Hiatus ended

Wow! It has been so long since I last posted. I've been lurking, but that's about it. I have been so sick, I had the flu then just as I was getting better I got a cold that decided to settle in my chest...yuck. It was no fun. I am still coughing. I feel better but keep hacking my head off. So that is one of the main reasons for my absence. Other things have came up that has been taking my time and filling my mind to capacity. Then I went to Vegas for a week to relax and celebrate my hubby's graduating. We had so much fun. Here is a little of my journal from the trip:

We left the house around 5am to start our adventure to Sin City. It was raining all night and we woke up to a roof leak, uh oh maybe this wasn't a great way to start off our vacation! For the first hour or so of driving it was pouring down rain, nonstop. We started going uphill and I looked over and told Armando, I think there is snow on those hills! His reply was that it was probably just sand, I've been known to be wrong so I just went with it….well a few minutes later I could not shake the feeling, "THAT IS SNOW ON THOSE HILLS!" and sure enough not even 2 seconds later huge fat flakes were hitting the windshield. Of course I had to call my mom, how often does a WV transplant see snow in L.A.? NEVER! She was laughing at me and my childlike giddiness. That phone call was the end of the fun and excitement though. I called her at 6:30am and just as I was ending the call I told her, "Oh it looks like they are closing the freeway because of the snow!" Well, close it they did, from 6:30 to almost 11:00am! Have you ever taken a nap in a running car in the middle of the 215 freeway while it was snowing? Well, we have! Yep, both of us took a nice little nap in the middle of bumper to bumper traffic.

After this long wait I really had to go to the bathroom and just get out of the car. So, we decided to take the next exit and stop at the gas station to get a drink and use the facilities. Well, that was a good thought. It turns out that all that snow we got while napping on the freeway ended up at this gas station. A good 6 inches of the white stuff. You know what Californians cannot do?? Drive in the snow. Yep, they are not the brightest when it comes to snow. You see, snow is usually slippery, so it would probably be best if you slowed down and paid attention to what you are doing especially if you have never driven in this stuff before. Ok, let me get back to the story… the gas station was located on a small slope, remember now there are a good 6 inches of snow on this little slope. Three cars get stuck because they think if they try and drive through the part with NO tracks it will make it easier. Dumbasses. So, we spent a good 45 minutes trying to back out of the gas station….no we did not even get a chance to freshen up. Armando did really good, we slid a little and spun tires once but he maneuvered like a pro. He has received the honorary West Virginian Award of driving in the snow. I was frustrated by this point and just wanted to get on the freeway and get away from the snow. Well, I stood up against my aching bladder like a champ and we made it to the Roy Rogers Exit without accident. We stopped at the Cheveron to fill up the tank and empty ours. Lo and behold there was a Costco right across the street. Do you know what Costco is famous for? Well, at least by us. $1.50 hotdogs with a soda! Whaa hooo! You can't beat that! I did not get that amazing deal although Armando did. I had the yummy chicken bake, which is chicken breast with bacon and cheese stuffed inside a yummy hot crust. I didn't say it was healthy, but it sure was good. After our stop we were off to see the wizard! Eh, I mean Vegas.

Next stop, Barstow. Why? Well, I may have forgotten to mention this but I'm incredibly sick right now. I have this outrageously croupy cough that I cannot get rid of…which makes drinking anything an experience to say the least. Put it this way, I have to focus, focus, focus when I'm having a coughing spell. Blech.

Well, we have made it the Nevada state line and coming up on my left I see Whisky Pete's and on the left is a Chevron, which we stop at just to top off the tank again. I was so excited Buffalo Bill's was behind us and were finally in Vegas!! Not so fast…..! Yeah, they tricked me. Whiskey Pete's and Buffalo Bill's is about 30 miles from the strip.

After all the teasing we finally entered the domain of Sin City. Overcast sky's and neon lights!! Traffic was a bit like the 101 during rush hour, but we finally made it to our hotel. We checked in and relaxed a bit, Armando jumped in our GIAGANTIC Jacuzzi tub and took a swim, I flopped on the bed and watched Sponge Bob Square Pants, yeah I'm not so keen on that show.

After we both got ready…I finally had a chance to take a super long HOT shower, ahhhh! We rode around the strip and I took pictures from the car. After that we stopped back at the hotel and then went out to dinner at the buffet at our hotel, which was pretty yummy by the way. Then we went walking around the hotel, played ski ball and the Simpsons at the arcade, stopped for a drink and window shopped a little more.

Over all it was a wonderful first day, minus a few hitches. I wish I wasn't sick, that really kills the fun when you are hacking up a lung. That is why I am typing this at 4:30 am I couldn't sleep, every time I lay down I start coughing. AHHHH! I bought some pills so, hopefully they will help me out a little.

Ta ta till tomorrow….or tonight.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

5:10pm

Not sleeping because of my coughing really sucks. Every time I lay down I cough my head off. I even tried to sleep sitting up, which didn't work by the way. I finally got to sleep around 5:30am and woke up with a cough around 10am. So, that was good enough. We got ready and hit the town. We had a big dinner yesterday so, we just wanted something simple for breakfast so we stopped at Subway and got a sandwich after we cruised the strip. After breakfast we parked the car at Paris Las Vegas and started our journey there. We walked through the shops, this is the hotel that painted the ceiling to look like the sky… and of course we took some pictures and Armando bought me this really cute key chain that has the Eiffel tower on it and a few blue rhinestones and it opens up like a locket, one side has a tiny little mirror and the other side is the picture frame. Yay! After that we went to Bally's and Caesars Palace and stopped at O'Shea's for a drink and to use the massage chair. Then we came back to the hotel so I could rest a little. Army jumped I n the pool, er bathtub and I was relaxing typing this. We are going to go to the Sahara and get our $1 margaritas and play the nickel slots and grab a bite to eat somewhere in the mix.

Ahhh, the Sahara was kind of crappy… it was much more exciting when we came here 4 years ago. Now it is a bit run down and blah. We didn’t even get a margarita!! Waaahhh!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

We went exploring today! Downtown Las Vegas. Let me tell you….it isn't a pretty site. Not at all. It was like going to those scary neighborhoods in downtown L.A. Yuck. So we headed back towards the strip and a little bit beyond to grab a cheapy breakfast and start our day.

That is all that I recorded, I got lazy and we did so much that I forgot half of it!! We did go to Sigfried and Roy's secret garden to look at the baby dolphin and the three baby tigers, we seen the Blue Man Group, took lots of picture of the snow (which I will post in a second) and we basically ran around the strip for 5 days. :)

Finally the holidays snuck right on up on me. We had a really nice time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, now New Years just a few days away! Yikes!