BACK FROM VEGAS

I got back from Vegas around 8:30 p.m. Darren and I had a lot of fun. It was the best time that we have spent together since our trip to Sturgis, SD in 2003 before Cassie was born.

Some people told us that the New York New York hotel & casino was far north from the Strip. Well, it just happens that the New York is located almost in the middle of the strip. Next door to it is the Monte Carlo. And on the other three corners across the road from the New York is the Excalabur, MGM Grand, and ... okay, I forget the third.

The first night there after the banquet, we caught the water show at the Bellagio which is really cool and worth the 10 minute walk from the New York. Then we walked another mile and a half down to Treasure Island and saw the pirate show. It looked more like a Pussycat Dolls performance than a pirate show but it was still pretty good. Walking back to the hotel we stopped and spent a few bucks in the Monte Carlo. Darren made $25 off of a buck on a dollar machine.

The next day was the Richard Petty Driving experience at 9:30 a.m. Now that was super cool! Anyone who has an extra $400 and an opportunity to attend one of these should do it. Immediately upon getting there, the guys were fitted with suits, then there was a quick 15 minute video, and they had to answer some brief questions about racing experience, height, weight...etc so that the instructors could assign them to the car that was best for them. After that the guys went down to the track where an instructor took them out to a car and explained, as well as showed them, what was inside the car and what every thing did. They got into a couple of vans and were taken around the track to get an idea of what it was going to be like, after which, they were fitted for helmets and HANS devices.

To Darren's disappointment and my excitement, Darren was assigned the Jeff Gordon #24 car!! Darren was hoping to get the Earnhardt Jr. #8. If anyone is wondering; yes, these are the actual NASCARs and they have been driving in actual races. The cars that were driven this day actually just came back from a recent race somewhere but I forgot where it was.

Then it was time for racing. They made it feel like an actual race. The did the driver/car number announcing before the racing so that you knew which car the guys were driving. Each driver had an instructor in another race car in front of them that they were to follow so they were not out there alone. However, they did drive the cars themselves and they had no radio contact with anyone inside the car. There was about 2 drivers on the track at the same time with three other cars that had people that were just doing ride along.

The sound was amazing coming from just those cars on the track. More than 25 cars would roar on the track together. They got 8 laps each. Darren's fastest lap was 110; his slowest was an impressive 93 mph.

We were at the track until late in the afternoon. When we got back to the hotel we took nap because the excitement of the racing and the heat from the Mojave desert got to us a little bit. We went over to the MGM Grand and had supper at the Rainforest Cafe and then did more sight-seeing. We caught the pirate show again, watched the gondolas at the Venetian, and had drinks under the Eiffel tower while watching the Bellagio water show.

We did so much in those fast three days and didn't even get to see 1/3 of everything we want to see. Three days just was not long enough.

There is a lot more and I have many MANY pictures to share with everyone. I will hopefully get some picture up today sometime.