Flight Chaos, Drunken Debauchery, Pilgrims, and Comotos...Pcket5s TR

[pcket5s]

Made it back in last night around midnight from the first trip to Vegas, and it was AWESOME!!!! JC members REALLY hooked it up and I can't express my gratitude to you all. You really made this trip that much more memorable. That being said I don't know how some of you guys can do Vegas for a week.. Hitting up pool parties during the day and going clubbin at night. I hit up the clubs for two nights and I literally thought I was going to die on Sunday... I will post the full trip report sometime today and the pictures in the next couple of days whenever the gf uploads them. So stayed tuned for the TR!

[nyc2vegas]

glad to see you made it there and back....looking foraward to the TR!!!!

[dogeaters]

55 ... they bring an extra liver in their carry-on...

[wishiniwasinvegas]

We went to clubs 4 nights in a row over the weekend, and yeah, I felt like death yesterday... still do very much so. lol But it was sooo worth it! PHENOMENAL vacation! I'm going to work on my TR as well and hopefully get it posted fairly soon. Probably only do 1 day at a time, there is just soooo much to tell, and I like to get into details. lol

[pcket5s]

55 ... they bring an extra liver in their carry-on...

hahaha they must cuz mine was hurting BAD... sorry I didn't get the trip report up last night, had to run some errands once I got off work and it ended up killing most of the night... I PROMISE it will be up today along with some pictures.

[pcket5s]

We went to clubs 4 nights in a row over the weekend, and yeah, I felt like death yesterday... still do very much so. lol But it was sooo worth it! PHENOMENAL vacation! I'm going to work on my TR as well and hopefully get it posted fairly soon. Probably only do 1 day at a time, there is just soooo much to tell, and I like to get into details. lol

haha I'm gonna try to make my as detailed as I can, but Saturday is REALLY REALLY fuzzy so that is working against me but I'll do my best!

[SunFire]

LOL don't worry pcket5s I got you covered on Friday I remember most of it for you :P

[pcket5s]

Flight Chaos, Drunken Debauchery, Pilgrims, and Comatos...Pcket5s TR

Ok everyone.. here it is the trip report...with pics!

Preface:
As you may or may not be aware this trip was planned initially as a way for me to propose to my gf. The trip planning began with six friends coming along for the ride to party and help us celebrate. As time progressed, slowly the first two dropped out. A short while later two friends that have been dating for a long time broke up, and decided it would be in their best interest not to go to Vegas together. So it was just the four of us which would have been still awesome, but lo and behold, one of the others decides he doesn't have the cash he thought he would and wouldn't be able to come. Needless to say the last of the "savy" six dropped out in fear of being the third-wheel. I was still very intent at this point to pop the question in Vegas, but as one thing lead to another I realized I wouldn't be able to ask her father beforehand. This was an extremely big deal to me, and probably more so for her father who is old school and straight off the boat from Italy. Needless to say I wasn't really sure what to do. In all honesty I didn't totally make up my mind until two days before we left for Vegas. I realized that hopefully I only have one chance in my life to do this, and I'd better do it the right way. NO BS, what is expected needed to be done. In my eyes, to not honor the family would be disrespectful and leave some tension between the parties involved. (Sunfire knows what I'm talking about hahaha )
So it was official, the proposal was off but I was at peace with my decision and I knew we were still going to have a great time regardless.

Initially I wanted to get a really nice suite and have it all for my first time in Vegas. But as forum members and my gf both advised that suites are really unnecessary unless your going to host a party in your room, as your not going to be in your room a lot, especially on your first trip. In hindsight I couldn't agree with this more. Take the extra cash you were going to spend on the suite and put it towards really enjoying yourself out on the town. Originally I had booked a standard lakeview room at the Bellagio. But I was able to find a GREAT deal for a GO Luxury (strip view) room at the Flamingo through one of Expedia's 72 hour sales, supplemented by a coupon code for Expedia I found at retailmenot.com that saved me an additional sixty dollars and around $300 overall.

The week prior to our departure I picked up some new button ups, a new blazer, a couple pairs of jeans, and some new shoes. The excitement really began to amount and culminated about 10:30 Wednesday night (the day before we left) with a dance party in my living room to the Vegas Playlist I had created on my IPOD. It was finally here.. tomorrow I would be in VEGAS!!!!!

