Departure Day October 18, 2024

Goodbye pretty mountains!

Friday

As usual I slept poorly the night before flying.  The weather stations had predicted a 20 degrees drop in temperature and high winds.  I awoke at 2 am and was listening to the wind. (It sounds pretty loud when you are on the 32 floor).   I was wondering if it would affect my flight. I didn't want to pay $500 US to stay for a Friday night in Vegas, that is for sure.

Eventually I dozed off again for a while.  Got up and started packing at 7 am. Left New York New York at 11 am.  There was a huge crowd checking in as I was leaving.  I was happy to be escaping them.  I can only take so many crowds.  Was happy that I brought that jacket with me this morning!

Got another non English speaking fella to drive me to the airport. I miss chatting but as long as they have the GPS in front of them getting to your destination is not an issue.

I absolutely ADORE the way Delta has baggage check in outside.  All I have to do is walk 5 feet from the cab and they take my baggage and print me out a boarding pass.  I think I have had the same nice, helpful guy several times. He can tell just by looking at me that I am old school and want a printed boarding pass.  Ha!

Then I just had to walk another ten steps to the wheelchair area and they plopped me in a chair.  The guy who was assisting me wasn't too sure about me pushing the walker in front of me but I told him I had done it successfully several times before so he let me do it. 

Got to my gate about three hours early. I like people watching in airports. There was a woman in her 20's crying loudly into her phone as she walked past.  Everyone was staring at her.  I was thinking "Boyfriend issues?  A death in the family?"  but no.  She walked by again and I heard her say "But mom, I WAS on time!!!"  LOL.  Yeah right....

I decided to cheap out and sit in the MAIN part of the plane.  I will NEVER do that again.  I sat on the aisle thinking it would be easier for me to stand up but I could just barely do it. The twit in front of me reclined and I had his head about 5 inches from my face the entire time.  I never recline out of consideration for the people behind me.  The best part of that flight was the nice young man seated in the window seat. He was about 6.5 and I knew his legs were going to be so uncomfortable. As he sat down I said " I just checked the seating map and it said this seat between us is empty!"  He said "I know. I checked too!"  so we anxiously watched the people file by praying no one would try and cram in between us and NO ONE DID!   It was like winning the lottery.  We were giggling about it.  That was the only empty seat on the whole plane.

The flight was a little bumpy as we left Vegas but smooth the rest of the way. There was a pleasant wheelchair dude waiting for me in Detroit and my checked walker came up fast so we were on our way to baggage claim.

This is where the story takes a turn.

If you get confused I don't blame you. I am still confused.

I contacted the company I usually use to pick me up at the Detroit Metro airport and bring me back to Windsor. Originally the fella I usually use said he was busy the 18th and wouldn't be able to come pick me up.  A few weeks later that changed and he said he would be able to come. Good news, right?

The day before I fly I always contact them and make sure they are coming.  I don't want to be left stranded in Detroit at 11 pm.  His father gave me another man's name and car and said HE would be coming.  I assumed (wrongly) that that meant my usual guy couldn't come and was being replaced with this guy.

What ended up happening was they both came.  The usual guy spotted me first and took off with me. But apparently the other guy was still waiting.  I don't understand how if you are all part of the same organization why don't you talk to each other?  When I got home the other guy called me and I explained what had happened.

So this morning the dad is sending me angry emails and saying I have to pay for this other fella.  I mean I was sorry for him but how disorganized can you be? He says the guy I usually use is not part of the company anymore.  WTH?  Well then you had better tell him to stop using the company name and Facebook page and phone numbers! I think this must be because of some bad blood between the dad and the son but I guess I will be looking for a new agency to come get me from now on.

OK....that drama is over.  So happy to be home again.  I love being someplace different for awhile but I HATE the traveling part. Bye for now.

What you get for the Resort Fee at NYNY.

Bizarre.

Day 11 of my Fall 2024 Vegas trip October 17

 

Today is my final full day.  I am supposed to fly home tomorrow but wouldn’t you know it?  They are predicting a drop in temperature of 20 degrees and high winds.  I guess I will get to use that jacket I brought after all! But I am worried that my flight will be canceled.  The rooms for Friday night are all around $400 or $500 US dollars and I really don’t want to pay that.   Or stay another night for that matter,  I am ready to go home.

