Wow! Wow! And WOW!!!
Wednesday July 3rd my mother calls and tells me that one of my best friends (whom I haven't seen in years) was getting married and wanted me to be his Best Man. Of course I was honored but was a bit thrown off when I heard that he was getting married this coming Saturday July 7th and that it was happening in Vegas!
Before I could get nervous about the expense of getting a flight within less than a week to a city less than an hour away (by plane) she told me that he was willing to give me $300 to get out there. Okay, problem almost solved. Was $300 going to be enough to get me there and pay for a hotel for a night or two?
Long story short I was able to find a hotel for $67.57 for the night!
I have to thank the moms for that as she was the one that called and was originally going to book the flight on her card. For whatever reason it didn't go through but she managed to confirm the room at a rate almost $30 less than the advertised rate of $99 (I actually found it for $90 via hotwire.com).
Upon arrival I ran to the nearest bookstore to pick up a camera at the tune of $16 bucks...for one. Then as life normally dictates Derrick and his bride-to-be decided to go Wal-Mart. Okay, so then I saw the same camera I just bought at Wal-Mart for $8 and there were two in the package. So basically I paid the price for four cameras at the airport bookstore. Such is life.
After a stop at Wal-Mart and breakfast at IHOP Derrick decided he wanted to drive about 45 minutes to see the Hoover Dam. Boy was I glad he made that decision.
It was absolutely beautiful. Amazing. Almost unbelievable how man could manage to build something like that. Just incredible. I can't wait to get the pictures developed.
After that he dropped by back at the hotel. I got unpacked, showered, and rested up a bit before he picked me up.
It was about 4:50pm and Derrick was downstairs ready to pick me up. I felt pretty good about the black suit and silver tie although I was desperate for a hair cut.
When we got the Luxor hotel I was blown away. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was but more importantly how HUGE it was. It was like another world. Like no other hotel I'd ever been before. It was part hotel, part movie theater, part food court, part casino, and all gorgeous.
One of the best features was the fact that the elevator wasn't an elevator at all but rather an "inclinator". Instead of going straight up the car went up and sideways along the pyramid-shaped building.
Derrick and Leslie were on the 25th floor and the view from the hallway leading to their room was unbelievable. Looking down and over the railing were basically ants and lights. Not people but ants. Everything and everybody looked so small from the 25th floor that it was hard to imagine that we were in the same place from the bottom floor we just left.
I'll have to continue this later. My fingers are getting tired and I think the plane is going to begin boarding in the next 15 minutes.
...to be continued.
