Left Columbus with the First Lady Monday morning on America West. Had my favorite seats, 1C & D. Flight attendand kept the Bloody Mary's coming. Flight was on-time and uneventful.
A friend (Mike)who works for America West in Vegas met us at the gate. Bags came up very quickly and we were headed to Thrifty. Everything went very smooth this time. Got a bright red Dodge Intrepid with chrome wheels for $23/day. My $25 off coupon made it a cheap rental.

Mike & his wife play a good deal at Green Valley Ranch and get a monthly offer of 2 free night which they let us use this trip. Make checked us in, nice strip view. These rooms aren't as big as the Rio or Orleans but everything is first class in them. I also like having windows you can open. There's not too many resorts in Vegas I haven't stayed at, GVR is my #1 choice.

Patti & I grabed a quick bite then hit the casino. I got buried playing 3 card poker. Switched to Deuces wild hold-em fold-em and slowed the bleeding a bit but still lost. Finally went to Pai Gow and won a couple hundred. Still stuck but not quite as bad. Patti showed up carrying a GVR jacket, I sure hoped that meant what I thought it did. Yep, her first royal!

Mike came back to GVR with his wife and brother, had dinner at the Feast buffet. Pretty good. Sat with MIke for some VP after dinner. I was winning on a DDB machine but I was getting a LOT of deuces. Told him I had to go find a deuces wild machine. Cashed out my $20 investment for $70.

Sat down at a Deuces wild bonus machine and put in my $70 voucher. Multi-denomination machine, started playing guarters. Was hitting pretty good so went to halves. Kept getting dealt 2 deuces but not hitting any more. Mike came by and said they were going home. I showed him 2 deuces I was dealt and said I needed to hit the other 2. HIt the draw button and got A,2,2. The four 2's pay double on a bonus machine if you get an Ace with them. Took a while to get paid. Kept playing and winning so went to dollars and hit 5 Aces for $400.

Met Wendell, Maxine, her son, Lee & Sue at Biersch Brewery for lunch. Great food and better company. Went downtown after lunch so Patti could continue her shopping.

Tuesday evening was dinner with friends at The Little Budda in The Palms. Great food. I recommend the Orange Chicken. Had a Looooong session of Pai Gow after dinner. You can get Glenfidich at the tables. Drank WAY too much but had fun playing, winning, and watching (oink-oink). I hit a royal fluch without a bonus bet. Left the Palms about 3 AM and went to the Orleans for breakfast. Crawled in bed after calling down and asking for a late checkout.

Reluctantly left GVR for the Rio about 1:30 PM. Checked into the Rio, $39 internet offer that included a $50 airline voucher. Masquerade tower room facing the pool. Big room but it ain't GVR. Walked over to the Gold Coast, split a burger & fries then went to the meet.

Wendell did a great job setting up this meet (as usual). We had a nice large room with a DJ and bar. Was great to see so many familiar faces as well as a couple new ones. Even got to meet the little Cajuns! There was a dance floor and a lot of flashes going off.

Left the meet around 5:30 to meet Mike & Liz at the Prime Rib Loft at the Orleans. This was my second meal here and it was juast as good as the first. $9.95 for a nice piece of prime rib with soup or salad, huge baked potato, and hot bread.

Got back to the Rio with time for a 2 hour nap. Flight was at 12:45 so left the Rio at 10:30. Stopped for gas, returned car ans arrive at an empty McCarren. I was planning on a long wait for everything. NO line at curb-side, NO line at airline counter, NO line at security. We were at our gate by about 11:15!

Flight home was a bit bumpy. I tried to sleep but either the flight attendants were calling each other or a passenger needed something about every 10 minutes. I'd just start to doze off and that damn bell would ring.

Got into Columbus at 7:30 AM. Had to scrape frost off the car.

We came home on the red-eye so we could make Thanksgiving dinner. Ended up with a bad cold so we both stayed home.

Nice trip report. Sorry I missed Wendell's party. Did you take the Big Red Dodge 4-wheelin?

JMT,

We kept checking the door for you and John. Wish you could have made it.

I was telling Wendell, Maxine, Lee & Sue that you should never buy a used car that was a rental. Had a little encounter with a curb trying to get around traffic. You should be able to take a big car like that off a curb without so much noise. And of course, that led to the story about you making me go off-roading in my Buick Lesabre.

Jeff....Sounds like a great trip. We enjoyed meeting everyone at the meet and this year everyone got see that I really am married to Mrs LVC and we do have two 'lil Cajun offsprings.

I kept my promise to the 'lil Cajuns and took them to H@@TER'S for dinner after we left the meet. The wings were great, as usual, and Mrs LVC and I continued consuming Sam Adams over there. She had one glass out of the pitcher we ordered and I had the rest, of course she drove us home after I put away all that beer.

