I haven't been doing a lot. Summertime.. for many it is the best part of the year..
For me, not so much. I do love that Jim is not in class, so we can do more together, but I am *NOT* a fan of the heat. Not in any way. About the only thing I can think of about summer I like.. well, 2 things... One is that we can swim in Lewis and Clark lake, in Yankton, SD.... number 2 is that I don't like to drive in the dark, so the days are longer and I can drive later :) ---- I know that many people probably think I am crazy loving the fall and winter, but lately, the snow has not been as often or as bad as I remember from when I was young, so I don't complain.. Top 10 things about fall/winter
1. Open windows in fall :)
2. Baking cookies and casseroles
3. Nice warm sweaters :)
4. Hot apple cider
5. Walks without sweating like swine :)
6. Brisk cool mornings and plenty of sunshine all day long
7. Curling up with Jim under a throw blanket to watch a movie :)
8. Pumpkins and pumpkin pie
9. Chili, soups, long cooking dishes and stuff all come back :)
10. I guess the top one for me would boil down to this... it is much easier to use a blanket, or put on a sweater to warm up, but much harder to cool down in summer!!
I can't wait until fall comes :):):) am I the only one? I will have to say goodbye to the lake and swimming and grilling, but hello to all of the things I mentioned in my top 10 :) bring it on :)
Thanks for reading :)
Angel Chasse (again)
8/27/2007
8/01/2007
Viva Las Vegas
Hey :)
Happy first day of August!
Jim and I went to Las Vegas July 15th to the 20th.
The plane ride was fun. I haven't flown very often, so it still excites me. I am not fond of take off or landing, but I like the rest of the "up in the air, everything looks tiny" part :)
We arrived in the Mccarran airport. It's HUGE :) We had all of our luggage without any problems, because Jim is smart, and suggested, then instisted that we carry on. He stressed how much it would NOT be fun to get to Las Veags with only the clothes on our backs if our luggage was lost.
Leave the airport, get on a shuttle *they are not free anymore, cost 8 dollars each plus tip* The trip was quick, and the shuttle driver was very nice and gave us tips on what buffets to hit while we were downtown.
We were staying at the Las Vegas Club. Now.... would I stay there again, maybe not... but it did work for us. Sure it was dingy, no frills, older etc etc.. but for the price, and for it being right in the middle of the "Freemont Street Experience" it was great. All we did was sleep and shower there. We showered, and showered and showered!! (It is hot hot hot hot)
The first night we ooohed and ahhhed at all the lights of downtown freemont street, and went into the big casinos and got players club cards as souveniers, and for the free stuff.
It is good to note at this point as well, that most of the players clubs used to give you a "fun book" with coupons to pull out of the book and turn in for free drinks, tshirts, free play, free buffets etc etc. Many many of the casinos have stopped doing the fun books, and give you nothing for signing up, or a tshirt. We DID however find 2 casinos that gave you a code to get 10 dollars free slot play. For cheapskates like us, it was a major SCORE :):)
On freemont street they have entertainers on the streets. Most nights we would be walking along under the big canopy and see a gentleman playing saxaphone, or piano, or singing. It was great, and free entertainment. Though it all happened outside, it was still great to see people gathered to hear their music!!! Freemont street also had 2 casinos that had 99 cent margaritas. We didnt find out until later in the week how rare this was in Las Vegas, and how much we should appreciate drinks at this price :)
Monday we went to the strip. We rode a bus called "The Deuce" Its a double-decker bus that's route is to go up and down the strip. Whenever the doors opened at a stop, this voice came over the speaker and said "Have fun, Ride the Deuce.... 2 dollars one way, five dollars all day pass" it became a running joke with jim and I.. it was so sing-songy, so we said it one another all the time... :):)
We started at treasure island, looked at the ship and the water, walked through the casino, and fell for the "buy one get one free drink" coupon... the margarita was 9.50... for ONE ... yah... so the strip is expensive! We didnt do that again! Next came the mirage. We got pictures of the waterfalls outside of that one and walked through... I am sure there was another one, but the next one we toured and took pictures of was the Bellagio.
The Bellagio is one of the most beautiful buildings I have been in. Everything was intricate, and in good taste. We took lots of pictures and marveled at how much marble and "fancy stuff" we saw in there. We also walked by the restaurants, and were AMAZED at how much a meal in some of those places was.... not South Dakota prices, that is for darn sure.. I think we saw one where a DESSERT was 83.00 yup eighty three american dollars....... yup....
