Vegas, Day 2

After the chaos of night one, we decided it would be best to have a plan from now on in order to avoid more crazy-inducing hunger and other stressful situations. We met with the concierge (read: ass-kisser) from the resort who had talked to my mom earlier in the week and arranged some things for us. He knew a ton about Vegas: where to get good deals, how to find the best cheap food that only the locals know about, and which casinos had the hottest shows on the Strip. He talked a mile a minute about a million different things and left us feeling overwhelmed, but he did end up getting us some free show tickets and some reduced passes. From there we were able to figure out our itinerary for the rest of the week. We knew we were packing a lot in, but we didn't want to miss any of the things that one individual really wanted to do, and we made sure to leave some time at the end of the week for relaxing pool-side.

After meeting with him we actually got to walk outside in our shorts (fabulous!) to run some errands (sounds funny during vacation) so we could have some things on hand. For being a nice place, Tahiti has one of the sorriest continental breakfasts I've ever seen, so we wanted to make sure to have some eggs, bacon, and milk in our room. We ran to Walgreens for these and some necessities we had forgotten to pack before heading to the classiest liquor store ever. No joke. There was incense burning, everything on display was held in dark-stained wooden crates with raffia beneath it, and the smooth talker (and dresser) behind the counter kept calling us "his friends" and saying, "Of course, for you" with his Spanish accent - a classy older gentleman. He reminded me a little bit of Ricardo Montalban from "Fantasy Island" except more Spanish than Cuban or whatever that guy was. Although the liquor store was a long way to hoof it from the resort/Walgreens, a small part of me secretly hoped we'd run out of booze so we'd have to go back there for more! I have never experienced anything like it. And if you know me, you know that I am in liquor stores ALL. THE. TIME. This one was just an inch above Y Knot Liquors in good ol' Motley, MN. Right, boys? ;0

On the walk back we stopped at two quick restaurants that were new to me and are my new loves: Qdoba and Wingstop. (If you have either of these in your area and have not yet partaken, you seriously need to check them out. Delicious goodness. You will hear about each of them again, not to mention so many other wonderful eateries I savored.) That afternoon was the first time we headed to the Strip. We surely walked a few miles seeing the sights inside and out, and this was our first of many stops at my favorite casino, New York New York, among several others. There is so much to see and do there: a NY-esque city block of the best eats from the Big Apple, a bar that features dueling pianos we listened to for free from outside the bar itself, my favorite strawberry daiquiri mix in souvenir cups that cost less to refill (!) outside the Coyote Ugly club, and the arcade and - best part - rollercoaster that starts inside and goes outside and all around the building, complete with curves, twists, and a couple upside-down rolls.

There's a mini Lady Liberty, and the roller coaster curving off to our left

Night view of entrance from our shuttle pick-up spot

View of part of the Strip from one of the walkways above the street

Cody standing by the cooler outside the steakhouse in NY NY

Out by the sidewalk there is a big tribute to firefighters in honor of 9/11, including a row of several t-shirts from different departments across the country. Cody is passionate about firefighting and had been looking for a firefighting job since he graduated college with a fire science degree. He finally found one and was scheduled to begin at the relatively small fire department in Cloquet, MN, just after we got back. As we walked by them we joked that we'd see a Cloquet shirt in the group. Sure enough, towards the end, Sara spotted it - the real deal all the way down in Vegas! It was a neat surprise, and Cody was pretty excited.

During that afternoon I had the most embarrassing moment of the trip, and there were plenty of witnesses. I don't remember exactly where on the Strip we were, but us girls were looking at the shuttle schedule and figured we had about five minutes to get from where we were to our pick-up spot on the side of one of the casinos, in order to get to the next place we were supposed to be going. We didn't know that's where the spot was, however; we figured it was in the front, just beyond the entrance, like it had been at other casinos. Anyway, we figured we had better book it, so I, being the fastest walker of the group, started picking up the pace. I looked behind me several times to make sure my posse was in tow and kept on haulin'. Well, I must've started to worry, because I started thinking that five minutes would not be enough time. We had just rounded the corner by the pick-up casino when I saw the gold shuttle pulling up towards the front. But there was a problem: the driver was not going slow enough. He kept on going. And going. And going. I panicked. "Oh, shit, there he goes! Let's go, you guys!" I shouted, hoping they'd both seen the shuttle and heard my desperate cry to hustle up.

So I book it, I mean really book it: I started running. No, not just light, quick running, but seriously hauling ass. Probably faster than I've ever run in my life. And again, if you know me you know I run ALL. THE. TIME. And thinking that the stop was in front of the casino when it was actually on the side, I figured the driver had left without us. So what did I do to make matters worse? I stuck out my arm. That's right, folks, as if I didn't look retarded enough already, running to beat hell while the rest of my group was most likely blinded by my dust, I began extending my arm in the hopes that, I don't know, I would somehow be able to touch the damn bus? Are you picturing it yet? Wait. That was clearly not good enough, and not going to work, so I began to wave. Oh yes, frantically wave. I believe I may have shouted "Stop!" or "Wait!" once or twice during this time as well. Yeah, I know. But apparently my running/arm-extending/waving/shouting worked, because I followed that damn thing around the corner, still hauling ass, when I realized it was beginning to slow down and come to a stop. At its destination. The side of the casino. No thanks to my desperate attempts.

Huffing and puffing while looking for the others - who were way out of sight by now - I approached the door only to find that the bus was absolutely packed and heads were turned my way. Dammit. So I kind of waited around for the others so as not to board the bus alone. I knew they'd be laughing at me, but I could pretend to be laughing with them (while struggling for breath) as we got on, in an attempt to look a smidge less challenged in front of a big group of total strangers. It worked reasonably well as most of the bus was also laughing with us (but really at me). I was remembered by some fellow Tahitians the rest of the week as the girl who ran after the bus - they smiled every time they saw me.

After all that excitement, the rest of the night found us running around the strip, the boys trying to get drunk but only able to get a buzz since there was so much walking going on. I was relieved. And Sara's no lightweight, either! Needless to say, I was the weak drinker of the group, even going one night without any alcohol. Gasp! We ate somewhere delicious, but I forget where at the moment. It was really fun to just take our time and stop wherever we felt like stopping that night. We had designated some nights as Strip nights (tee hee!) in between activities, so we didn't rush ourselves. Everywhere we went was crazy packed, but people were really good about keeping in motion, which was unexpected and pleasant. There was a certain sense of security in numbers, too. I was still being belittled about the whole crazy-lady-running-with-her-arms-in-the-air-in-public thing from earlier in the day (not sure why), but I had a good sense of humor about it as I knew it was sure to be just one of many quirky memories from the trip.