Girls night out! So - my daughter has this wonderful idea about getting together with her best friends for girls night out. She books a two bedroom suite at the Marriott Grand Chateau in Las Vegas. Then she decides that she should use my Marriott Rewards points for one of the nights - which means that I get to go too - YAY! She sends out a text message letting the other girls know that I may be coming and gets back the response - 'That's terrific! Your mom is soooo cool!' Now I didn't think I was all that cool - but I do have my moments I guess. So plans are made and strategy is developed. One of the friends has just moved out of state and we are going to meet her there. We are taking my granddaughter with us to spend the weekend with her daughter who is her best friend also.
On the day of departure it was also decided that we would go in my van - I think I'm getting a clue as to why I was really invited. Has anyone ever tried to travel with a car full of women? I know that I always pack way too much whenever I go anywhere. But when I picked up my granddaughter and her bag was bigger than any of the others - including mine - I started to worry. I still have two more passengers and ensuing luggage to pick up. Where is it all going to fit? I have a 7 passenger van, but that leaves very little room for extras.
When I picked up the first passenger we noticed that my right rear tire was a little low. I had noticed it earlier in the day and it hadn't seemed to change much so I figured I would check it when we stopped for gas before heading out of town. Well, by the time I picked up my daughter we were running late and decided that we would just get on the freeway and try to get ahead of traffic and check the tire when we got to the next pickup spot. By that time my tire was totally flat! Dang! I hate it when that happens. We went around the corner and put air in the tire at the gas station. Then we decided it might be a good idea to stop somewhere and have the tire checked because none of us want to have to change it in the middle of the night - especially when we would have to unload 3 tons of luggage to even get to the spare tire! So we back track to the nearest Walmart. Just our luck - they automotive center closed about 3 minutes before we got there! I must have looked on the verge of hysteria at that point because the clerk suggested we ask the automotive manager if he would stay and check my tire. It was like a 'Les Schwab' commercial! I can only say that my attitude towards Walmart has improved a little! They were so nice and accommodating!
By the time we finally get on the road and headed towards Las Vegas - a 6 hour drive - we realize that it will probably be 2:00a.m. before we get there. Call the hotel and let them know that we will not only be a 'late arrival' - we will be a VERY late arrival. Good thing I'm not being charged actual money for this night!
So after stopping three times to get gas, go to the rest room, and refill the coffee mugs we finally hit Las Vegas. But do we get to go to the hotel? Noooooo. First we have to go pick up the out of state passenger. She is waiting for us at her sister-in-law's house in Henderson. And she's not waiting all that patiently - she has started the party without us!
Her daughter has no idea that we are bringing my granddaughter so we sneak her in to surprise Grace and get that all taken care of. There is a lot of screaming and laughing and hugging and crying and laughing and hugging and screaming - the girls are 11 years old. We also have to try and get Grace's mom moving in the right direction so that we can at least use the hotel room for a couple of hours!
We finally make it to the hotel and get the 3 tons of luggage out of the car and up to the room. I felt like Granny out of the 'Beverly Hillbillies.' Then we decided that we should go see what the rooftop pool looks like. Unfortunately by then we've had at least one shot of some kind of liquor. We managed to find the elevator and make it up to the 37th floor - but the pool is on the 38th floor! We spent two more rides on the elevator and another half hour trying to figure out how to get up there. Only to discover that the door to the pool area was locked for the night. And why wouldn't it be - and why wouldn't we have thought of that? Back down to our room and to finally get some sleep.
We had a lot of fun at the M&M and Coca Cola stores. We tasted several strange sodas from around the world - one of which tasted like carbonated mouthwash and got strange faces from all of us. I even found a very cute 'Sonic' fleece hat for my 4-year-old grandson at one of the kiosks. He will be thrilled. We sat and watched 'Kotton Kandy' annoy people on the sidewalk. BAM! What a hoot.
We ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We had the coolest waiter. He really deserved a very large tip for having to deal with us! My girls are not exactly the quietest group when they get together - nor are they timid or reserved. But he was able to keep up with them. At least until they got me to laughing...
I have this annoying habit of being unable to stop laughing when I really get going. I have this hiccupping laugh that sounds like something between a chipmunk on steroids and a squeaky toy. I can't stop until everyone else stops - which they won't do because they think it's funny! And it's really hard to breathe - my ribs hurt, my eyes water - and it gets everyone's attention! When the waiter asked if I could breathe my daughter replied 'No' - and kept laughing. I will get even with her someday...
After dinner we decided to go to a bar for drinks. Two of the girls had attempted to ride the mechanical bull - not all the successfully, but they got great pictures! By the time we left we were all three sheets to the wind - so to speak. Not sure how we made it back to the hotel without being arrested for public intoxication - especially after one of the girls stumbled and did a face plant at the feet of a couple of Las Vegas' finest!
All in all the weekend was a success - we all had fun and now we know more about each than we did before. I love 'my girls' and am glad they feel comfortable dragging me along!
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