We went outside to watch the fountain show.. it was so hottttt out there waiting, but the fountain show was great. I took video of it with my camera, and it turned out pretty well :)
One of the things that was a little bit upsetting was that many of the things that were listed as "free atractions" on the web were not operational anymore, or now had a price tag of 10-20 dollars per person... so, a tip... really check on things if you are on a tight budget like we were.
I guess I dont remember what happened every day in order... imagine that.. but we also went the next night to a casino called casino royale, and played 50 dollars each "free slots" they set you up at these "fake" machines and you play your 50 dollars. The only time you get paid is if you get the jackpot on your machine.. we played on those for about 2 hours, and it was fun, but we didnt win, and we didnt see anyone else win either...
We got buy one get one free buffet coupons for most of our meals, and the ones that we didnt eat at buffets we ate at the mcdonalds in the hotel that was one over from ours... its "sister" property, the one with the pool and a few more ammenities than our hotel had.
All you can eat steak and crab buffet one night, all you can eat filet mignon and shrimp scampi one night, then a couple of lunch buffets... food is aplenty in vegas, but beware, some buffets are over 20 bucks per person at LUNCH TIME :):)
One of my favorite times was touring through the Wynn hotel. That one has even more marble and intricate detailing than the Bellagio!! I took some pictures in their atrium.. they have trees with these "balls" hanging from them.. they were flower arrangements made into the shape of balls, and they were marvelous!!! Made me want to have someone make one for me.. but alas, it would die in a few days I assume!!
We went to fashion show mall on the strip one day... it was a fun thing to do where we could be inside and not HOT :):) They have stores in this fashion show mall, and in the forum shops at caesar's palace... that I have only heard of in movies or magazines... Cartier, Rolex, Dolce and Gabanna, playboy store, tiffany s, bloomingdales... wow some pricey stores for sure... a lladro store, fao schwartz, many many many... and they are the kinds of stores where it is a huge store, but there are only a few items on any racks or in sight... I always think that is odd... where is all the STUFF.... I guess I am used to walmart :)
So I guess our trip was fun, I had a good time with Jimbo, and I am glad we had a vacation together, but Vegas really isn't the town for us. The lights, the action, it is all great, but things are EXPENSIVE... tipping everyone you see almost, eating, drinking, shows.. it adds up so fast.. and that is not even taking money aside for gambling... we are not much of the gamblers... I guess since Jim spent a lot of his life in Reno (little vegas) and saw when food and drink and freebies used to flow like bottled water (haha) ... we were taken aback at how much things really cost there... Next vacation, I think we will do a cruise (and take a lot of money with for tipping) or go to another destination where there is an OCEAN to swim in.. because that entertainment is free :):)
One of the best values in Vegas in my opinion is going up in the tower at the Stratosphere and catching the fade from day to night over Vegas :) It's 11 dollars for some of the best views of vegas!!! If you are going to Vegas, do this!!!!!!!
If you would like to see a few of the pictures I took, you can look at my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mciangel
Happy first day of August!
Jim and I went to Las Vegas July 15th to the 20th.
The plane ride was fun. I haven't flown very often, so it still excites me. I am not fond of take off or landing, but I like the rest of the "up in the air, everything looks tiny" part :)
We arrived in the Mccarran airport. It's HUGE :) We had all of our luggage without any problems, because Jim is smart, and suggested, then instisted that we carry on. He stressed how much it would NOT be fun to get to Las Veags with only the clothes on our backs if our luggage was lost.
Leave the airport, get on a shuttle *they are not free anymore, cost 8 dollars each plus tip* The trip was quick, and the shuttle driver was very nice and gave us tips on what buffets to hit while we were downtown.
We were staying at the Las Vegas Club. Now.... would I stay there again, maybe not... but it did work for us. Sure it was dingy, no frills, older etc etc.. but for the price, and for it being right in the middle of the "Freemont Street Experience" it was great. All we did was sleep and shower there. We showered, and showered and showered!! (It is hot hot hot hot)
The first night we ooohed and ahhhed at all the lights of downtown freemont street, and went into the big casinos and got players club cards as souveniers, and for the free stuff.
