When Matt sent me the pictures from our get-a-away he mistakenly titled the photo folder, Las Begas. I like it! Try saying it by barely letting your lips touch when you pronounce the B, "Las Begas." Nice huh?
As in years past NACS was held at the Last Vegas Convention Center, where Matt would be working Monday-Thursday. It didn't look I was going to be able to join him though because we had our master shower door and mirror being installed, I have youth night on Wednesday...you know how it goes, too many gaps to fill in to have the momma leave.
Matt was to leave on Monday morning and as I lay in bed on Sunday night I kept thinking how I should somehow join him. The next morning when I got back from my exercise class and while Matt was downstairs on the treadmill, I decided to look into the cost of a plane ticket. WOW, only $55! I got Graham off to school while I thought about it (this gave me about 10 extra minutes). I came home and booked the flight! The-down side of the great ticket price was that I could only have one bag; it couldn't be a carry on, or even a backpack. I also realized that I didn't want to bother with all my potions and lotions at the airport, so while Matt was in the shower I hid a small bag in his trunk under the Indian blanket he keeps in there. When it was time for him to leave I kissed him goodbye without breathing a word of my plan....
I stayed busy that day by painting my hallway, and ended up staying up way too late to finish it. I got the gaps filled in with the kids for while I was to be gone. Ava, Grayson, Graham and Callie were practically pushing me out the door, "You should definitely go mom!" I was so excited about my plan that I realized I was telling way too many people! I thought, "If my cover is blown, it's my own fault!"
The shower door guys came on Tuesday and while they worked I put a few things in the small bag I could take. I needed to head to the airport but the guys were still working away. I made sure they didn't need me for anything and let them know I was flying to Vegas to surprise my husband. Man, I just couldn't keep my mouth closed!
I used Park 'n Jet near the airport and at that point realized I needed to turn my phone setting off so Matt couldn't see where I was located. I was the only passenger on the shuttle and by the time I got off, my driver knew my whole plan. He even gave me a suggestion on how to find Matt once I got to Vegas. At the airport I handed over my self-printed boarding pass at security. They scanned it and motioned me on through. I mumbled to myself in relief, "It worked." I headed to my gate to get settled. Wait; is that Auntie Anne's Pretzels?
I was on my way to find a table to eat my pretzel when I saw an Elder walking towards the escalator. He was alone and wasn't even carrying a bag. I think his hands were in his pockets and yet I could see the anxiety all over his face. This was it! His family was going to be at the bottom of the escalator. I waited at the top of the escalator to watch. By the time he got to the first floor and walked down the hall I could only see his legs, but I saw another pair of legs run towards him and they embraced. I had tears in my eyes for them realizing my turn is just a few short months away. And then I pushed the thought away, I can't go there yet.
As I sat at my gate I started panicking that the app on Matt's phone would show where I was last located when I turned my phone off. I texted Grayson to see what my status showed on his phone. He said, "It says your notifications have been turned off." I said, "I know, but does it show where I was last?" This got confusing so I finally explained that I didn't want Dad to see I had been at Park n' Jet. Finally after all the texting back and forth Gray said, "It looks like you are going to be able to pull it off." I had to chuckle because he really has a way of wrapping up a conversation. And he had a point, what could I do about any of it now?
Matt told me to text him a photo of the glass door and mirror as soon as the installers left. So I texted Graham and asked him to send me a picture. He sent me this:
I said, "That is great, but I need you to send me a picture that looks like I took it." When he did, I sent it to Matt who had all kinds of questions about how long it took them to install the doors, etc." I answered the questions as though I was sitting at home;)
At my gate I saw people form a line to board. They stood there.... for an HOUR. Gah, an hour delay! I was getting so antsy to get on that plane!
Once I was seated, the pilot said, "We had a lot of paperwork to fill out, that is the reason for the delay." But the crowd was already agitated and a man yelled out, "That is a crock of #@%*." He said what we were all thinking and no one corrected him. I chuckled as I opened up my library book.
I was so glad I had a book with me. The unfortunate thing is that it was a fat 319 page book that took up precious space in my one allowed bag. Seriously, half my bag was reading material. We sat on the plane for another HOUR before take-off! You get what you pay for right?
I kept breathing deeply, "Just ready your book Abby, read your book."
I was so happy to finally be in the clouds and on my way. I realized that by the time I reached Matt I very well could have driven (but not for $55!) Even with the shuttle in SLC and the Uber in Vegas, I was still under what I would have spent on gas.
Once we landed in Vegas the alcohol had kicked in and the rowdy passengers didn't seem to care about the delay anymore. I, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves. I still had to figure out how to get over my last hurdle, which was to find Matt! Would he even be available? Would I be hanging out in a hotel lobby for a few hours? How was this all going to go down???
I downloaded the Uber app on my phone and found the pick-up location. Boy was it easy to use; I paid for it with my thumbprint. Once inside the car, the driver offered me something to drink. I realized how parched I was! I hadn't had anything to drink since Auntie Annie's, but I said, "No thank you." I was not about to drink foreign liquid in a stranger's car.
It was a short drive to New York New York. I stopped at the first food place I saw to get a drink, "Ahhhhhh."
