Las Vegas Trip (Nov 12 - 17, 2012)

We left for our trip on Tuesday, arriving at the Fairbanks Airport with plenty of time to spare.  It's always hard to tell if there will be alot of others flying or not.  We got the bags checked in and got through security without a problem.  The flight departed on time and we were happy to be on our way!!  We had a short 2-hour layover in Seattle.  Enough time to get a bite to eat and stretch our legs before the next flight direct to Vegas.  We landed in Vegas at 5:30 pm.  After collecting our bags, we got in the taxi line.  It was a fast moving line ... they know how to move people around in that city!  We were so lucky to have the cabbie step out of the taxi with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth ... YUK!  He pitched it and helped us get the bags loaded.  The cab smelled of smoke and it was so GROSS!  The cabbie asked if we wanted the fastest or the straightest route to the hotel.  I told him the fastest.  He proceeded to take us out and around on freeway after freeway to get to the final destination of Treasure Island Hotel.  It didn't seem very fast over all, but he was moving fast!  I guess that is what he meant!!  Live and learn.  To my amazement, considering his driving technique, we arrived alive!  We got checked in and after dropping the bags in the room, we went down to Gilley's for dinner!!  It was delish!!  We stayed another hour or so in their bar watching the karaoke and the dancing ... I really want to learn how to line dance and swing dance!!!  

Wednesday morning dawned to be a beautiful day with bright blue skies and temps in the low 60's. We got ourselves out of bed and dressed to go to breakfast and a day of shopping!  We wandered all over the mall and ended up all the way down at Monte Carlo Casino!  Whew ... my feet were hurting!  After dinner, we discovered a free tram that would take us back to the Bellagio!  We hopped on and then walked the rest of the way back to Treasure Island.  It was a fun day! And, the best part is it ended with a few hours of fun in the casino!!  

Thursday morning was a day of moving from one hotel (Treasure Island) to another (Mandarin Oriental).  I opted to stay at TI for two nights because MO did not have a casino.  I knew we would be busy once the conference started and didn't figure I would get much time to spend in a casino so we opted to move to Mandarin Oriental and we are SO glad we did!  It was very very very nice! We were upgraded to a suite upon checking and we were absolutely astounded at the room.  We walked into the room and the curtains started opening and the TV came on with a welcome message and showed everything that could be controlled with the remote ... TV, temperature, lights, curtains, alarm and services.  The bellman brought our luggage up to the room and showed us around the suite!  Holy Wow Batman!!  There was a sitting room with a huge flatscreen TV, a bedroom with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the strip and a bigger flatscreen TV and a king size bed!  The bathroom had a HUGE tub, a humongous shower, two sinks, and an enclosed toilet area!!  Oh, and the floor to ceiling windows were all the way around the room .. we could look out from the closet, the bathroom, the bedroom, the sitting room or the foyer!!  It was too much ... we felt out of place, but well, we suffered through it for two days!!  The first day of the conference started Thursday afternoon at 3 pm.  After the conference we were taken out to dinner with a group from the conference.  My fellow board members, a few national board members and a few vendors.  It was an amazing dinner with a well performed waiting crew that took care of everything!!  It was hard to believe they could fit 7 waiters in the room with the 21 of us that were eating!!  I was a good time! After that, we were too full to move much so we went back to our awesome room and I soaked my bones in the huge tub!!  I was all settled in the nice hot water reading my book... and the lights go off!!  Hmmmm ... Tom was playing with the controls with the remote!!  It was really cool to then sit in the tub in the dark bathroom and look out over the strip!!  He turned the lights back on and I was able to relax with my book for a good long soak!!  Much needed!!  

All day Friday was spend in the conference!  We learned alot, got to talk to alot of people that have been in this industry for a long time and formed some new friendships!  After spending the day in class, we then had a chance to go change before heading to have a quick dinner.  The conference was topped off with a trip to see the Cirque Du Soleil performance KA.  We had seen this before on one of our trips to Vegas. But, this time we were in the 4th row from the stage and it was even better than the last time when we were in the middle of the theater!!  Holy Wow!!  After that long day, we were ready to just relax!!  We made our way back to the room and I soaked in the tub while Tom watched some TV.  

Saturday ... the day of our departure!  We were up and packing pretty early so we could have a chance to get some breakfast before we had to check out.  We were out of the room around 11:30 and headed to the airport soon thereafter.  Another great trip to Las Vegas is under our belt.  We are looking forward to the next trip!  

We arrived at the Fairbanks Airport again at 2 o'clock in the morning!!  After collecting luggage and getting the vehicle started, we were on our way home!  It was just below zero when we landed and about 7 below at the house. We got in the nice warm house to find the "inside" dogs in all their "inside" spots.  They were so happy to see us!  I thought Rallie was going to wag her way out of her kennel ... she was sooo happy to see us!  Then, she realized she needed to pee!!  Out the door they all went for a potty break.  We loaded the wood stove and put them all back in their kennels and off to bed we went!  Today, Sunday, has been a slow day for us!  Some clothes are getting laundered and we are off soon to get the dog pens cleaned before it gets dark!  

Thanks for reading about our adventures!  We can be reached by e-mail at dimonfreightdogs@hotmail.com or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cathy.dimon 

Happy Trails!

C & T & the Gang