Don't Worry... Be Happy!... :)

I wish I would have remembered this on vacation! Seriously!

And yet I spent a great deal of my trip being completely stressed out, about one thing or another.

PARTICULARLY WORRISOME ITEMS IN QUESTION...

My House

Worrisome Item #1: I was pretty sure that my entire house was going to collapse from the weight of the ice in my absence. Either that or flood from all the melting. I was worried that my garage door wouldn't work again and that Cheryl would have to use my broken side door to get into the house, but not before slipping on the ice rink which was in front of it first. I was afraid my old kitty would die while I was gone and that Cheryl would somehow end up having to deal with it.

In Actuality: The house was fine. The kitties were fine. Although I did end up not shutting my kitchen door tight when I left, due to all my angst, so when Cheryl first arrived after 24 hours of my being gone the door to the house was wide open.

Worrisome Item #2: When I got the email from Cheryl telling me about the door, I worried for the rest of my vacation about how exhorbitent my heating bill for the month was going to be!

In Actuality: The bill in question was less than the month before and, in retrospect, realized that realistically the door probably didn't even blow open until Cheryl opened the garage door (which worked, btw.)

The Express Overcharge Debacle

Worrisome Item #3: I felt so bad for Whitney being charged full price on a sweater she'd been so excited to find at 50% off! And since she'd paid cash there'd be no way of getting a refund unless we walked all the way back to the Fashion Show Mall at the north end of the strip! And since we'd discovered this error only minutes after returning home from that very long walk, well, the prospect of embarking on that walk again was overwhelming. And of course to take a cab would completely negate the purpose.

In Actuality: By Wednesday we were rested up and ready for another walk. It was a beautiful day and we were able to see a lot of the sites we'd missed on our first day, including the video marquee of Celine Dion outside of Caesars Palace which prompted us to sit on a bench to discuss all possibilities of seeing her, and then spying the 1/2 Price Ticket Booth right outside the entrance to the mall...

My Car

Worrisome Item #4: I knew the very second that I left my car in the parking at work in sub-zero temps that it most likely wouldn't start when I returned home at 11:00 pm the following week. I'd asked Renee if she could try to start it on the day of my return and then leave a message on my cellphone as to the prognosis. My plan, if my battery was dead, was to just take a cab straight home instead of back to work, and then deal with AAA the next day.

My Cellphone

Worrisome Item #5: Well, as I shared before, my cellphone charger was the only thing that "stayed in Vegas" and when you're traveling is really not the best time to be out of touch, especially when you're banking on an important phone call. Luckily I discoverd it prior to getting to Drigg's so we stopped at the Walmart (where I'd bought my Tracfone initially) in Rexburg to see if I could get another charger. No luck! Charger WAY out of date. So I bought another phone, which after registering it online discovered that the activation (and transference of phone number and minutes from old phone to new) would take anywhere from several hours up to 4 business days. It was Friday and I was flying home on Monday...

In Actuality: I emailed Renee and asked if she could try my car prior to noon on Monday, at which point I'd still be with Daryn (and Daryn's phone) and let me know. She did better than that. Though my battery was dead indeed, she managed to find a couple of (great) guys from work to jump my battery and drive my car around for a bit (which is when they discovered that my windshield wipers were completely inoperable as well, and so replaced THEM too!)... Meanwhile, my new phone (which I love btw!) started working just shortly before I arrived at the airport on Monday for my flight home so basically no problem.

Weather, Travel, Family Scheduling

Worrisome Items #6, 7 & 8: It's always so hard to fly out west and trying to figure out a way to see everybody, and in a way that works well for everyone. In fact, it's nearly impossible sometimes, especially when the weather doesn't cooperate, and best laid plans sometimes just need to be left to chance. And sometimes going with the flow ends up working out just fine.

In Actuality: I was able to spend a wonderful four days with Whitney and her family. Got to pick up Jade from school, visit her gymnastics class, watch her basketball practice and a rehearsal of her upcoming production of "The Wizard of Oz."

I got to play with those three little boys who are growing up SO fast!

I got to attend Whitney's Zumba class (and last through the whole thing!)

We watched alot of fun TV at night! (Including the 2-Night Special of "The Bachelor" that we missed last week and an encore presentation of "Celine's" concert!)

And "Frozen"...

Mom and Alison were able to make the trip up so we got to spend time together with them as well!

Unfortunately, due to the weekend's snowstorm on Saturday and Monday's impending one, Daryn and Jon didn't feel that they could make it to Driggs on their way back from Big Sky with any confidence we wouldn't get snowed in. So I rode to Rexburg with Mom and Alison on Sunday to visit with them at Jon's mom's house instead.

Arm scratching...

Rachel's Snowbunny...

Story Time...

Pears?...

Card Sharks...

It still fits!...