Jeff, enjoyed your report. Glad your back It was boring on the BB with everyone but me in vegas.

Senator, thanks for your report. Two Royals! you make it sound easy :-) Glad everyone had a great time at the meet.

Ralph,

Enjoyed meeting your family. The boys seemed to enjoy going thru the DJ's CD collection. I'm like you, thought I'd better bring the Mrs. to one of these just so everyone would know she really does exist!

I've been know to spend a little time in the local Hooters. My wife gets a little upset when we walk in and the girls all greet me by name. :rolleyes:

Larry,

I think you all held down the fort OK. I was anxious to get my report up before it got lost amoung all the others. Wish you could have made another surprise visit.

Ed,

It was great to see you 2 again. I'm trying to rememebr if this is the first I've seen you since you moved? I think the last time was at Tommy Rockers but there were a few meets there.

Always good to see you Senator ..and I enjoyed talking with the First Lady for awhile too. LOL ...that makes at least three of us that tangled with curbs on this trip alone<g>. Hmmmm ... would you consider repeating your offroad adventures in the Buick LeSabre?

Daisy,

I'll take anything off road as long as it's a rental.

I was trying to get around someone who was being rather bashful about pulling out into traffic. Didn't notice that where I swung around to wasn't really an exit. After the front wheels went over, I turned to Patti and said, "I think I drove over the curb." About that time, the rears went over and something went bang as it hit bottom.

Senator, I enjoyed your report but mostly enjoyed the company of you and the first lady. Tell her it was about time she showed up-I encouraged her to show up again next year. Thanks for the kudos on the meet, I really enjoyed it and the brew pub lunch. Patti, Sue, and Beth were really a dance team (and quite frankly, they were pretty good) I have got to have some pictures of all that),maybe I can con Daisy our of some prints and maybe we can do it all again next year(if I don't see you guys sooner) In the meantime have a very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year and may all of your jackpots be really "big" ones. Wendell

Jeff,

Seeing you and Patty twice in the same month is unusual. Congratulations on the royals. They have been eluding the two of us for quite some time. I don't know if it is our strategy or just bad luck. If it would not have been for meeting all of the great people this trip, the trip would have been a disaster. Prepare for the upcoming holidays and get rid of those colds.

Senator!

Great TR! Once again, I wish I could have been there to see you and the rest of the gang but work keeps getting in the way!

When is the next trip? I still expect to share a couple of cigars in the future!

Trina (WB)

Wendell,

I probably speak for all us guys who thank you for dancing with our ladies so we didn't have to.

The winning was a little extra bonus to meeting with all the great people. Also, we were so busy our last day that we didn't gamble a single cent and were able to bring most of the winnings home with us.

Fred,

Great seeing you and Beth again. You're right, twice in one month is quite a treat.

The jackpots are simply luck. Being in the right place at the right time. Can't remember if I mentioned, Patti was only dealt a Queen, Ace. She drew the rest of it.

Washington Babe,

Glad to see something drug you out of the woods and got you to post. What's it been, 3 years?

Patti & I had dinner with another couple at the Palms and we all enjoyed cigars in the lounge after dinner. You could have joined us!

We've got a cruise in a couple months so the next Vegas trip probably won't be till summer. I want to see Seattle some time, maybe we'll let you show us around there.

LOL, Senator!

Yes, I've been hiding out in these woods up here for far too long! Haven't been able to take a proper vacation in over a year! I've been lurking a bit, hoping to catch up with everyone and their trips! I'll be there next Spring for sure and I am hoping to plan a summer time one as well.

Cigars in the Palms lounge? I'll remember that one.

Yes, come up to Seattle anytime.....I'd be happy to show you around!

WB

The Palms has a really neat cigar lounge. It's kind of an alcove behind the high rollers room. Very private. We didn't stay there because the bar wasn't open. We went out to the raised bar in the middle of the casino.

Senator,
I see you didn't let much grass grow under your feet this trip either! So glad to see Pattie & you again so soon. Thanks for showing me the ropes on that Dueces Hold'm Fold'm game. But I found it slow, for some reason.
I wasn't ready for the Pia gow session to end on Monday night, but the girls where tired of gambling.
I did start to play the bonus bet on Pia gow Poker later on the trip. I don't know what you normally bet on the bonus, but a $5 bet gets you an envy button, so if others get a monster hand, you get a small sum too. I played a $5 bonus and it seemed to work out alright this trip. I'll give it some more play next trip in February, and see how it does over all.
Thanks for a great report, and the cigars! However, they don't quite do the job of people repelent, I had several people comment on the nice fragrence of them......drat! LOL