Flight Chaos (Thursday, October 29):

I woke up Thursday at around 6:30am to get to work an hour early so that I could leave early to make my flight. I have never been so excited before, and I walked around work with a certain swagger because I knew where I'd be in a half a day. The overjoyed excitement that I was experiencing was short lived and turned to sheer panic as I tracked the flight status of the planes I had to catch. We were schedule to depart from Pittsburgh and connect in Chicago then head to Las Vegas. I'm anal retentive about flying and having plans go through accordingly, so I was able to determine the flight numbers of the prior flights to ensure I knew the status at all times. Our plane was coming from Phoenix-El Paso- Dallas-St. Louis-Chicago-Pittsburgh (we we board) - back to Chicago. As I checked the weather in the departure cities I was aware that Dallas was experiencing thunderstorms. The first leg of the trip went off without hitch, but as I tracked the flight from El Paso-Dallas I watched in horror as the flight was diverted midflight from Dallas to San Antonio due to the weather conditions in Dallas. This put the flight 3+ hours behind schedule and I knew there was no way to make the connection. I sprung into action! I called my gf and told her we were going to miss our connection. She is real low key just goes with the flow and didn't seem to concerned. She said there is nothing that can be done and we'd just get to Vegas on Friday. However, this was unacceptable and I called Southwest up and explained my situation. There was an earlier flight to Chicago from Pittsburgh and I inquired about switching to that flight. The lady told me it could be done for the low price of $689.00. I was shocked. The reality of not getting into Vegas until tomorrow really hit in and I was feeling deflated. The lady did tell me to try to get to the airport early and they may be able to help me out there. I decided that I would take her advice, and the advice that Drew left me (thanks Drew) and try to get to the Airport ASAP. I told one of my bosses the situation and he left me with the advice "Go have fun Bob, but don't blow your load in Vegas...Literally and Figuratively..." I chuckled, thanked him, took a couple hours extra hours of Vaca and headed to the airport at around 2:00pm.

I live really close to the airport and got there within 15 minutes. Hightail it to the Southwest check-in counter and tell the lady we're going to miss our connection and would like to be put on the earlier flight to Chicago. She asks where our final destination is and I inform her it is Las Vegas. She smiles and says the earlier direct flight to Vegas from Pittsburgh is delayed and she will put us on standby, waive the same day flight change fee, and refund us the twenty bucks in price difference between airfare. I was flabbergasted..I couldn't believe it. She told us there were approximately 40 empty seats on the plane and we shouldn't have a problem getting on the flight. We head through security and arrive at the gate. We talk to the lady at the desk and she informs us that we are indeed on standby and couldn't give us our boarding passes yet... I started to get a little worried that we still might not get to Vegas tonight. She then looks at her computer and tells us to hang on one second and talks to another lady at the counter. She comes back and says "here you go. Your all set" and hands us two boarding passes. I couldn't believe it. We had done it.. We were heading to Vegas and we were going to arrive 4 hours earlier than we previously had planned on. Just then I remembered I had booked a roundtrip transfer limo package through Presidential Limo (PL) and the limo wouldn't be there when we arrived. I immediately called PL and spoke to Debra. I told her that I would be arriving on a different flight about 4 hours earlier than my initial reservation. I asked if there is anything she could do and if not I would understand and just inform the limo driver that our service would not be required at the airport. She informs me that she can infact accommodate our request, and would have to upgrade us free of charge from our standard stretch limo to a super-stretch because it was the only limo available. She wished me safe travels and assured me that they would be there waiting... At this point I just needed to relax because the morning/afternoon was so stressful. We grabbed a bite to eat and waited to board.

We were a little worried that we wouldn't be able to sit together because we had a low boarding #. We managed to find two seats together in the last row of the plane. We settled in and got ready for the 4 hour flight. Just then this man from Texas asks if he could sit next to us. I said sure take your seat. His colleague sits in the middle seat infront of us and he sits in the aisle seat next to me. He asks if we have drink coupons and I tell him that we do not and he replies " You got some now" and shows us a huge wad of coupon tickets. I smile and thank him. I'm pretty shy and like to keep to myself so the first half hour of the flight we really didn't talk much. He orders three miller lights and my gf and I thank him. About 10 minutes goes by and we gradually start up a conversation. It turns out that he was heading back to Texas and got stranded in Pittsburgh because of all the problems that were going on with the weather in Texas. He decided to take the flight to Vegas and stay in a comped room rather than spending the night in Pittsburgh...He then asks if were republicans or democrats and I tell him I'm a democrat and my gf says she is a republican. I'm not a very political person, I'm only a democrat because of where I grew up. The crazy Texan informs me that he will turn me into a republican by the end of the flight. I say to myself yeah sure you will buddy. He asks me about one of my stances on a subject that I cannot recall, but I reply with something stupid and my girlfriend and him both turn inward to me and look at me like I'm an idiot. He gets all fired up and goes oh this is getting good now. We proceed to have a solid continuous conversation for the next 3 1/2 hours of the flight. It was AWESOME! We were talking about anything and everything and the beers were flowing. At the end of the flight I had four, my gf had three, and the crazy texan had nine!!!! It was an awesome flight and he picked up the whole tab. It couldn't of been a better start to the trip. We say goodbye to the Texan, shake hands, and thank him again for the beers and the enjoyable flight. We arrive at baggage claim and find our limo driver Marc from PL. He grabs our bags and we tell him its our first time in Vegas. He hands the gf a rose which she really liked, and then pours us two glasses of champagne.

[pcket5s]

I ran out of txt haha I will continue posting!

