Posted by Sara

Well... I'm back and had a fabulous time.

April 8 Friday
We flew southwest out of Chicago's Midway at around 7:00pm Fri, The 8th.
My dad decided to go with us last minute so it was my dad, Me, and my bro.
We arrived with no problems, but it was extremely WINDY!! It was about 55 degrees.. ( I was cold!)

My dad could only stay 24hrs. because his aunt was turning 100 on sunday and they were throwing her a huge bash so he didn't stay long.

We stayed at the rio and had an excellent view of the pools and the strip.
The rooms are extremley nice.

We started out and went downtown at about 10:00p Vegas time . We took the rio bus to harrahs and then took the city bus to downtown. Bought a 5 dollar 24 hour pass. Arrived and went to The Fremont to deliver a message to a buddy of a guy my dad knows. He was real nice and is somebody on the casino floor. (I'm not sure his exact title) He gave us some advice on what to do and see the next time we were there so he could set it up. We played some slots and my bro played roulette. Didn't win anything significant, but the atmosphere was nice.

We then decided to go to The fitzgerald across the street. There was a mardi gras parade going on and that was alot of fun to watch. also the light show was starting. That was really something to see that show.
After it was over we went in to the fitzgerald and looked around. Gambled a little and by that time it was like 3am. (5am our time) I had been up since 5am fri morn. so at this point it had been 24 hours. We ended up eating biscuits and gravy for 1.99 they were soooo good. I was feeling it in my feet so we hopped the bus back to the strip and were waiting for our 202 connection when that bus pulls in with a massive oil leak and smoking everywhere. They said the next bus wouldn't be there for like 30min so we hiked it back to harrahs (and it is a hike) to catch the bus back to the rio. By now I am going on 26 hours with no sleep. (not normal for me) and basically fell into bed. body must have been way over exhausted because I only slept for 3 hours and could NOT fall back to sleep..


April 9 Saturday

Got up at like 9 am and then we went over to the excalibur for their brunch buffet. It was only 10.99 and had the best baja fish I have ever had. Excalibur is kinda sentimental for us since that is where we stayed when we came out with my mom so we decided to make a day of it.. WE explored and then went to play slots... My bro went to go play let it ride. My dad and I played the $1 slots for a few with no real winnings but all of a sudden I heard my dads machine go off! Alright $1000.00!! Which was excellent since he was down to his last $100.00. ( he was only staying 24 hours remember) So he threw a couple hundered to me and my bro and we decided to move on to the tropicana.
Gambled there and then went on back to the rio. My dads flight was to leave at 8:00p.
Saw my dad off and then me and bro went back to strip and went through the venetian, saw the bellagio fountains, went through ballys, Paris and some other hotels and then got back to the hotel about 4am ....time for a nap

Sunday April 10th

Woke up and had starbucks for breakfast. Decided to hop a cab to hard rock. Checked out the casino and all the neat outfits. There was a rumor that Jamie Fox was there but we never saw him. Ate at the cafe. My bro had the 10 oz legendary burger and downed it in like 2 min. I had a burger and it was also very good. The atmosphere was good and the music was great. WE then took the shuttle back to ceasers palace. Walked around and
we passed the box office. I was Eltons last night so we decided to check and see if they had anything avaliable. They did!! Cancelations and in the $100 range. Our seats weren't bad and the concert was amazing. By this time I am completely exhausted but we decided to go the see the bellagio fountains again and the gardens inside. They were beautiful. We then went through the Aladdin. That was very pretty. I love the rain storm that is in there. We were beat.. and caught the shuttle from harrahs to the rio...
Bro went to play let it ride and I went to bed.

Last day April 11th

Woke up around 9am well rested. Looked outside and it finally wasn't windy!
Went and layed out for awhile and then we caught a cab to excalibur. Atethe buffet... gambled and the walked over to NY NY. Bro of course went to play let it ride and I went on to the 25cnt slots.. Played those awhile and was getting pretty digusted since I hadn't won anything accept maybe $30. I got bored and moved on to $1 slots... I figured it was my last day so lets just go all the way... Put in 50.00 on a wheel of fortune slot and was pulling. kinda not paying attention adn people watching. all fo sudden I hit and the credits started going up.... they went to 678. I was like ok no big deal and trying to figure out how much that was in quarters when all of a sudden it hit me... DUH!!!! I'm not on a quarter machine!!!! I don't know what I was thinking!!! It was so awesome.I know its not a jackpot, but for me the weekend of losing slowly dissappeared and I was a winner! I decided to quit and went to let it ride with bro and won another $100... Was on a role!

We went to tropicana and saw thier free show... it was very good.

ok time to get back and pack ( late check out)

We checked out and went to the airport... ride home virtually uneventful.

Highs: Wheel of fortune
Elton
Rio's pool

Lows: blisters
hangover
no sleep

Next time I will see more shows, stay in one place more often and less walking!!! I think I lost 10 pounds!Thanks for reading... hopefully you are still with me!!

Sara