The day before I had texted Matt to ask if he had a view of the Strip. He told me he was on the 11th floor. I thought just maybe the app on my phone would lead me to his door but of course it didn't. So I used the suggestion from my shuttle driver and texted Matt, "What are you up to?" He said, "Just watching baseball playoffs in my room." So he was in his room! I then texted, "We want to send something to your room, what is your room number?" He texted back, "1139." I was SOOOOO close! I should have thought it through better and had a big mask on or pretended to be Housekeeping or something but my anxiety was killing me so I just rapped on the door. Matt answered pretty quickly and as you can imagine had quite the look of shock.
"Surprise!"
He couldn't quite wrap his head around the fact that I was in VEGAS,
"You just drove here?"
"Nope, I flew!"
"Whaaat!?"
It was my finest hour.
It was my finest hour.
Sure enough, he had just finished his room service dinner and was watching baseball. That is what my Bocie does while alone in Vegas. I like it. I was happy to scarf down his leftover vegetables, which were still warm. He asked, "Where is your bag?" I surprised him again, "In your trunk." After visiting for a while (during which he kept exclaiming, "I can't believe you came to Vegas") he said, "Well do you want to go and do something?" I said, "There is a variety show at Planet Hollywood that starts at 8 if we want to bust a move over there. He decided that sounded like fun so we headed over on foot. I have never walked through the mall portion of Planet Hollywood and was surprised to see that it goes on and on.
My friend Crusan wanted me to text her when I got to Vegas and let her know if I found Matt so I sent her the following picture. Then Matt and I received a text from the Caciques letting us know that baby Danilo had been born. Again, we sent this photo!
We got seated in the theatre just in time and were immediately laughing our heads off. Matt said, "My cheeks hurt!" Oh man, I don't know if it really was that funny or if we both just needed a good laugh.
All in all we needed this trip.
The cast:
Planet Hollywood has a Caesar's Palace feel to it. We enjoyed our free drinks (we each chose the peach smoothie) and people-watched from the Showgirl Lounge;) Vegas...
The weather was so lovely on this trip! After our breakfast buffet at the hotel the next morning we sat on the terrace under some interesting architecture and sipped sodas. There is nothing like having an empty day ahead of you to make you feel relaxed. Matt was originally going to drive home that day but he had the room another night and he was done with his responsibilities at the convention so we could do whatever!
We took the shuttle to Aria and marveled at the swanky mall. I checked out a t-shirt price through the store window and saw that it was $400. The shops were beyond high-end.
That is a restaurant inside the George Jetson structure behind Matt.
From there we went to the Bellagio. We came in from the back entrance to the gardens and could not tell what we were looking at.
We gasped when we came around to the front. The exhibit was called, "Falling to Sleep." It took everyone's breath away. I was so peaceful in the gardens.
We met an old lady from the Dakotas who had come to Vegas all by herself. She is a recent widow and was going around talking to people so she wouldn't get too lonely. It broke my heart.
At the Bellagio we saw the worlds biggest chocolate fountain, the outside water fountains and then we walked to the Sprinkle's ATM. How was the cupcake you might wonder? It was a little dry.
Later that evening we had dinner at the Stratosphere before seeing MJ Live. We downloaded Groupon on this trip and got a good deal on some last minute tickets. I am not a big impersonator fan but we have heard good things about the Vegas Michael Jackson show so we decided it would make an enjoyable evening.
MJ LIVE!
The theatre is a lot like the one at the Flamingo where you sit at booths or tables. We sat in a booth with a mother/daughter duo from Houston TX, Dorothy and Natasha (close enough). We chatted eagerly before the show because they too are big Michael Jackson fans. There was a lot of excitement in the room, almost like we really were going to see MJ!
But I gotta say...it wasn't long after the show began that the energy started evaporating from the room. It seemed to be collectively decided that you just can't impersonate Michael. The dancers and performers gave it their all but it wasn't enough. And who likes to be told over and over by the performer (see I don't even know the impersonators name) that they need to cheer louder? "Are you guys having a good time?? Ah man, you can do better than that!" And he hadn't even performed yet!
How about you perform and we let you know if we like it. That is how it works buddy.
At one point I looked over and saw that Dorothy was SLEEPING.
We took an Uber back to the Strip and learned from our driver that we had actually gone to the WRONG Michael Jackson show! Michael Jackson ONE is the #1 show in Vegas. So now we will just have to go back to Vegas to see that ONE. Oh man, we did get some good comedy material out of our evening though.
Next we went to Paris Las Vegas to ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night. First we walked across the locked bridge.
We got a 360° view of the strip and could even see the Bellagio fountains at night.
We couldn't hear the music though so I sang my own song, "Time to say good-bye...."
We really had such a delightful trip, so relaxing and just FUN! I brought down my Nathan's cup every day and re-filled it at the fountain (I love SoBe). As we were packing up the next morning Matt asked, "Can I throw this away now?" I said, "Nope! I am getting a refill on my way out. I'll teach them not to charge $4 for a drink." My cup made it all the way back to Heber when the bottom of it was about to give way.
This trip has been an entertaining one to reminisce about. The next time Matt was out of town I texted him, "Matt... Remember when I came to Vegas???"
His response?
"You just put a big smile on my face."