The Bachelor

Worrisome Item #9: Couldn't even believe I was going to miss it in exchange for arriving home in -4 degree weather at 11:00pm and getting up for work at 6:00am the next morning!

Drove to Idaho Falls airport with Daryn, Jon and the girls, making my flight to Salt Lake City on Monday morning as scheduled with no problems. So, on my way home I guess. *sigh*

Flight Delays

Worrisome Item #10: Because well, these are obviously NEVER fun!

In Actuality: Due to "mechanical" problems which would have caused me to miss my Grand Rapids connection in Detroit, I was put up in a complimentary hotel room in downtown SLC. Shuttle driver was super cute. Hotel room was super classy. Weather in Salt Lake City was super awesome (about 60 degrees.) Called Alison, who's insurance office was super close by and so she dropped by after work to watch "The Bachelor" and "Walking Dead" with me on a super-sized HD TV! :)

The next morning, after using the hotel's business center to alert Renee that I'd be back to Grand Rapids that afternoon (as opposed to in the middle of the night) and to ask if it would be possible for her to pick me up from the airport (she could), I helped myself to one of the finest hotel breakfasts I've ever encountered.

Things got even better when I arrived at the airport to find that seat 3B, that I had initially "worried" would be a center seat, which was in actuality in FIRST CLASS!

I think I can now liken "First Class" to getting laughing gas at the dentist's office. It makes ALL the difference in the world!

BTW, I just recieved an email from Delta thanking me profusely for my patience with the delay and giving me an additional 5,000 frequent flyer miles to be added to my account as a "thank you"..

So what did I learn from all of this? There must be an obvious lesson in all of it for sure!

What Happened In Vegas...

So when Whitney called me a couple months ago and asked if I'd like to start planning a girl's trip to Las Vegas for sometime in February or March I hesitated...

Because I just wasn't quite sure I'd be willing to leave this...

for this...

No seriously, I jest, but I really had no idea how stressful it would end up being to leave my house sitting all alone in the midst of the worst "Polar Vortex" the state of Michigan has ever known. Come to think of it, this winter of 2014 is what coined the phrase to begin with. But more on that later...

We decided on the last week of February right at the end of Aaron's basketball coaching season and also due to the fact that we thought Daryn might then arrange to come with us working it around her and her husband Jon's trip to Big Sky, Montana for his annual continuing ed requirement for his optometry practice. Trust me, the timing all made sense, or well at least to me and Whit. In the end, Daryn wasnt able to make the trip, or at least our trip. In any case, I only mentioned that because it was a primary factor in as to why we didn't wait until March (when the hotel pool would be open!... and I wouldn't have had to leave my house afraid that the roof might cave in while I was gone due to the two feet of ice on my roof, or that my car battery might die sitting parked outside for a week in sub-zero temps.) But to be fair, if we had planned the trip the first week of March Jade would have ended up not being able to perform in the Drigg's High School production of "The Wizard of Oz" and any later Aaron would've been back to his landscaping job and wouldn't have been able to stay home with the kids (all 4 of them, all by himself!) while the 2 of us took off to Las Vegas for 4 days of unimaginable fun!

Anyway, long story short.. in retrospect we ended up picking the ONLY week of the entire winter that, in reality, would have worked out. And it really did work out perfectly! Even if Daryn didn't get to go with us. :(

Sunday, February 23rd...

I was kind of a wreck leaving home. My garage floor had shifted due to the sustained frigid weather forcing my overhead door tracks askew, so I was a little nervous that the mechanics might give my kitty sitter Cheryl issues when trying to open it and that she'd end up having to go in through the side door (which was now incapable of being locked due to the major shifting of the door jam and the placement of the locking mechanism vs. the lock hole...) and also the walkway leading to the side door was a complete skating rink. So I went back into the house, grabbed a box of Coarse Sea Salt dumping a ton of it on my front walkway in hopes of improving the traction a bit. After setting the box on a shelf in the garage (rather than back in the house in the kitchen cabinet where it belonged). I pulled my car out of the garage, shut the electronic door and headed off to work where I'd planned to park my car for the week and meet my co-worker Renee who'd drive me to the airport.

I just love it when a plan comes together!...

The flight to Vegas? No problems! Except for maybe the awkwardness of having to sit directly across the aisle from my Bank's Affiliate President on the segment GRR to MSP.

But then.. suddenly I was there! In Las Vegas! And it was WARM! REALLY WARM! And it felt SOOO GOOD! I even took off my sweater!

Whit had arrived a few hours early and taken advantage of the SPA at the Monte Carlo and had just taken off to the Aria SPA for an "eyebrow emergency" when I pulled up in the cab, which allowed me a few minutes to unpack and relax before pulling out our week's detailed itinerary...

Our first night was so much fun, first catching the "Blue Man Group" procession in the lobby...

