[Tek_Freek]

What a trip!

We flew out Sunday the 12th right after the Midwest storm dumped on us and our connection was through Minneapolis of all places. At least it wasn't Chicago! After having our initial flight cancelled, then reinstated, then delayed we finally got on the plane, then waited for almost an hour while late arrivals showed up. Another half hour of waiting for deicing and "permission to depart" and we were on our way with the assumption that we would sit at Minneapolis for the rest of the day.

After landing at MPLS we sat on the runway for half an hour waiting for our gate to clear. As it turned out another gate opened up first so we went there... only to find out that our connecting flight had also been delayed and was waiting at the gate next to the one we went to! A half hour later we were on our way. Just enough time to go to the bathroom and relax a bit. As it turned out we were only an hour late landing at McCarren. A great start to a great trip.

The weather was amazing! It was around 70 when we landed and stayed nice all week. It did cool down some and rain Friday, but mid fifties and light rain is a great December day where we come from.

We met with some CDers while we were there, I will not mention who. If they care to let everyone know who they are they can. The first was a wonderful woman who spent a good portion of her day showing us around Sun City Anthem, including the available facilities and her home. What an amazing person. We took her to lunch and she led us to the Executive Airport in Henderson where we had an excellent meal for a very reasonable price. Recommended. Mrs Tek and I were very impressed with the area and the facilities. It seems they really did it right.

Thank you again for your hospitality.

We also met a couple at McMullans for good food, good drinks, and trivia Tuesday night. Once again we met total strangers and ended up enjoying their company. Luckily for us their knowledge base included a lot that we did not know so our showing at trivia wasn't a complete disaster! Meeting someone for the first time and spending a good portion of the evening laughing - priceless!

As usual we rented a vehicle so we went to the dam one day and took one of the tours. It was a lot of fun and totally wore us out! We saw the Rat Pack Thursday night and it was a fun show. Not a huge production like so many LV shows, but the songs and music were great, and the sixties style humor was a hoot.

We didn't gamble that much this trip. We're not sure why, it just didn't seem to be at the top of our list. Mrs. Tek felt the Wheel of Fortune slots calling her name at TI (We never play slots) so we sat down and played. I got the usual, but she won $40 and cashed out. My only complaint is that it wasn't the million dollar slots that were calling her. Normally we would spend at least three full days playing Blackjack, but this time we probably played 20 hours total. We had a blast playing and met some fun people from all over the US and Canada (including Hawaii - twice), but not a single person from overseas, which is very unusual. I always ask everyone where they are from when we sit at a table. It gets conversations started, people relax, and the game almost always goes better because of it.

The trip home yesterday was uneventful - just the usual airport slog. 27 degrees and sunny when we landed, so it wasn't so bad. Today it is showing...

Batistas Hole in the Wall on Audrie Lane behind Bills. Not the best Italian food you'll ever eat, but each meal comes with a carafe of red or white wine (or both) and a cappuccino. The real fun is the atmosphere and the old gentleman who comes around playing the accordion. Have a dollar or two to tip him. We go there every visit.

Strip Burger has really good hamburgers! We ended up there because Baba Rebas (sp?) closed, which sucks. We went to Babas every trip.

All in all a fantastic trip, the best part of which was meeting fellow CDers. We've done it in Jacksonville and Las Vegas and we are batting 1000. Perhaps it's just the type of people that inhabit CD, or maybe we're just lucky. I think it's the former.

Thank you to the CDer's we met and the courtesy extended. We enjoyed meeting such welcoming, entertaining, warm and friendly people half way across the country. Life is good.

[Buzz123]

Glad you had a good time, but what the heck are CDers?

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

We also met a couple at McMullans for good food, good drinks, and trivia Tuesday night. Once again we met total strangers and ended up enjoying their company. Luckily for us their knowledge base included a lot that we did not know so our showing at trivia wasn't a complete disaster! Meeting someone for the first time and spending a good portion of the evening laughing - priceless!

<snip>

Thank you to the CDer's we met and the courtesy extended. We enjoyed meeting such welcoming, entertaining, warm and friendly people half way across the country. Life is good.

And we enjoyed meeting you and Mrs. Tek, as well as quaffing a few pints of stout to toast new friends.

Slainte!!

[Norsky1]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Glad you had a good time, but what the heck are CDers?

City Data 'ers - people from this forum.

[airics]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Glad you had a good time, but what the heck are CDers?

people that use cds and not dvds??

[Buzz123]

Ohhhhhhhh, CDers. Sorry. Was thinking about CBers, and brain went into a time warp induced coma.

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Ohhhhhhhh, CDers. Sorry. Was thinking about CBers, and brain went into a time warp induced coma.

10-4...good buzzy.

[Buzz123]

I think we got ourselves a convoy.