THURSDAY:
Woke up refreshed at 08:00...breakfast at the San Paulo cafe at the Rio...after hitting my favorite Cash Time slot machine for a $40 win to start out the day. I had the corned beef hash and eggs while Gail tried the Eggs Benedict. Both were well prepared and tasty. Traffic was light, and our MKZ glided effortlessly up Hwy 95 to our turnoff toward Kyle Canyon. Gail's ears kept popping while we made our gradual ascent up the mountain. We were greeted at Mt Charleston Trail Rides by a polite young man in a big black cowboy hat. After reading and signing a couple of release forms, we were introduced to our mounts. Gail used to do quite a bit of riding on her cousin's farm when she was growing up; I on the other hand, have considerable less horseback experience. We had to wait awhile for another couple who ended up being no-shows, so the trail ride consisted of just Gail and I and a couple of guides. I was a little uneasy in the saddle at first(kept thinking of the movie "City Slickers"), but soon we were making our way up the horse path out into the upland desert. It was an enjoyable scenic 90 minute ride, with views of a rainstorm farther up the mountain, complete with far off thunder and lighting strikes. Everything went great until we got back to the corral and it was time for me to dismount. My foot slipped in the stirrup and I ended up flat on my back in the mud with my left foot caught in the stirrup. My horse thankfully remained much calmer than I was, giving me a "What the hell are you going?" look. One of the guides quickly ran over and extracted my stuck foot and except for the embarrassment, I was fine. The guides thought that I might be upset, but I gave the horse a couple of pats assuring them that it wasn't the horse's fault....no harm done....well maybe a little bit to my ego. Gail got a good laugh out of it.
Next we drove farther up the mountain and took a short but steep hike to a place called Robber's Roost..a place that outlaws reportedly used as a hideout in the old days. The ride down the mountain afforded many places to pull off the road and enjoy excellent views of the Las Vegas area valley. I was also able to test out the MKZ on a long straight stretch of road, getting that baby up to 110 MPH in no time, with little effort or complaint from the car. Gail did ask me a couple of times on how fast we were going. Drove south on Rainbow then left onto Flamingo toward the Rio. While waiting at one of the stoplights, a dazed looking scraggy guy walked past us and out into traffic...constantly talking to himself while he crossed six lanes of traffic. Miracle of miracles he made it safely without getting run over.
After cleaning up and getting the trail dust off of us, we hit the Rio Wine Cellar to start out the evening's festivities. Who is there to greet us......Mary Ann and Jose! Talked to both of them for quite a while and had a glass of the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc. Mary Ann later came over and gave us a rather "heavy pour" of a Shafer syrah called relentless. Before we knew it the time had flown by and we had to say our quick goodbyes in order to make for our dinner reservation at The Flame at the El Cortez downtown.
Drove down and left the car at the Golden Gate valet and made our way down the FSE. It was very crowded under the canopy, lots of people milling around. We had a great dining experience at the Flame. The food was delicious and our waiter was friendly and attentive. Gail had a huge walleye filet while I opted for the Prime Rib. We shared a dish of tender, but firm asparagus and a bottle of Kunde Estates Zinfandel. The meal went at a leisurely pace..very enjoyable. With the LVA coupon our bill came to just over $50...great bargain for such a feast. The new lounge next to the restaurant has been remodeled and looks really nice. The biggest surprise is when I walked into the men's room. Wow, really nice ....would rival most bathrooms at any of the upscale places on the strip.
We waded thru the crowds and made our way to check out the make over that the Plaza has been undergoing. I could hardly believe my eyes.....beautifully done. We walked over to the Golden Gate and settled into a BJ table for an evening session of gaming. Again, I had an up and down session...couldn't get any kind of a streak going. Gail, on the other hand was getting miserable cards and was quickly down $100...time to bail. I cashed out with a $25 profit. While driving back to the Rio, we encountered a couple of police cars and an ambulance at an intersection on Main St. with the paramedics feverishly giving some poor guy CPR right on the sidewalk...didn't look good. Back to the Rio and an early bedtime.
