Vegas Vacation Day 1

Jeff and I planned a vacation to Mexico 4 months ago. We spent lots of time researching and planned what would have been a dream vacation; pretty much the first trip for just the two of us since our wedding. Unfortunately, things come up and plans change. The swine flu outbreak started gaining worldwide attention just days before we were scheduled to leave. After much debate, we figured it would probably be better to cancel the vacation. Not so much because we were worried about the outbreak, but more because family members wouldn't appreciate us going and taking the risk. We were pretty bummed about the whole thing.
Jeff ended up staying longer to finish working the rest of the week, and finish packing and moving since our lease was ending, and we tried to hurry and find a 'Plan B'. Unfortunately, when it's so last minute everything is much more expensive and we were already out money from plane tickets that the airlines refused to refund.
Eventually we ended up planning a vacation to Las Vegas; not glamorous or as exciting as Mexico, but more than anything I just wanted to be somewhere warm and somewhat cheap, enjoying time together. It ended up being a pretty good option.
I left at 7am on Friday morning and arrived in Las Vegas around 11:00. When we got our hotel, Jeff got a great deal on Priceline, but it ended up being pretty far away from the airport. To take a cab from the airport to the hotel would have been $65. We had rented a car for the week, but I couldn't pick up the car without Jeff since it was under his name and I'm still under age 25. The hotel had two shuttles a day that would pick up from the Strip area, but they were only at 10:45 am and 7:45 pm. So I hung out at the airport for about 6 hours reading a book. During this time, I got a phone call from Jeff. He was supposed to arrive in Las Vegas about 11pm, but it had been a busy day at the hospital with several emergencies, and he ended up missing his flight because of an emergency surgery- a boy had ruptured his eye when another boy threw a colored pencil and it hit him in the eye. It wasn't the most celebrated phone call, Jeff wouldn't be able to get another flight until Saturday afternoon, which meant I would get to spend the first day of our vacation all by myself. Fun. :)

Around 5pm, I took a shuttle bus to the strip, so I could finally get something to eat. (the airport food was so expensive that I refused to spend money on it) It was interesting that on my ride from the airport to the Strip, I met a guy who just happened to be from my home town. It was funny that we happened to meet up in the same area, so we had a fun time visiting during the short ride. After picking up some take out at PF Changs, I spent a little time walking the strip -probably looking interesting as I dragged my luggage behind me. (My view from the Pick-up Location)

Eventually I made my way to the pick-up location for the hotel. It was still only about 7pm, so I made a few phone calls and talked with a few friends and family members while I waited for the hotel pick-up. He made it there about 8pm, and we headed back to the hotel.(Wish You Were Here!)

It was a very nice resort out by the lake. The only thing that would have made it better was if Jeff had been there with me. It's not much fun being by yourself on a vacation. I was just glad that I finally made it to the hotel, it had been a long day and I was ready for sleep!