Up at 4 am today and I went downstairs at 10 heading for America but it was mobbed.  I just bought a donut at the counter and went to play. Nothing was being generous until I hit this Luxury Line and it kept me alive for an hour or so.  I went back to the room and napped and then tried to hit America again at 3 pm and it was almost empty.  Ate my chicken and waffles for the last time.  Brought one chicken breast back to my room to eat later or for breakfast tomorrow.  

Even though my trips have changed a lot I still enjoyed myself.  Walking down the Strip isn’t pleasant for me anymore, so it is Lyft and Uber from now on.  I find myself waking at odd hours and sleeping at odd hours so it is just as well that no one has to suffer through my idiosyncrasies. 

As I have mentioned before Vegas is changing in ways that I hate.  Too much emphasis on sports, too expensive and I particularly detest all the giant new LED screens/signs everywhere.   I was stuck in traffic the other day and I got observe the horrendous thing in front of the Horseshoe.  It had Meta ads on it and ads for some TV program on HULU.   Why the heck do I want to see that on the LV Strip?  Makes no sense at all.  Advertising your shows or your restaurants makes sense.

There are still lots of things to love though.  I loved my room and the casino at Fountainebleau .   I love how the Plaza still keeps some of the old classic machines.  I like these new security thingies that were on my Fountainebleau and NY NY rooms doors.  I loved this suite at NYNY but I will be happy to never ride in that crazy elevator again.

I will update if and/or when I make it home tomorrow.

Day 10 of my Fall 2024 Vegas trip October 16

 

Wednesday 

I woke up at 3 am today.  I thought I could smell a skunk.  I was wondering how I could smell skunk when I am 32 stories in the air.  It finally dawned on me, pot smells like skunk nowadays.  I think that is what I was smelling.  I was awake until 6 am but then I fell asleep again and slept until 9.  

Even though I had absolutely no desire to Uber or Lyft anywhere, I knew that Caesars was doing a five times your tier points thing from the 14th to the 18th.   I wanted to participate on at least one day.  I was trying to decide which Caesars property to go to.  I decided on Harrah ‘s because I am most familiar with that casino.   I don’t get lost.  I know where the food is.  I know where all the washrooms are.  Another good thing is that when you are travelling between NY NY and Harrah’s you don’t have to tell anybody NO FREEWAYS!

I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like dark casinos.  I hate black ceilings.  I find them depressing.  I gravitate toward lighter, brighter rooms.  Harrah‘s is bright.  

I arrived around 12:30.  I hit the food court for a yogurt parfait.  Then I went to find a machine that had been good to me on another trip.   Three guesses what I was playing? Mo Mummy yet again.   I have to get my fill of this machine here in Vegas because I can’t play it at Caesars Windsor because it is a five cent machine there and the minimum bet is $3.75.  Too pricey.

Anyhow this machine kept me alive from 1 pm to 5 pm on my daily allotment of funds.  I put 1200 tier points on my card so that will be multiplied in 14 days.  Good stuff.  

Apparently the drink servers don’t start until 2 pm.  I was parched by the time they appeared.

I noticed a guy going from machine to machine checking for leftover money.  He looked like a normal fellow.  I found that odd. 

On my way out I decided to have a Bobby Flay’s Crunchburger and a shake for dinner.  $24 but it was yummy.  Caught another Lyft back to NYNY  I didn’t realize the Sphere would be visible at the end of the ride share area.   I am in for the night again.  This is the least amount of shows I have ever done in a trip.   Almost no night activities at all.

More views of the MGM corner

Day 9 of my Fall 2024 Vegas trip report. October 15

 

Tuesday 

I woke up at 5:30 am today.  I think I’m still on east coast time. Did my trip report.

Then I went to shower and I couldn’t get the water to come on. Tried and tried, but I couldn’t do it.  I don’t want to have to change rooms!  I just got settled here.  So I called guest services and the fellow on the phone told me to pull the handle out (which is weird). I’ve never seen that before. He said “go do it now and I’ll stay on the line” and so I I did and sure enough it worked. I thanked him profusely but I said you really should put a sign on the bathroom wall telling people to pull the handle OUT. Another thing you should know if you ever shower here is that they give you shampoo and body wash but no conditioner.  Actually the shampoo and body wash looked and smelled the same so I think it might have been the same thing.

After I was dressed, I looked longingly out the window at the CVS. It seems so close. I know it’s really not that close for someone like me but I decided I was going to stagger over there to get a few things that I needed. Well, that wasn’t a very good idea. First of all there’s weird construction all over the place. Both NYNY and Park seem to be working on signs so there’s all these tunnels made out of plywood that you have to walk through. Also I was expecting normal, flat, level sidewalks.  Instead everything is hilly.  You are either walking on a slant up or down.  Thank goodness my brakes still work on this old walker.  The worst thing is that the sidewalks are all cobblestones or some other decorative crap that makes it really hard for me to walk on. 

