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August 20, 2008 - 12:27 a.m.
"the big trip to vegas"

Part 1 - Tuesday 7:00pm EDT, 6:00pm CENTRAL, 4:00pm PACIFIC

Hey Journal!

This morning I got up at about 8:00. I know, really early for my planned day of sleeping late! I woke up when Dan did, and couldn't get back to sleep at all. I guess it was the excitement and anticipation of my trip.

Oh, did I mention I'm writing this on the plane now! On the second leg of my flight, from Chicago to Las Vegas!

So... I got up and watched TV, went online, and finalized my packing. * I then went over to meet my mom, and we went to McDonald's for breakfast. * I had the "Hot Cakes" with Sausage! After that we went to Target, and then I made a quick stop at my Orthodontist to get the wire trimmed in the back, it was sharp and poking me! I wanted to make sure it was as good as it could be before the two week trip!

After that I came back and killed some time talking to my grandma and grandpa and such. My grandma gave me a George Foreman (or as she called it..George Frohman) grill. She said she's had it for a while, only used it once, and doesn't really plan on using it. *

After that I came back home, sat around trying to kill time, and had the most grueling two hours of my life. THE TIME JUST DRAGGED! All I wanted to do was get out and on the way! It felt like I was waiting forever and ever!!

So, finally 1:00 came, and my mom came to pick me up and take me to the airport. We arrived, and I expected perhaps a small line at the check in. Nothing. My bag was checked in a few minutes, and off I went. I waited before going through security, and my mom hung out with me in the lobby area.

Finally at about 2:30 I went in, and by the time I made it up to the gate (A2) for my flight, they were JUST staring to line up the A group for the plane. I jumped right on the line, and a few mins later, was on the plane. I sat about 2 rows back from the wing on the left side, and they kept saying that it was going to be a full flight. A woman sat two seats to the right of me, and I was by the window. For the longest time noone was between us, but then an old man came and took that seat. His wife was in the row in front of me.

His first words when he said down was, "what a rat race!"

The plane took off, and all was well, and I took out one of my Killer Sudoku's to do, and the man saw it and started asking me about it. I talked to him on and off for the flight. He was really nice. His wife went to hand him a bag of snacks over the seat, and he didn't see it, so I pointed it out to him, and as he reached for it, she gave up and took it back! lol I told him, "You missed out!" She wound up trying again, and it was a little lunch for him, with a napkin that had a picture of a nun on it holding a glass of wine, and it said, "Sister Mary Merlot".

I got two ginger ales, and they gave out a bag of Cheez-Its and a bag on peanuts. The flight went fast... it was about 1 hour and 50 minutes, and got in 20 minutes earlier than it was supposed it.

I got off the plane in Chicago-Midway and I went to the bathroom, where I encountered my friend again from the plane! lol

I then took the LONG walk around the horse-shoe shaped terminal.. from the A9 Gate, where I got in, to B3, on the other side. I felt like I was playing Bingo! B-3! Anyway, they have wonderful people movers there! They moved so quickly, and as you approach the end, a voice says "The moving walkway is coming to an end!"

I only had about 10 minutes to kill, and then it was time to start lining up for my flight to Vegas, flight 313.

Again, I was in the A group, I had A19 this time. (As opposed to A22 last time.) NOW, here's a little thing I figured out. When I got my boarding pass, I did it the SPLIT SECOND it would let you, so I was wondering WHY I wasn't getting closer numbers to 1, like why did I get 22 and 19 if I had done it soo close to the time you were allowed to check in online! I figured this out... BUSINESS tickets get numbers 1-15, so right away those are not available! So why didn't I get 16? WELL... I realized that... While you are only allowed to check in 24 hours before your flight... So my 3:32 from McArthur, I could check in at 3:20 the day before.... BUT my 5:30 from Chicago was able to be checked in AT THE SAME TIME!! So it's really 24 hours from the FIRST leg of a multi-leg flight! Meaning that some people may have been checked in earlier, if they had a connection, and checked the original flight earlier!

Problem solved!

So... I got on the plane in Chicago, and got the same seat as my first flight!

The fist flight I had a blue southwest plane, this one we have a gold one.

Anyway, as I was getting on, the person in front of me asked if it was a full flight. The guy said no, it holds 137, and there were only 100 people.

So... I got a seat, window seat, and for a while I had both seats next to me open. Then a man came over, eating an orange... and he sat in the aisle seat. I was a little bummed, cause I wanted the whole aisle for myself, but I still have an empty seat next to me. THEN, the guy spits his orange peel onto the floor, and I was grossed out by him and found him to be a beastly person. Much to my luck, he got up two minutes later and moved. Nice.

So now we are mid flight, they said it's a 4 hour flight, but we will get in early.

They just came around and took the drink orders, I got another ginger ale! :)

Then they came with a snack box, and unlike the first flight, there were multiple choices, AND you could take multiple! YUMM! I was quite hungry, so I took the Ritz Cracker sandwiches, AND the Oreo 100 Calorie pack "Thin Crisps!" I haven't broken open the crackers yet, but the Thin Crisps are really surprisingly enjoyable!

I neeed my drink though! It seems that this seat, where I am is like the last to get served everything, because I'm the aisle AFTER the front flight attendant, who comes from the front back, and the last aisle for the back one, coming from the back! lol *

In case you were wondering what the "*" symbols were randomly placed throughout the entry, I put that in whenever a baby screamed and pierced my ears! lol. At first I thought it was going to be a lot more frequent, so I really wanted to point out how many times it happened, but thankfully it has calmed down!

Anyway, that brings us up to where I am right now...

It's 7:24 EDT, 6:24 CDT, and 4:23 PDT!

I am going to listen to my iPod, do some Sudoku's, and hopefully get my ginger ale soon! lol

I wish I knew what we were flying over now! haha This is gonna be a long entry tonight! I had plenty of time to go into detail about everything! :) Alright...I'm gonna turn off the laptop now.

PS- The male flight attendant on this flight looks familiar... maybe he was the one on one of our flights to Florida. That would be kinda a crazy coincidence, though.

------------------------------------------------------------

12:29 EDT, 9:29PDT

Okay, So I am happy to report that I finally got my Ginger Ale, and the flight was really nice. It was actually a little cold! I had a cup of tea to warm up! lol

The plane landed 15 mins early in Vegas!

I got off the plane and walked towards the baggage claim. It was quite a long walk. The baggage carousel was fun, and it beeped, and my bag came up from the floor. Amazing.

I got my bag and took a 5 minute 32 dollar taxi ride to the hotel. My taxi driver tells me that this is where all of the "movie stars" stay.

I checked in, and went to my room. It's a nice room, not a great view though. This hotel is HUGE! Humongous, and its so confusing to find your way around. My first order of business was to go in the pool, but when I arrived, it was closed. :( The pool closes at 8. What beast.

Anyway, I came back to the room, ordered food from the Cheesecake Factory and then walked across the hotel (like 10 minutes) to the restaurant!

I just ate my food and I'm getting ready for bed. I have more to write about my experience here at the hotel but my exhaustion is catching up with me, and I have to get into the shower ASAP and then BED! Conference starts tomorrow at 8am!!!

Until tomorrow....

From Las Vegas, Nevada...

Goodnight. :)