Bright Lights

So lets start with a confession.....I tried to blog while away but it just didn't work out. It seems sleep is more important!

Our trip started at Sydney International Airport. After checking in we said goodbye to our families and I'm proud to admit I cried a little bit. I knew I would miss them a lot. We got through customs pretty quickly but then disaster struck. It seemed that I had not adequately described the smoking situation to our smokers who now realised that they would be unable to smoke for about 18 hours. (I know as they were drawing in their first cigarettes in LA they finally forgave me!)

The flight was uneventful. I watch almost the entire series of Smash as well as the Exotic Marigold Hotel. I did realise why Qantas charges so much for their tickets- it's because they feed you every two hours!

On arrival in LA I had the pleasure of watching part of my suitcase go sailing past on the luggage carousel independently of the rest of my bag. Thanks Qantas! We soon met up with Annette and Lisa and prepared for the next leg of our trip.

Southwest do not ore assign seats so when boarding started we all raced on board like maniacs. Patricia and I seemed to lose and ended up in the very back row. We had an excellent view though and saw some mountains really really close up. Maybe a little too close up!

When we landed the heat hit us in the face, it was super hot! I left the girls in some shade and went to organise our transfers. We were offered a limo that would carry us all but our bags wouldn't have fit so we ended up with a private shuttle bus. We arrived at the Flamingo within ten minutes- I wish I could say that check in was as quick. An hour later we were all on the way up to our rooms. The hotel had been overbooked so we accepted a downgrade. In my opinion you couldn't tell the difference and the money we saved helped pay for other fun things!

We all agreed to meet in two hours for a buffet dinner in the hotel. I spent most of that time looking at the amazing view outside my hotel window.

The buffet was very good. I got to scope it out in depth as Patricia had sore legs and I offered to be he table server. I can tell you she enjoyed he prawns, roast meat and assorted desserts! I can't remember what I ate.

After dinner a small group of us walked down to the Mirage as I had to collect our Love tickets. The heat was still present and the strip was packed.

On arrival at the Mirage Melissa provided entertainment by eating booze filled cherries and the first cocktail of the night! On the way back we saw the TI show which was really bad and the Mirage Volcano which was much better!

I hit the pillow around midnight after sending Facebook messages home.