Song Lyric of the Day:
Who says you can’t have it all / Cause baby nothing for free / No money don’t grow on trees / Golddigger
Supreme Beings of Leisure / “Golddigger”
3:05 PM Friday: Touched down here in Charlotte about 40 minutes ago. After about 15 minutes of just walking to get to my gate for the connecting flight to Las Vegas, I decided to go ahead and have lunch. The plane is now charging for food, so who knows how much and how good it will? So being in North Carolina, I opted for a genuine, Carolina-style, pit-BBQ pork sandwich. Granted, it cost $9.20 for the sandwich, one side, and a small Coke, but was it worth it? Absof###inglutely.
I did most of my packing last night, leaving incidentals for this morning. By this I mean I ran around all morning, rounding up my laptop, digital camera, stuffing my carry-on bag with lots of books and magazines, and generally freaking out worrying that I may forget something. I also bombarded the hubby with questions about having any questions about any what to do while I’m gone. I also warned him to be very, very careful around the VCR in our bedroom. I programmed it to record about 6 shows while I’m gone, and I’d like to be able to watch them next weekend after I get home.
I’m so excited to be going on this trip. Not only have I not seen my friend, Brent, since he, my sister, Vanessa, and I went to New York City in January to watch the Knicks play and win in Madison Square Garden, but this is my first time to Las Vegas and out west in general. True, I’ve been to Europe twice in my life, even throwing up on the Eiffel Tower during my second trip to Paris, but I’ve never been farther west than the Texas. And even that was by default, since we lived in Houston for about 7 years.
I am hoping the connecting flight to Las Vegas goes a bit smoother than the flight from Newport News to here. It wasn’t bad, but it’s so windy today that the plane felt more like an amusement park ride, minus a track underneath and the peace of mind knowing that you are no more than maybe 100 feet above the ground at any given time. Once we reached 10,000 feet the ride smoothed out significantly. Landing was a bit scary, since the pilot hit the brakes so hard we were all pitched forward towards the seats in front of us. I have faith that the next flight will be much better as it will be a much bigger plane. Also, the in-flight movie might be “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” which I missed when it played in theaters. You gotta love Will Ferrell–the man has no shame, a truly great quality for a comedian to have.
11:40 AM Saturday: The flight from Charlotte to Las Vegas last night took off late. We were supposed to leave at 4:25PM, but ended up not leaving until 5:00PM. The flight was much better than the first one was, and the movie ended up being “The Manchurian Candidate” with Denzel Washington. I opted not to pay the $5.00 they wanted for headsets and instead tried the headphones I brought to use with my laptop. Eureka! Free movie! After the movie, I dozed off and on for a little, in between talking with my seatmate, a woman from Pasadena, CA, named Barbara.
Upon landing, Barbara and I said our goodbyes, I called the hubby to let him know I landed, and I made my way to Baggage Claim to find my friends, Brent and Dan. We loaded up the car, dropped Brent’s luggage off at Dan’s house, and then swung by Dan’s parents’ house, where I’m staying a couple of nights. After saying hi to his mom and leaving my luggage, we went to Quizno’s to grab a quick dinner. Then we watched a pirated copy of “Team America,” which was actually quite funny. At least what I saw of it. After travelling all day, I basically dozed off maybe halfway into the movie. I stayed up for a little while talking to Mr. and Mrs. Yon, then went off to bed at 12:30AM local time. Of course, I was crawling by then, since I’m still on Eastern time, and I haven’t gone to bed at 3:30AM in a long, long, long time.
Woke up at 7:30 in the exact same position in which I fell asleep, so I feel great after sleeping like the dead. Fell back asleep and got up at 10:00, hopped in the shower, and had breakfast. Now I’m waiting for Brent and Dan to come pick me up so we can go explore the city. Here’s hoping they don’t slow me down too much. Brent’s got a fractured foot and Dan is recovering from gallbladder surgery he had on Wednesday. Tonight will be fun–we’re seeing Cirque du Soleil’s “O” at the Bellagio.
More from Vegas later…..