TNA's very own Alpha Male, Monty Brown. I walked up to say hello to the master of the Serengeti. As I did I reached out to shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoy his work. Before the epic handshake that would unite The NJP with TNA, the Alpha Male grabbed my shoulder. All I could think was "Fuck, that hurts!". The man flexed me. I fought through it, and shook the mans hand. The injury I sustained has stuck with me since.

Then was the flight...I will let my wife post about that if she wishes. I will say that the strip is cool to fly by even in the daytime.

After a small hangup with the flights luggage, we hooked up with our limo driver and he took us to the Flamingo Las Vegas. What was really nice is that we had already checked in at the airport, so we didn't have to put up with any line. Anyways, we were up in room 7117, which has a really nice view of the grounds. After a short "nap" we decided we were hungry, so we made our way downstairs and found our food salvation for the remainder of the trip. We had dinner the buffet. Considering it was all you can eat it was by far the cheapest way to fill our bellies before the long days we had ahead of us. I blame this buffet for my slight weight gain that hit me during our vacation. Our first day came to an end when Laura went to sleep and I lost $100 on the blackjack tables, but made $80 back on the slots.

---Just as a subnotation here, we had ups and downs on the gambling floor. In the end though, we lost all the money we went to gamble with. That's all though. We can at least walk away from Vegas knowing we are not addicted.

The next day brought some sun, fun and relaxing. We had tickets to Avenue Q at the Wynn Las Vegas,so while Laura was taking a nap I journeyed out to the strip to see how long of a walk we had coming. Walking out on the strip you really begin to realize how big everything is. Both Ceasers and the Venetian were huge. After about 20 minutes of weaving and bobbing I made it to the Wynn. That place is amazing. It is definitely where I would want to stay next time I go. Enough about that. The show itself was amazing. It is hard to really describe it. It is a musical about people and puppets just living life. I felt really lucky that I got to see a Broadway caliber production of this Tony Award winning musical.

---Another subnotation. At many times during this trip we walked the strip, shopped and ate. Too many times to write about each one. Just know there is never a shortage of things to do in Las Vegas.

Monday came and the country music portion of our vacation began. Monday brought us to the Grand Ballroom at the MGM Grand for the Academy of Country Music's New artist show. They stuffed about 3000 people into this place, and it made for a pretty good time. There was unlimited free Dr Pepper and a lot of music including Carrie Underwood and Little Big Town, and a ton of others I can't think of, but the wife would be sure to tell you.

Tuesday was the show. The 41st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. It was held the MGM Grand Arena. We sat pretty far away, but it was still a pretty cool experience. We got to see Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Brooks and Dunn, Big and Rich, Rascall Flatts, Sarah Evans, Kenny Chesney, Trace Adkins, Tobey Keith, Dwight Yokem and others perform live. Like I said it was a pretty cool time and we got to dress up nice. Definitely one of major highlights of the trip.

Wednesday was all about relaxing. The only thing that we did that was out of the ordinary was to go see The Da Vinci Code and while we were there we bought tickets to the midnight showing of X3.

Thursday brought the longest day of our journey. It was Grand Canyon Tour day. We had meet our bus at 6:30 AM. That bus took us to another bus that left at 8AM. During this journey we got to see the Hoover Dam, an assload of desert, and the Grand Canyon itself. It was truly amazing. My only concern with the place is that barrier between you and certain death was a shitty little 2ft tall fence. I would not have taken my kids there. Every time I looked at that fence I saw one of my kids slipping through. After a long day of traveling we made it back to our hotel at about 10:45 PM. That was nice because it gave me just enough time to make it to the midnight show. I say me because Laura was understandably too tired to make it. Her ticket wasn't wasted though. I gave to a happy camper waiting in line for tickets. I love NJP charibility!! As for the movie...it was no X2, but I still thought it was good.

Friday was Wednesday reduex. We ate at Margaritaville and Planet Hollywood. Both were really fun experiences. The only thing we did different on Friday was a last minute decision to see the famous Second City Comedy Troupe at the Flamingo. They did a lot of SNL type skits and some improv stuff, which I took part of. Very funny and a great show to finish our time in Vegas.

On Saturday we did the buffet one last time. We walked the grounds one last time. We played the slots one last time, and then got into the limo to the airport and flew home.

When it was all said and done, we had an amazing time. I am so grateful that I got to spend this time with my wife. I really want to thank our Mothers(my Dad and Aunt Sue too) for taking on our children for a whole week. We really appreciate it. If you get a chance go to Vegas!