dennis s. hurddennis s. hurd

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

What Happens in Vegas ...

Jay and I never exchange gifts on special occasions. There's little we could give each other as we have few unfulfilled needs. The idea of wrapping up something in a box for the other to open seems exceptionally silly to us. In recent years, though, we have treated ourselves to special trips on our birthdays. Mine is in July and Jay's in September. 

We were with my sister and friend during an unforgettable adventure in July. Strangely, we kept putting off making a decisions about what to to this month. Jay's birthdate has been the same since I met him. Isn't that weird? We'd talked about an all-inclusive vacation as we did last year. However, we never found any airplane deals heading to Mexican destinations. We'd also thought about picking up a last-minute bargain on a cruise departing from Vancouver. That didn't pan out as this season has been too busy and there were we wasfew unsold staterooms.

So, here it is September 3rd and Jay's birthday is barreling towards us on the 8th. But we just fixed the situation! We have booked an Expedia trip to Vegas from Friday.   We have a connection in San Francisco on the way down and a direct flight back to Vancouver next Tuesday.

It has been a long time since we were last in Las Vegas, NV.  It was well before we retired ten years ago. In fact, on my blog and in my online pictures, I found we flew on Allegiant Airlines from Bellingham, WA in December 2008! So it is surely not too soon to hit the strip again, although we never spend a cent in the casinos. 

We're common folk and strive to stay in relatively meager accommodations wherever we go, even in Vegas. Our very first trip might have been in October 2001 at The Boardwalk.  It was subsequently torn down and replaced with what is now CityCenter's Waldorf Astoria. We may have stayed twice at Circus Circus. I'm pretty sure we stayed there in both 2002 and 2008. 
  November 2002 
This photo is my own and taken on our 2002 trip when I first got a digital camera.  This time we booked and will be staying here in the aging Excalibur. It's good that we are fairly familiar with hot places and the liberal use of air conditioning.  The weather is forecast to be 26° to 43°C (79° to 109°F) during our four-night stay.


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