What happens in Vegas...

...isn't all bad :).

Shortly after we got to Vegas, we were approached by someone who asked if we had "gotten our comps" yet (for my kids' sake - comps are complimentary things that the hotels give out to keep their guests there gambling ;) ). We said no. The deal was, if we sat through a timeshare presentation by Tahiti Village, we could get two show tickets (Barbra and Frank - (for my kids' sake, Streisand and Sinatra 'impersonators')), two buffet dinners, and $80 worth of '40 for 20' slot play. The slot play is this - you have a chance (ha!) to win $40, $100, or $1000 if you hit a 'jackpot'. Along the way, you win more 'credits' that keep you playing longer. But once all your credits are gone, you still get to pick from a nice selection of gifts. Anyway, enough about that for now. This morning at 9, we went to Tahiti Village, and learned that for a mere $47,000 and some odd cents (in 96 easy MONTHLY payments of $787), you could buy the right to use a timeshare for 2 weeks per year. We enjoyed the presentation, and there wasn't too much pressure to buy. After the freebies, the best part was the bus ride back: The driver took us all over Vegas (returning people to their various hotels), and giving us a mini tour along the way..."and across Dean Martin Boulevard from NY,NY is a diner called the Wild Wild West, where you can get a breakfast combo for 1.99..." -- you get the idea.

While we were waiting to catch the initial Tahiti Village bus, a woman asked if we were going to be in Vegas for another day (which is usually a pitch for one of the timeshares) - she continued, "Because I have two 24-hour bus passes that expire at 5:00 today and we are leaving for the airport right now!" So after the timeshare presentation, we took the 'Deuce' (F.M.K.S, a double decker bus that runs up and down 'the strip') to the furthest point south that we wanted to go and walked back up the strip looking at hotels and shops and stuff all day. Then we came back for our buffet dinner (incidentally, we walked the whole way back - probably over 6 miles just along the strip alone - not counting all the walking we did in the hotels!), played our free slots, picked out our free gifts (Leather duffel bags on wheels), and called it a night. Not a bad day!

Zion Day 3

We had another awesome day. We hiked over 7 miles - 3.5 on the Pa'Rus Trail, then the Middle, Upper, and Lower Emerald Pool trails, then the River Walk trail (which we did Thursday). Look for today's photos under the _ZionDay3 folder at http://photos.yahoo.com/jmyackley (just click the title of this post).

Yahoo photos should work now!

So far we have __ZionDay1 and _BryceBack2Zion

Brrrrr-icey Bryce

We traveled up to Bryce Canyon today. We knew there was a chance of snow due to some rain moving up from Arizona (now there is a phrase you don't hear too often - "But it's a dry rain"???). Well it brought a wet snow - but thankfully, we were able to get some pictures before it moved in. When we went to the second viewpoint, it was so foggy (cloudy?) that we couldn't see a thing. By the time we got to the third viewpoint, the snow was moving in. Nonetheless, we had a fine lunch on the way back to Zion. (We split split pea soup and an open face turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes). I am sooo thankful that I listened to my wife (now there is a phrase you don't hear too often! - to be clear, I am always thankful when I listen to my wife - husbands (those other guys) just don't listen to their wives often enough!) - when she noticed that Bryce is typically 20 degrees cooler than Zion - so we ended up staying at Zion instead - and we love our room at the Pioneer Lodge and the weather here is sooo much better!

Again, click on the title (should link to http://photos.yahoo.com/jmyackley - then navigate to folder _BryceThenBack2Zion

Enjoy!

Zion Rocks!

Unbelievable. Click on the title (Zion Rocks) to go to my photo album - go to the ZionDay1 folder.

A Room With a View

This was our view from the Boulder Station Hotel and Casino - Room 1210. We were on a Non-smoking floor - but I think that was considered to be a suggestion rather than a commandment...- we even saw someone smoking in their room WHILE THE CLEANING PEOPLE WERE THERE! I wish it were like the Amish Door - they have a rule - if there is evidence of smoking, you will be charged a $50 cleaning charge. Our linens smelled like smoke - eventually Melissa had to get up and get her Grapefruit Spray to spray her pillow so she could get to sleep!