it's been a while since i last blogged, which isn't surprising as it's been a nuthouse around here again. go figure. (; this week we've been on vacation, and for the first time in 15 years, we actually LEFT the state for our vacation week. as in, on a plane, left the state.
on a plane 3 times, no less. we flew out last sunday, after ditching my car in the lot at work and hoofing it to the MOA, where we took the light rail to the airport, boarded our plane, and jetted to vegas. there were two items of import on that first day: one, the shortcut we took while walking to the mall, in which i "gave in to the terrorist demands of gravity," to quote myself, and did a slo-mo fall, during which one foot collided with one shin and left quite a mark.
and two, that during our first leg of the flight to denver, we heard the ubiquitous announcement requesting that if medical personnel were on board, they were needed for the passenger in seat 12D, who was either drunk or just plain old ill. who knows. by the time we landed he must have been fine because no one who'd sworn a hippocratic oath emerged after the request.
our second leg of the flight was on the united airlines subsidiary called "Ted." the only notable on that part was that the staff were attempting to be funny, and failing horribly. ungh.
due to winds, both flights were delayed, and the turbulence was glorious.
the first day in vegas--sunday night--was fine. we stayed at the stratosphere, so we ate at their buffet--which was quite tasty, imho. and then we went to the top and i roamed gleefully whilst dan sipped coffee, lest his vertigo get the better of him and i would be forced to haul him back down the express elevator single-handedly. thank heavens he knows his limits and didn't test my ridiculously absent upper body strength.
i think we were asleep by 930. it was kind of sad. (;
monday we trekked to the monorail after coffee and took the train all the way to mandalay bay. all the casinos, after a while, look the same on the inside. it's the outsides that are different, and in magnificent fashion, too. in minnesota, contractors regularly build lake cabins that rival Graceland, but in vegas, they erect shiny black glass pyramids and bathrooms with marble dividers. it's just not the same, there.
we got to eat at tom collichio's restaurant for lunch, 'wichcraft. so tasty. monday was st pat's so we cabbed to fremont street, during which our cabbie regaled us with tales of his five ex-wives and three offspring. he was in his early sixties and claimed that women were poison, and that wedding cake caused them to not want sex any more. you just can't make this shit up.
then back to the hotel for a show--bite, the same one dan had previously seen. it was amusing and changed my mind a great deal about the way in which i will henceforth view "erotic dancing." those girls were ATHLETIC, in the way that triathalon participants are athletic. they truly were dancers who just took off more clothing than your regular prima donna.
tuesday was somewhat a repeat of monday, but on a much, much slower basis, as both of us had aching feet. we stayed at the hotel in the morning and got a roulette lesson, and then tromped back to the monorail to view the remainder of the strip. by the end of the day, we'd been spritzed by the bellagio fountains and awed by the Wynn, which is just far too lavish a place for anywhere other than perhaps next door to the taj mahal. that night we had grand plans to perhaps find a show--but that did not happen, as i couldn't decide on anything. also planned to see the mirage volcano--which was out of commission--and the sirens of treasure island--which was such a press of people that we decided to skip it. side note: when we got back we found it on youtube (which is where you can find everything. honest.) and it was awful, so it was a blessing in disguise that we missed it.
wednesday we rented a car and drove to hoover dam, took the tour, and got to see lake mead at such a low that it resembled a wading pool instead of a lake. interesting place, that.
we drove across las vegas to red rock canyon after that. it was beautiful and strange--i kept likening it to another world, something alien. you can see for miles and miles there, since there are no trees to obstruct your view, and the mountains (which we discovered were really just old, old sand dunes...who knew...) were lovely, if a bit dusty. after that we drove back into town and tried our hands at red rock casino's single-player video roulette, which was not much fun at all. i believe i lost a total of 30 clamshells gambling in vegas, and that was a total of probably 15 minutes. dan made out a great deal better--at the roulette wheel on fremont street he made 45 bucks. (:
our flight departed around midnight and was so hot that we alternately drowsed and sweated in our blue leather seats. during the descent, however, the gal in the middle seat directly in front of dan had a seizure. i keep remembering her husband's face, panicked, as he slapped her cheeks lightly, asking "honey, honey, wake up, honey, what's wrong, honey, honey..." luckily there was a nurse in first class who came back and took things in hand. i believe our plane was landed more quickly, and when we landed, the paramedics boarded to remove the poor woman. she was sensible by that point, and from what dan gathered, had a case of extreme heat stroke, which had resulted in the seizure. but really i suppose we'll never know.
***
i did not expect to like las vegas. much like my trip to new york city, i had pre-conceived notions about how it would be, how it would look (despite having seen numerous pictures, television shows, you name it.) it was loud, it was flashy, it was awake twenty four hours of the day, every minute blurring and whirring into the next.
on sunday night, one-hundred and eight stories above pavement, there is a ring of light--flashing, smudged, blinking, scattering. the circle is edged in black velvet--the mountains, where the lights cannot climb further. in the day the city is dwarfed by the mountains, craggy dusky peaks, some dabbed with icy snow.
out in the middle of nowhere, this place has sprung up. it seems like only in the middle of the desert, where there is no need for something this bright and shiny, could this possibly belong. it needs that balance of space in order to exist--the sand is yang to the city's bright yin.
surrounded by those hills, vegas is a small cup of weird, but it accepts all the weird that can be tossed to it. people were dressed in tuxes and ripped jeans, painted with tasteful cosmetics and made up as clowns, singing and smiling, crying--everything, all at once, everywhere you looked.
i had the perverse feeling that of all the places in the country, vegas would open its arms and welcome you. "no room at the inn" is simply inconceivable, there.
i'm not slighting any other place in the world, mind you. the midwest is my spot of choice, and i'm comfortable here in a way that i'd never be in the land of scorpions and tarantulas and low-growing mesquite. i think the difference is the fact that there, in vegas, you are not judged, you are not labeled, you are not named. you're anonymous and on the stage, and celebrated for being both.
***
the mystery of what happened to our fellow airline passenger is akin to the feeling i now carry about las vegas. it is odd to consider--but neither of them make too much sense. i'm sure that with research i could pin point both--the woman's need for more water, the city's bizarre mix of gourmet and 99 cent shrimp buffet.
i'm glad to be home; this morning we woke to a foot of snow, falling and blowing, clean and white. i had my peanut butter toast and a glass of orange juice, and cuddled with a purring cat. it was quiet and silent here. i fell asleep on the couch, relaxed and warm.
i fully expect that i could have done exactly the same thing, in the foyer of the Pallazo hotel, and no one would have thought twice, and i think that, in the end, is what made sin city somehow endearing.
