And We're off!

Well this has been a long time coming. We’ve been saving for four years, and thinking about it for four years, and researching for four years! And it’s finally here!

We have been running around like crazy people for the last few weeks getting ready, saying good-bye and organizing the things we are leaving behind. I think we accomplished most things on our list (but not all of course!) and I’m ready to start relaxing 🙂

During the day yesterday we put our final things in our storage locker, prepared our condo for our new renter and packed our bags. There were some panicky moments (for me anyway) when we were trying to fit everything we will need for the next year into a backpack each… but we did it. This was accomplished partially through the “rolling things up really small” technique and the inordinate strength of the zippers on our MEC backpacks.

We fit 14 months of stuff into here!

Side note: When we opened our backpacks I could smell our last trip! We had some kind of rose scented thing from Bali or Thailand last time that we carted around for months in the packs… and both packs still smell rosy. It’s funny how smells can evoke memories.

Last night our excellent friend, Stu, picked us up and drove us to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas. It has become a tradition now as he and Jen dropped us off for our last big adventure. We took the obligatory photo in front of our building and then another in the airport.

Me and the slacker at the Victoria airport. All checked in and ready to drop off the bags!

We took Westjet direct to Las Vegas which is a treat (the direct part I mean) as you don’t usually fly direct to anywhere from our small city. 🙂 I was surprised there was no seatback entertainment system. If you didn’t bring your own entertainment you would just have to amuse yourself for the 2 1/2 hours!  There were a couple of large groups drinking tequila shots on the plane and they were able to provide entertainment for the rest of us 🙂

I felt like the seats were squishy… but I think I always feel that when I get on a plane. I was quite aghast at their food prices. A sandwich that looks like it was basically a croissant with a slice of cheese, lettuce and ham with a beer was 16.50. I kid you not. I was hungry… but not that hungry! They would also sell you a pack of smarties for the bargain price of $2.29. Really?!? Anyway, they did give out complimentary soda and water with a pack of two little cookies… so I made do with that 🙂

We landed in Terminal 3 which is officially nicknamed by me as the “Terminal of endlessly long hallways”. I wish I had my fitbit on… I bet I would have been racking up the steps 🙂 Customs was easy, we had a nice cab driver from Sudan drive us to the condo we rented (he told us it was 115 degrees In Vegas today!), and then we were here!

We are staying at the MGM Signature Suites which are the three gold towers behind the green MGM building. We rented through VRBO because It was the most economical way I could figure. You still get free wifi, use of the pools (and the MGM pools) and the fitness room with no resort fees 🙂 We ended up with a studio which is about 560 square feet. It has a small kitchen, a big bathroom, a king sized bed and living area. I’m pretty sure the couch is a sofa bed, so if you wanted to stay with four people you could.

The difference with renting from an owner is that you don’t have maid service, and I’m not sure what to do with the garbage, or how to make do with four towels (I stand corrected there are 6) for 11 days… but I have 11 days to figure it out 🙂

After we checked in we headed down to find some food. I needed something fast and so did the King. He was approaching Angry Hulk Mode so we opted for the food court in MGM thinking it would be fast and cheap. It ended up being sort of fast, and not cheap for a food court. We had a chicken caesar salad, philly cheesesteak and 2 bottles of water for the grand total of $33 US! (Each of the small sized water bottles were $4 each!!!) I’m afraid to even convert it. When it is 11 at night and you’re starving I guess you just have to pay that much for food court food.

I was feeling so sorry for one little boy who was about 6 and sitting in the food court waiting for his parents to bring him some McDonald’s… he was so tired he was sleeping on the table!

After we ate we headed out to the Walgreens to pick up some food staples for breakfast and snacks for Steve to take tomorrow when he is playing poker. Yep… his first tourney is right away.

I think I’ll spend the day reading by the pool and wandering around checking out the shops. I’m hoping I don’t see him all day, because that means he’s doing really well 🙂