vacation, part 1

We left early on Saturday morning, only to have our flight delayed by more than an hour. The flight from Tally to Atlanta was smooth and uneventful. Addison did an outstanding job, especially considering she was awakened at 4:30am. The lady behind us go up to leave the plane and said, "Oh! I didn't know there was a little girl in front of me. You, little girl, did a great job on that plane ride." We then told the lady that was Addy's first ever flight, and she clarified her statement with, "You, little girl, did an EXCELLENT job on that plane ride!". Addison loved the landings, laughing & giggling through it all. The ride from ATL to Vegas was my longest ever flight, and boy did it seem endless, though in reality it was only about 4 hours long. We had a few bumps on the landing, and something called "clear air turbulence" which startled Addy a little bit. She thought the snacks were fun. When we ordered juice for Addison, the stewardess informed us that until children are about 3 years old, they should not drink juice on airplanes due to the high amount of acid in the juice. Evidently, it causes stomach upset as the body cannot process the acids when at such a high altitude. Who knew?

So, we landed in Vegas, found all our luggage pretty quickly, and rode the shuttle bus over to the rental car terminal. We had quite a wait for our cars, but in the end got two good ones: a Pontiac Torrent and a Saturn Vue. Addison even rented a carseat that didn't gross me out...you know I was worried about renting a car seat! The only problem with her seat is that it's black, so in this extreme heat, it tends to be pretty hot when we first get in the car. We had lunch at a great restaurant near the rental car terminal, Wenchell's and headed over to Hoover Dam. We arrived there to find construction on a new bridge, tons of other sightseers and 118 degrees on the thermometer. We got out to at the visitor's center, but mom, Addison & I didn't make it. We stayed in the gift shop, rather than crossing the street. That was a heat unlike any other I've experienced before. We were all red-faced and sweating profusly, draining water bottles faster than I ever thought possible. Robert called Hoover Dam the civil engineer's "Mecca"...he really enjoyed the quick tour, in spite of the heat. My highlight of the trip there was purchasing a copper bio-medical bracelet that is not only pretty, but could potentially have healing properties. I'll keep you posted on whether or not it heals any ailments.

From Hoover Dam, we drove back to Vegas and wound our way to The Flamingo, on the strip. On our way in, we saw enormous lightning and rain - very cool to watch rain across the desert, watching it's every drop fall in huge sheets. The check-in line at the Flamingo was never-ending, and once up at the desk, we found our rooms were not ready. On the plus side, we got upgraded to rooms with two queen beds. Addison got up on the bed and immediately stated, "This bed is nice and comfy!". She started asking to go home about 10 minutes after that. By this point, we've all been awake for about 18 hours, and still haven't eaten dinner, eventhough it's now about 9pm EST. Robert suggested we check out Serendipity because it was "right across the street" from the Flamingo. This statement, I later learned, is relative in Vegas. You can't just hop across the street. Oh no. There are a seriers of stairs leading to crosswalks that you must manuever around and through in order to cross the street. Serendipity had a 20 minute wait for outside seating (they offered misters for outside seating, which made it almost bearable to eat outside), which turned into a 40 minute wait. We were hot, exhausted, and starving by the time we were seated in a section that had been empty the entire time we waited...Dad suggested that they were short-staffed. I don't know what to think about it, I just found it frustrating & a tad annoying. Meeting my expectations set by the extended wait for seating was the service - extremely slow, didn't get the orders correct. However, the food was delicious, especially their cheesecake. OMG. I would go back just for dessert next time. Poor Addison fell asleep while waiting for her dinner to be delievered...so we boxed it up and she ate it the next day in the car. We all crashed super-early for having been in Vegas. My bros and sister-in-law caught a Blue Man Group show and said it was fantastic.

I'm tired of writing now and need to get Addison ready for bed...I'll write more tomorrow provided I have free WiFi in Solvang. If not, it'll be a week before anymore updates.