Vegas Baby!

March 17th

4:00am

We arrived with the two hours to spare. Unfortunately, the Virgin America desk doesn't open till 4:45am. A little too early. So now we sit and wait. It was a rainy drive, and I lagged in terms of speed because of it, but at 3:00am there is not much in the way of traffic, so that was okay. Took no time at all to arrive at the airport. Early flights have their perks. And my driving was excellent. Go me!

9:50am

The plane departed from an S gate a little bit after schedule, due to the gate being changed. This is my first time on a Virgin America flight. I am normally on Alaska flights. The interior was illuminated in pink and the seats were black. It was quite swanky. I napped for the majority of the hour and forty minutes flight, waking only to pop my ears.The lady seated at the window was on her way to see her sister, who was birthing out the first grandkid in the family. She asked if she could scoot past us when we landed and I said, "of course, there is a baby on the way!" and she replied "there is a baby on the way!" and squeezed her way towards the front of the plane. That was nice.

I am properly tired, though now that it is shifting into the afternoon, my body rhythms are kicking in. Hopefully I'll nap more on the flight to Las Vegas. We wandered around our part of the terminal and then settled down at 51A. Mom got a scramble and a burger from a restaurant and we chowed down.

8:16 pm

Ahhh what a long day! The San Francisco airport was full of healthy food chains and not a single quality coffee place. This was something that disappointed mom, who ended up with a very subpar cappuccino. Anyway, we were not seated together for the flight to Las Vegas, but as I spent the flight napping, that wasn't such a big deal.

The airport in Las Vegas was very beige and dull and a little bit old fashionedy. For a place as well known as Vegas, I was surprised that there wasn't more hooplah. Mom's bag was one of the first on the belt, so that was good. We hopped on a shuttle bus, and it took all those on board to various Vegas Strip Hotels. In the daylight, Vegas is very flat and barren looking. So artificial and constructed. I'm looking forward to getting out of here and heading for the Grand Canyon. The New York New York hotel complex was very impressive.

My mind can't quite take these types of places. Inside the Luxor, it was hollow. The pyramid structure acts as a sort of shell for all that inside of it. The pyramid is a single layer of rooms, with slanted windows. Our room is on the 17th floor, and we have a good overhead view of all the self contained this and that. There is that Bodies exhibit, a Titanic showcase, many Starbucks, a McDonalds, a casino, nice restaurants, a chapel, several auditoriums, and many other things. All contained in this pyramid. One probably could enjoy all sorts of entertainment without having to leave the Luxor. This isn't my kind of place. Okay I shouldn't complain too much because I'm getting a free vacation and all that, but this level of artificiality is very foreign to me. And it makes me very anxious, all though I was also very tired. I am very tired. I like nature, and windows, and sky, and color.

Anyway, it is also Saint Patrick's Day, so there are tons of people in green regalia getting drunk at 3 in the afternoon. I'm unused to both people having open containers and being able to smoke inside. The hotel is actually not all that noisy. I was expecting it to be louder, what with the revelers. I've heard some whoooing, but not that much.

We got a late lunch/early dinner at a cheesesteak place, and I gobbled it down while watching the end of Die Hard 2. Then we took a nap. I'm going to try and figure out how to get on WiFi. Okay so there isn't wifi, but a cord, but that is okay. Going to fart around on the Internet and then go back to sleep