It is good to note at this point as well, that most of the players clubs used to give you a "fun book" with coupons to pull out of the book and turn in for free drinks, tshirts, free play, free buffets etc etc. Many many of the casinos have stopped doing the fun books, and give you nothing for signing up, or a tshirt. We DID however find 2 casinos that gave you a code to get 10 dollars free slot play. For cheapskates like us, it was a major SCORE :):)
On freemont street they have entertainers on the streets. Most nights we would be walking along under the big canopy and see a gentleman playing saxaphone, or piano, or singing. It was great, and free entertainment. Though it all happened outside, it was still great to see people gathered to hear their music!!! Freemont street also had 2 casinos that had 99 cent margaritas. We didnt find out until later in the week how rare this was in Las Vegas, and how much we should appreciate drinks at this price :)
Monday we went to the strip. We rode a bus called "The Deuce" Its a double-decker bus that's route is to go up and down the strip. Whenever the doors opened at a stop, this voice came over the speaker and said "Have fun, Ride the Deuce.... 2 dollars one way, five dollars all day pass" it became a running joke with jim and I.. it was so sing-songy, so we said it one another all the time... :):)
We started at treasure island, looked at the ship and the water, walked through the casino, and fell for the "buy one get one free drink" coupon... the margarita was 9.50... for ONE ... yah... so the strip is expensive! We didnt do that again! Next came the mirage. We got pictures of the waterfalls outside of that one and walked through... I am sure there was another one, but the next one we toured and took pictures of was the Bellagio.
The Bellagio is one of the most beautiful buildings I have been in. Everything was intricate, and in good taste. We took lots of pictures and marveled at how much marble and "fancy stuff" we saw in there. We also walked by the restaurants, and were AMAZED at how much a meal in some of those places was.... not South Dakota prices, that is for darn sure.. I think we saw one where a DESSERT was 83.00 yup eighty three american dollars....... yup....
We went outside to watch the fountain show.. it was so hottttt out there waiting, but the fountain show was great. I took video of it with my camera, and it turned out pretty well :)
One of the things that was a little bit upsetting was that many of the things that were listed as "free atractions" on the web were not operational anymore, or now had a price tag of 10-20 dollars per person... so, a tip... really check on things if you are on a tight budget like we were.
I guess I dont remember what happened every day in order... imagine that.. but we also went the next night to a casino called casino royale, and played 50 dollars each "free slots" they set you up at these "fake" machines and you play your 50 dollars. The only time you get paid is if you get the jackpot on your machine.. we played on those for about 2 hours, and it was fun, but we didnt win, and we didnt see anyone else win either...
We got buy one get one free buffet coupons for most of our meals, and the ones that we didnt eat at buffets we ate at the mcdonalds in the hotel that was one over from ours... its "sister" property, the one with the pool and a few more ammenities than our hotel had.
All you can eat steak and crab buffet one night, all you can eat filet mignon and shrimp scampi one night, then a couple of lunch buffets... food is aplenty in vegas, but beware, some buffets are over 20 bucks per person at LUNCH TIME :):)
One of my favorite times was touring through the Wynn hotel. That one has even more marble and intricate detailing than the Bellagio!! I took some pictures in their atrium.. they have trees with these "balls" hanging from them.. they were flower arrangements made into the shape of balls, and they were marvelous!!! Made me want to have someone make one for me.. but alas, it would die in a few days I assume!!
We went to fashion show mall on the strip one day... it was a fun thing to do where we could be inside and not HOT :):) They have stores in this fashion show mall, and in the forum shops at caesar's palace... that I have only heard of in movies or magazines... Cartier, Rolex, Dolce and Gabanna, playboy store, tiffany s, bloomingdales... wow some pricey stores for sure... a lladro store, fao schwartz, many many many... and they are the kinds of stores where it is a huge store, but there are only a few items on any racks or in sight... I always think that is odd... where is all the STUFF.... I guess I am used to walmart :)
So I guess our trip was fun, I had a good time with Jimbo, and I am glad we had a vacation together, but Vegas really isn't the town for us. The lights, the action, it is all great, but things are EXPENSIVE... tipping everyone you see almost, eating, drinking, shows.. it adds up so fast.. and that is not even taking money aside for gambling... we are not much of the gamblers... I guess since Jim spent a lot of his life in Reno (little vegas) and saw when food and drink and freebies used to flow like bottled water (haha) ... we were taken aback at how much things really cost there... Next vacation, I think we will do a cruise (and take a lot of money with for tipping) or go to another destination where there is an OCEAN to swim in.. because that entertainment is free :):)
One of the best values in Vegas in my opinion is going up in the tower at the Stratosphere and catching the fade from day to night over Vegas :) It's 11 dollars for some of the best views of vegas!!! If you are going to Vegas, do this!!!!!!!
If you would like to see a few of the pictures I took, you can look at my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mciangel
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