And then just walking. Walking in the warm evening! Amidst all the lights. Crossing the bridge to the other side of Las Vegas Blvd near the MGM Grand. We hadn't quite figured out yet that we could have just crossed at the cross walk and didn't really have to go all the way down to the bridge in order to cross, but I'm still glad we did. And besides, our feet and calves were still feeling pretty much ok at this point.

We offered to take a photo for another "couple" who crossing the bridge and just as we took it some guy stuck a cardboard sign in front of them which read "I will smoke your weed for FREE!" Hee. Don't have a picture of it because it was afterall their camera. But it was hilarious and only in Vegas I guess!

Ditto on this pic...

We ate dinner at Fat Burger each ordering a "small"... while waiting for the 9:30 movie showing of "Endless Love" at the UA Showcase Theatre but at around 8:30 decided we'd probably rather just go back to the hotel and watch "The Bachelor" and "Jimmy Fallon" (not realizing at that point that it was Sunday and not Monday, but still it all worked out) and fell asleep watching some Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding Documentary. It had already been a long day...

Monday, February 24th...

After a brief workout in the hotel gym we headed uptown via the Las Vegas Strip's Monorail to the Quad Hotel for breakfast at the world famous Hash House A Go-Go (featured on "Man vs. Food").

Breakfast was fabulous but *Sidenote for future: Unless traveling to the very far north end of the strip don't choose to take monorail over walking because you will still do as much walking just trying to find it. And at least on the strip you'll be walking outside and not through all of the endless smokey casinos...)

The rest of Monday we spent pretty much just shopping and... walking. LOTS of walking! Basically, I no longer have to look at a map in order to tell you the exact order of the Strip hotels, or the precise location of each of their casinos, but that one's easy... Just head towards wherever you want to go and you will always run into the casino first.

Monday night we saw "LOVE," Cirque Du Soleil's tribute to The Beatles and it was fabulous!

I've never quite seen anything like it before and now I want to do ALL the Cirque shows!

Passing through the Belagio on our way home, Whitney stopped at Jean Philippe for a purchase.

No, not a handbag...

...or designer shoes.

Whitney enjoying her purchase back in the room.

Tuesday, February 25th...

A busy day! Beginning with a ride on the Coaster at New York, New York. Or at least Whitney was brave enough. Brave enough in fact to ride it twice! She had to go a second time so she could snap this picture. :)

I got my own picture with it on the crossover to the Excalibur...

The Titanic Exhibit at The Luxor was amazing and definitely worth the price of admission (especially since we were able to score discounted tickets)!

Back to The Mandalay Bay for the tram we passed the House of Blues where we had tickets for Pentotonix the following night. We stopped by the box-office to find out exactly where our seats were only to be told that we didn't have seats but would be "standing" in the 3rd level general admission area where our only chance of not having obtructed views would be to purchase additional VIP passes for $20 so we could at least have a shot at preferred standing space. *sigh* As if our feet and legs weren't tired enough already!

It also makes this picture seem kind of funny! Right? A little bit?

On to Excaliber's Pool (ours was still closed) for a couple of relaxing hours in the sun.

On our way to Paris for dinner and "Jersey Boys."

Dinner at Le Provencal...

Let's see, we drank water and split an entree and the bill still came to $49. Must have been the side Caesars... Can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about money. lol

We had fantastic seats for "Jersey Boys" arranged by my old friend John Salvatore from my "A Chorus Line" Days.

Here's our meeting before the show...

And after...

This moment took me back...

Anyway, the show was great and it was so wonderful seeing John again! Just hope Whitney wasn't too bored with our reminiscing.

Wednesday, February 26th...

With no big plans for the day (other than Pentatonix that evening) we decided to hike back up to the north part of the strip and Fashion Show Mall to get a refund for a purchase Whitney had been overcharged for on Monday. We could have taken a cab but that would have completely defeated the purpose...

The day was slightly cloudy and cool but still a gorgeous day for a walk. Here's a few pics from our afternoon.

I'm not really sure when the idea was first broached.. I had entertained the idea of Celine Dion tickets even before leaving home but at $250 a ticket I hadn't entertained it much further. So perhaps it was that 1/2 Price Ticket Stand near the Fashion Show Mall we have to thank... or maybe, even more than that, Whitney saying "Let's just check it out!" even though I was already fairly convinced there'd never be half price tickets available for one of the most popular shows in Vegas.

This was us a few hours later...

Front row orchestra seats for $98!

As for the show??? No words!!! It was the absolute perfect ending to an absolutely perfect 4 days.

Oops, almost forgot about the Belagio Fountains...

Thursday, February 27th...

We had a painfully early morning flight out of Vegas into Idaho Falls... but with lots of great memories to bring home! What a wonderful time we had!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

But in my case I think the only thing that stayed in Vegas was my cellphone charger! lol

To be continued....