Las Vegas Debrief

Penny and I got home last night after a fabulous long weekend in Vegas. We had a great time; the weather was delightfully hot, the beer was sufficiently cold and it turned out there were lots of friends there to enjoy it with us. The Coles notes of our great weekend are below.

We left Calgary Thursday afternoon and got into Vegas Thursday night around 10pm. Penny found a deal online for a hotel call the Vdara. It's one of three hotels in the brand new multi billion dollar City Centre development located between the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio on the strip. We met Kevin and Shannon at the airport and headed to the hotel together. When we were checking in some stranger (or so I thought) snuck up behind me and gave me a bear hug. Since I could see Penny, Kevin and Shannon standing in front of me (the only three people that I knew were in Vegas at the time) I was a little freaked out. It turned out to be my friend Dave with his fiance Ashley and with them was my other friend Dave with his fiancee Katy. Penny had secretly been scheming with them to join us in Vegas for the weekend and they actually made it!

The rest of the weekend was busy. Since I am now off the nasty antibiotic (Flagil) that prevented me from drinking for a few months, I made a valiant effort to make up for lost time. Thursday night we had a few beverages in the room and then headed out to a club. From what I can remember it was an enjoyable evening although it did cement in my mind the fact that such nights need only happen once or twice a year. We all made it safely back to the hotel that night despite getting a little lost a few times during our journey.

Most of us spent Friday recovering at the pool. But Penny and Shannon, never ones to miss out on a great deal, did make it to the outlet mall for a few hours. That evening we watched the Canucks lose and then headed downtown to Freemont street to see some of the sights. The highlights there were the light show and the cheap drinks. We were also surprised/shocked at the number of visibly pregnant women working in the casinos.

On Saturday we relaxed at the pool most of the day and enjoyed a few hard earned beers. For supper we had some fine Italian food (although it may have come back to haunt some of us the next day! - more on that below). We were all interested in seeing a show, so that night we went to see Ka by Cirque du Soleil. One of the most impressive things about the Vegas Cirque shows is that they all take place in custom built theatres made specially to house all the fancy hydraulics, lights and other various apparatus that make the venue itself seem like one of the performers. It was a great show but a little disappointing compared to 'O' which we saw last year when Penny and I were there.

Sunday was a travel day. We all flew out late in the morning, although after three consecutive late nights it felt like 5am when we were boarding the plane. Unfortunately everyone (except me!?) seemed to be fighting a stomach bug and was feeling a little under the weather. I'm not sure I was lucky or if it had something to do with not having a working colon, but either way I was thankful to be feeling well for the flight.

What a fantastic weekend! I would like to thank Penny for setting it all up and having the persistence to make it happen. I would also like to thank Dave x2, Ashley and Katy for spending their hard earned money on this trip and for taking the time out of their busy house-hunting/wedding-planning lives to come with us. It was great to see you and spend that time together. I would also be remiss if I didn't thank anyone and everyone who has helped us out financially during our battle. Some of those generous donations went towards making this trip happen (but not the $70 I lost at the blackjack table, that was mine!). It was a much needed change in pace from the monotony of chemotherapy, hospital visits and trying to convince our kids to eat their vegetables. Thank-you thank-you thank-you!