[nyc2vegas]

great start man.....hows the depression doing now??? haha

[pcket5s]

its bad man. I had to go to work yesterday and it was the last place I wanted to be.. Already planning when the next time is out is going to be.

[SunFire]

holy shit I can't beleive I spent so much time with you guys and had no idea all that even happened!.... but my stupidness I guess I didn't even ask you how you got there early!

[works2r]

so if it was off, does that mean you are planning another trip for the proposal again?

[Guest]

wow so far looks like your luck has been with you! Sounds great.. keep it up

[pcket5s]

We then settle into the limo and Marc snaps a few more pictures of us inside. I ask him if he could take us down the strip on the way to the hotel. He says she not a problem and then asks us if we'd like to go have our picture taken in front of the Famous Vegas sign. We of course say yes and he heads on out to the sign. We get out and Marc is going crazy taking pictures and setting us up in locations to get the best backdrops. Marc was an awesome driver, ask for him if you can!
We hop back into the limo and finish off hour Champagne as we are driving up the strip. We snap some more pictures as we are driving and we arrive at the Flamingo. We head to the check-in and line and the line was long but not crazy line. Fifteen minutes or so go by and we're all checked in and heading up stairs to our room. Room 17058. Double Queen beds (no kings were available when we checked in), separate shower and tub/tv in the bathroom, flat screen tv, a mini fridge (non-stocked), and curtains controlled by a switch on the wall. We get settled in unpack a bit and flip the switch to see our view (sorry for the reflection from the room):

So after a little while we decide to get ready and head out for the night. We had plans of meeting up with Sunfire and his gf after their show later on in the night. We head down to the Flamingo Casino and grab a few drinks and head outside towards Bills. We first decide to hit up Cesears Palace. CP is awesome and its huge. We walk around in there for a little bit, taking it all in and grab a bite to eat and a beer at the food court near the Forum Towers. I think we both had quessadillas. Nothing great, but not bad either. On our way through a promoter gives us a couple of passes to Pure for free entry before eleven. We thought about heading in just to check it out, but decided against it and head back across the street to Bills.


We get to Bills and the gf wants to play some slots. We find a couple of slots and try our luck and not much happens. A cocktail waitress stops by and I ask for a beer and the gf orders a rum and coke. Service was quick and I gave the cocktail waitress a nice tip. She asks if I need change and I say no its yours and she says well here have another beer and hands me another off her tray. The rest of the time we were at Bills playing slots she would come back and give us two drinks each it was awesome. So needless to say after we leave bills I'm feeling pretty good. The four beers on the plane, bottle of champagne in the limo, and maybe six or so beers I had at bills were starting to catch up to me. I decide its Go Time, time for me to gamble. I'm not big into slots, but I will enjoy them from time to time, they are easy and mindless and hold my attention for a while. But I was in Vegas and I was ready to take the town for what it was worth. It was Blackjack and Craps time for me. We head over to Bally's then onto Paris to try to land some tables, but nothing really appealed to me at either casino. I really liked the Paris Casino and the cobblestone floor and how the Eiffel Tower comes right into the casino. But no table games yet!... Head on down to Planet Hollywood grab a New Castle on the way in and a Rum n Coke for the gf. We see a wide open craps table and I knew it was go time. I've been teaching my gf how to play craps, and a long time craps superstition is if a girl has never played before she does awesome on her first roll. It took some convincing but the gf was finally ready to play. She was really nervous. I roll first and crap out after a few rolls. Down a little bit. By this time a few more people join the table. The gf picks up the dice and rolls a seven..WINNER!!! I'm starting to get super excited. But it was short lived after that every time she touches the dice she sevens out after establishing her point. Oh well. Time to make it back in Blackjack. Head over to BJ table and try my luck. Start of decent, then the table turns cold quick and hard. The dealer is holding an Ace or face card every hand or outdraws me. I take a hit and leave the tables with with the tail between my legs. So its about 11:30 at this time the gf and I are feeling low. We just got raped by Pho and considered heading to bed. But once we got back out on the strip we knew we couldn't hit the sack. We head back over to Bills and the gf wants to play some more slots. The cocktail waitress remembers us and starts giving us two drinks each again...

About this time Sunfire calls and says he is out of the show and wants to met up. I tell him were at Bills and he agrees to meet us right outside of the Flamingo. We meet up with Sunfire and his gf, and knew this vaca was gonna be awesome. They are such chill people and really know how to party. We walk around getting to know each other and head back down to the Pho shops, because sunfire needed some cranberry juice. Get there and the places are all closed. We then decided to head back over to CP and have a few in Sunfires room. We head up to his kickass room on the top floor of the forum towers and chill. Sunfire mixes up some drinks and we decide to explore the casino. Things start getting a little fuzzy and its late maybe 3:30 in the morning and I've been up for 24 hours and need sleep. We tell sunfire that we're gonna head back and to call us when we meet up. I remember texting sunfire some drunken text on the way back to Flamingo that probably made no sense.. We head upstairs pass out and end our first night in Vegas!



Drunken Debauchery to come shortly....