FRIDAY:
We spent the morning lounging in the room drinking coffee and then I went down to place some sports bets for Sunday's NFL games. Bet on the Bucs to beat my favored Vikings and put a 4 team parlay on Buffalo, Broncos, Bucs and Baltimore.....the killer B's?? Gail joined me and we had lunch at the Sportsbook Deli. We shared a delicious triple decker sandwich and nachos. We went back up to the room, changed and spent an hour at the pool...just enough for a pale white guy like me to get sunburned. The Rio has a very nice pool area, we didn't have much of a problem finding a couple of chairs, the water was refreshing under the hot Southwestern sun; but I could do without the constant loud, pounding music...I must be getting old...I'm starting to sound like my Dad.
After getting cleaned up, we took the shuttle to the strip and walked over to the Wynn to pick up our tickets for LeReve. While we were walking thru the casino I asked Gail if she had a player's card here. She didn't have one so I implored her to sign up for one and get some free play. I think she turned her $10 into $50 on a penny machine....nice. Next stop was the Venetian to pick up tickets for Sunday night's performance of the Blue Man Group....I've seen the show probably 4 times already, but It's still fun to see. Gail was itching to take another crack at T.I.'s blackjack tables so we spent several hours playing with some fun ladies at our table...they were having one hell of a good time. Gail walked out with $90 and me with $75 of the casino's money.
We walked over to the Bellagio and took in a fountain show...haven't taken the time to seen one in several years. Then if was over to show Gail the Cosmo. She signed up for a player's card, but her free play resulted in zilch. My $40 went very quickly...boy are these slots ever tight. It was the day before the Big fight and the Cosmo was filled with DB's and fight fans..table minimums were high...was that a craps table with a $100 minimum...yikes! Back out onto the strip, we took in another fountain show and then crossed over to the Paris Casino and ate a late dinner at their gourmet burger restaurant. Burgers were good and Gail's shake was yummy...she didn't share. Caught the shuttle at Bally's back to the Rio, played some slots and lost and then bedtime.
My birthday is Saturday...our Vegas saga continues.....more later....thanks for reading.
Woke up refreshed at 08:00...breakfast at the San Paulo cafe at the Rio...after hitting my favorite Cash Time slot machine for a $40 win to start out the day. I had the corned beef hash and eggs while Gail tried the Eggs Benedict. Both were well prepared and tasty. Traffic was light, and our MKZ glided effortlessly up Hwy 95 to our turnoff toward Kyle Canyon. Gail's ears kept popping while we made our gradual ascent up the mountain. We were greeted at Mt Charleston Trail Rides by a polite young man in a big black cowboy hat. After reading and signing a couple of release forms, we were introduced to our mounts. Gail used to do quite a bit of riding on her cousin's farm when she was growing up; I on the other hand, have considerable less horseback experience. We had to wait awhile for another couple who ended up being no-shows, so the trail ride consisted of just Gail and I and a couple of guides. I was a little uneasy in the saddle at first(kept thinking of the movie "City Slickers"), but soon we were making our way up the horse path out into the upland desert. It was an enjoyable scenic 90 minute ride, with views of a rainstorm farther up the mountain, complete with far off thunder and lighting strikes. Everything went great until we got back to the corral and it was time for me to dismount. My foot slipped in the stirrup and I ended up flat on my back in the mud with my left foot caught in the stirrup. My horse thankfully remained much calmer than I was, giving me a "What the hell are you going?" look. One of the guides quickly ran over and extracted my stuck foot and except for the embarrassment, I was fine. The guides thought that I might be upset, but I gave the horse a couple of pats assuring them that it wasn't the horse's fault....no harm done....well maybe a little bit to my ego. Gail got a good laugh out of it.
Next we drove farther up the mountain and took a short but steep hike to a place called Robber's Roost..a place that outlaws reportedly used as a hideout in the old days. The ride down the mountain afforded many places to pull off the road and enjoy excellent views of the Las Vegas area valley. I was also able to test out the MKZ on a long straight stretch of road, getting that baby up to 110 MPH in no time, with little effort or complaint from the car. Gail did ask me a couple of times on how fast we were going. Drove south on Rainbow then left onto Flamingo toward the Rio. While waiting at one of the stoplights, a dazed looking scraggy guy walked past us and out into traffic...constantly talking to himself while he crossed six lanes of traffic. Miracle of miracles he made it safely without getting run over.
