bnddbl07...After a quick call from
bnddbl07 letting us know he had a little bit of work to finish up and that he'd call us when he was done (about an hour), Craig and I set off down the Strip. Mostly, we wanted to figure out where everything was, so we did only cursory peeks in to some of the bigger casinos. Our first major stop was the Flamingo, where Toni was playing. We picked up our tickets and learned that Toni hasn't been very well lately and had cancelled a few shows recently. She hadn't cancelled that night yet, though, which they were taking as a good sign. Just to be safe, though, we said we'd check back in when we were heading back to our hotel around 3ish (to dress and then go eat for dinner). Then it was further up the Strip, where we walked through the Bellagio so that I could get reference material for part of my vampire 3some book (it takes place in Vegas, and my intent - before last night - was for the big climactic scene to take place at the Bellagio). The next casino to have us linger for more than a minute was the MGM, and that was mostly because the movie theater is nearby. However, I discovered that Howie Mandel is in town. If any one of our planned nights falls through, that's where I want to go. I've always loved Howie's stand-up.We heard from
bnddbl07 when we were in the MGM and turns out, he was just a few blocks away, looking into show tickets for that night for himself. We walked to meet him and after the introductions and hugs were done, we decided to walk back up the Strip toward our hotel so that he could get something to eat and we could talk and visit. Chatting was wonderful. He's such an amazing person; I just love him to death. (psubrat, I did give him a hug from you! :) ) He's been to Vegas quite a few times for work, so he was giving us the lowdown on a lot of stuff. We stopped in to the Paris, where Craig was immediately impressed. We've already decided that's where we're going back to just hang out, probably tomorrow.It was getting late-ish, so we stopped into the Flamingo to check on the status of the Toni Braxton show. Good thing we did. She cancelled. While we were rebooking,
bnddbl07 saw the brochure for the helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon that he'd already told us about, and Craig and I decided then and there to make that our last vacation treat. We booked it for Monday. 3.5 hours in this really cool helicopter that lets you sit up as one of the co-pilots for half the trip, with flying over the Canyon, Hoover Dam, etc, and then touching down at the bottom of the canyon for a champagne picnic.Since our night was now free and
bnddbl07 had never found tickets he wanted, we decided to go and see Penn & Teller at the Rio together. We bought our tix but didn't have seating assignments so we opted to head over then since it was already after 3. My hip was just starting to bother me at that point so I was glad we were mostly done with walking. However, once we got on the shuttle for the Rio, bnddbl07 said he wasn't feeling very well. The poor guy spent the next two hours in and out of the bathrooms at the Rio being sick. He tried to sit down with us for dinner, but even that proved too much and he decided to go back to his hotel and lie down for a little bit until the show (it didn't start until 9) in hopes that it would pass.After spending $10 on penny slots to kill time, Craig and I walked around to the Masquerade Tower. They have a free Show in the Sky over there, with floats that are moved around on tracks from the ceiling with dancers on them. Oh, plus, the Chippendales are over there. I watched two really buff guy take suggestive pictures with a ton of women for nearly 15 minutes, lol. BUT, all that ambience made me decide to switch my big climactic scene in my vampire 3some book. My heroine is an ex-dancer, so in order for them to crash the big meeting at the end, I'm going to have her use her connections to pose as one of the Show in the Sky dancers and get Edmund, my big hunky vamp, a Chippendale costume. It's just too much fun not to do.
At that point it was time for seating for Penn & Teller. I spent the next 45 minutes texting with
pepperlandgirl4 while they played jazz music in the theater. bnddbl07 called and said that he just wasn't feeling well enough to come back, and as much as he hated it, he was going to eat the cost of the ticket and call it a night. We said our goodbyes, but I was feeling so bad for him. It sucks being that sick, plus the show was a blast. He would've had *so* much fun. There are still some tricks we're trying to figure out how the hell they did, lol.We got out at 10:30 and there, lo and behold, were Penn, Teller, and the jazz pianist standing in the lobby doing autographs and pictures. I loved the show, but frankly, Penn has *always* been my favorite. For whatever bizarre reason, I find him charming and brilliant and, yes, sexy as hell. Craig thinks I'm crazy. I don't care. :)
I almost chickened out from getting an autograph, but with Craig's pushing, I did. I was flying so high afterward, I immediately texted
pepperlandgirl4, lol. But it was 11 at that point, and my hip was killing me and Craig had blisters on the bottom of his feet, so we came back to the hotel.Today is taking it easy. We're going to go down to breakfast in a few minutes, then we're lazing about our room the rest of the morning. At noon, we're heading up to the movie theater and catching a double feature - Casino Royale and Dreamgirls. Grown-up movies! Not an animated character in sight! Can you tell how excited I am about this? :)
