Vegas Trip Report

There is nothing like being in the Pacific Time Zone (when you live in the CST) to allow extra morning hours in which to Blog. We were all awake by 6:00 a.m. and although it is Vegas and we adults could always find something to do, it's a little more difficult with kids. We are waiting for 8:15 when we can go line up to get beach chairs at the pool.

We're at Mandaly Bay Resort and Casino. We've never stayed here before. We decided to stay here primarily because Hockey Girl's friend and her family stay here and her Mom called me a few months ago and told me they'd made their reservations for Spring reak and invivted us to join them. The girls had mentioned wanting to come here at the same time some time. They always stay here, so they had access to some really good room rates.

We were able to get really great rates on Allegiant Air directly out of Duluth - love that option!! We left yesterday a little after 1 p.m. (CST) and we were in Vegas by 2:15 p.m. (Pacific). Everything went as smoothly as it could go. Our luggage was on the carousel when we got there. There was no wait for the shuttle to the rental car center. We had rented a car via Hotwire from Avis (also a really good rate) and there was only a short wait to get that. We requested a mid-sized car and we ended up with a Kia Rondo (SUV crossover) which had more than enough room for our luggage (our only concern about a smaller car). We drove directly to Mandalay Bay and check-in was also a breeze. We decided it was good to arrive on a Monday.

We are on the 31st floor with a lovely view of the pool area. Manadaly Bay has a large and impressive pool area that includes a sandy beach, a huge wave pool and a lazy river as well as 5 other pools. Our hotel room is spacious and comfortable. It has a large flat screen TV in the main room and a little one in the bathroom. Only complaint that we could have is a lack of dresser drawer space for 4 people.

After we got our room, we unpacked and at about 4 p.m. the kids and I made it down to the pool. Curling Man went to the sports book to place a bet for himself and a friend on the Michigan State/UNC basketball game for the National Championship. Both of them took Michigan (UNC were 7 1/2 point favorites). Curling Man then joined us for a bit at the pool. He and AOSB then went back to the room to relax and watch some sports on that nice TV. HG and I stayed at the "beach" and even I went into the wave pool. The pool area closes at 6:00 p.m., so when it closed we went back to the room, changed and went to dinner at the Border Grill. It is a Mexcian Restaurant that prides itself on serving sustainable, healthy food. It made me feel so much better that my margarita was made with organic agave juice, and therefore good for me! I'm sure the chips and salsa were also good for me. I had kobe beef tacos with pineapple salsa and a fresh cucmber and asparagus salad that were out of this world! Kids also enjoyed their chicken burritos and Kevin had some Chicken Pableno enchiladas which were also excellent. By the time we finished dinner kids were really tired. We went back to the room and watched the basketball game for a bit. Curling man decided to go down to the casino. He had been pleasantly suprised to find $5 craps. He played some craps and left about $84 up. Then he played some slots and was up about $22 when he quit. Unfortunately Michigan did not manage to cover the spread, so he lost that $20, but he was up for the day. Today I will get to play!

While I was writing this Curling Man went to get breakfast at Starbucks with the kids. Now, HG just left with her friend to go stand in line for the best chairs at the beach. I better go get my suit on and get some breakfast myself so I can get to the pool and start relaxing!