After cleaning up and getting the trail dust off of us, we hit the Rio Wine Cellar to start out the evening's festivities. Who is there to greet us......Mary Ann and Jose! Talked to both of them for quite a while and had a glass of the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc. Mary Ann later came over and gave us a rather "heavy pour" of a Shafer syrah called relentless. Before we knew it the time had flown by and we had to say our quick goodbyes in order to make for our dinner reservation at The Flame at the El Cortez downtown.
Drove down and left the car at the Golden Gate valet and made our way down the FSE. It was very crowded under the canopy, lots of people milling around. We had a great dining experience at the Flame. The food was delicious and our waiter was friendly and attentive. Gail had a huge walleye filet while I opted for the Prime Rib. We shared a dish of tender, but firm asparagus and a bottle of Kunde Estates Zinfandel. The meal went at a leisurely pace..very enjoyable. With the LVA coupon our bill came to just over $50...great bargain for such a feast. The new lounge next to the restaurant has been remodeled and looks really nice. The biggest surprise is when I walked into the men's room. Wow, really nice ....would rival most bathrooms at any of the upscale places on the strip.
We waded thru the crowds and made our way to check out the make over that the Plaza has been undergoing. I could hardly believe my eyes.....beautifully done. We walked over to the Golden Gate and settled into a BJ table for an evening session of gaming. Again, I had an up and down session...couldn't get any kind of a streak going. Gail, on the other hand was getting miserable cards and was quickly down $100...time to bail. I cashed out with a $25 profit. While driving back to the Rio, we encountered a couple of police cars and an ambulance at an intersection on Main St. with the paramedics feverishly giving some poor guy CPR right on the sidewalk...didn't look good. Back to the Rio and an early bedtime.
FRIDAY:
We spent the morning lounging in the room drinking coffee and then I went down to place some sports bets for Sunday's NFL games. Bet on the Bucs to beat my favored Vikings and put a 4 team parlay on Buffalo, Broncos, Bucs and Baltimore.....the killer B's?? Gail joined me and we had lunch at the Sportsbook Deli. We shared a delicious triple decker sandwich and nachos. We went back up to the room, changed and spent an hour at the pool...just enough for a pale white guy like me to get sunburned. The Rio has a very nice pool area, we didn't have much of a problem finding a couple of chairs, the water was refreshing under the hot Southwestern sun; but I could do without the constant loud, pounding music...I must be getting old...I'm starting to sound like my Dad.
After getting cleaned up, we took the shuttle to the strip and walked over to the Wynn to pick up our tickets for LeReve. While we were walking thru the casino I asked Gail if she had a player's card here. She didn't have one so I implored her to sign up for one and get some free play. I think she turned her $10 into $50 on a penny machine....nice. Next stop was the Venetian to pick up tickets for Sunday night's performance of the Blue Man Group....I've seen the show probably 4 times already, but It's still fun to see. Gail was itching to take another crack at T.I.'s blackjack tables so we spent several hours playing with some fun ladies at our table...they were having one hell of a good time. Gail walked out with $90 and me with $75 of the casino's money.
We walked over to the Bellagio and took in a fountain show...haven't taken the time to seen one in several years. Then if was over to show Gail the Cosmo. She signed up for a player's card, but her free play resulted in zilch. My $40 went very quickly...boy are these slots ever tight. It was the day before the Big fight and the Cosmo was filled with DB's and fight fans..table minimums were high...was that a craps table with a $100 minimum...yikes! Back out onto the strip, we took in another fountain show and then crossed over to the Paris Casino and ate a late dinner at their gourmet burger restaurant. Burgers were good and Gail's shake was yummy...she didn't share. Caught the shuttle at Bally's back to the Rio, played some slots and lost and then bedtime.
My birthday is Saturday...our Vegas saga continues.....more later....thanks for reading.