When I went in the first tunnel, there was a homeless woman with a dog which always makes me very sad. There was another homeless man talking to himself a little further down the tunnel.    I crossed the crazy busy street. They only give you 19 seconds to cross and I need all of those 19 seconds. Then I went through the next tunnel, and there was another homeless man with another dog, and I was like oh my God.  At one point I considered crossing the street to go to Walgreens on the other side of LV BLVD but as usual, the elevator to the crossover bridge wasn’t working, so that wasn’t an option.  

Finally I entered into the CVS  and it was very strange. I don’t know if they have to restock their store every morning or what.  There were a ton of empty shelves! Also many items are locked up behind glass.  Anyhow I found most of what I wanted; more protein bars, more UTI meds, toothpaste.   I was looking for eyeshadow just to see what they had but their makeup shelves had lots of foundation and lipsticks and almost no eyeshadow?  What the heck?   Is that what people buy/steal first?

I had decided to try my luck at Park today since I haven’t set foot in there since it was the Monte Carlo.  I knew I had to pass one of the dogs again to get to Park so I also bought a big bag of Beggin Strips.   When I went to cash out there were no humans, just self check out.  I hate shopping anymore.  I stood around till someone noticed me and helped me out.  When I got back to the homeless man I gave him the treats and he thanked me and said his dog likes that kind.  The dog jumped to his feet and ran over as soon as he saw the bag.  I sure hope that guy gave the treats to him!

I went inside Park and wandered around looking for a ramp so I could get into the casino.  Good luck finding THAT.  There is one but it is not visible and there is no sign.  Also let it be noted that many of the automatic handicap doorways that I encountered on this trip weren’t working including this one at Park. 

 Made it inside eventually and walked all the way through.  It is larger than I remembered.  Walked almost to the far end before I found the Mo Mummies.   To say this machine was more cooperative than the one I was playing last night is an understatement.  I put $100 in and got it up to over $800.  Nice!

I played there until around 3 then made my way back to NYNY.  I rumbled my way through the darn cobblestones to get to the pizza place than does the slice and a beer for $11.99.   It was tasty.   Then I went to a different MoMummy than I was on last night but it was still pretty crummy and took all my days’s profits away.  Sigh. 

Came back to the room at 5pm and I am in for the night.

Day 8 of my Fall 2024 Vegas trip report October 14

 

Monday

Mike and Terin left this morning.  It makes me sad.  I know I will see them in five days but it was fun having them around.

The main thing on my agenda today was getting packed up and moving from the Plaza down to New York New York.  I had a noon checkout so I just relaxed in the room until then.
I got a super nice Lyft driver who had no issues with avoiding the freeways.  We had a good conversation all the way to my destination.

I checked in online but I still went to the desk and got key cards.  What can I say?  I am paranoid about the digital thing not working.  I got a Spa suite in the New Yorker tower.  I am up very high so I hope there are no fires. I would never make it down all those stairs! The elevator is quite terrifying.  It rattles and shakes and my ears pop like crazy.  But I love the room.  It is an old style suite with one of those gigantic tubs.  I am not sure if I can get in and out of that thing.  I might get in and then have to call security to come get me out.  I do think I could probably soak my feet in it….hmmmm. Maybe I will try that. 

I found the Evacuation Map kind of confusing.  I make a habit of looking at these whenever I am in a hotel, but I would be hard pressed to find my way out of here.  What an oddly shaped floor!

I went downstairs at 1:30 to America for lunch.  I had yummy chicken and waffles.  I know, I know.  I always have that.  I am nothing if not a creature of habit!  I kept one of the chicken breasts for later.

One trip I had good luck on a Wicked Wheel at this hotel so I returned to that machine.  It gave me a few bonuses but not enough to keep me alive.   Then I went in search of Mo Mummy.  They only had three of them.   The one I was on was not very cooperative.   When they bonus a lot I will play for hours. But that wasn’t happening today.  I left the Mummy.  I was getting low on today’s budget when I plopped my butt down at another version of Wheel of Fortune.  And amazingly enough Vanna White rescued me AGAIN!  What the heck?  I love that woman.  After she stopped being so generous I came back up to my room.  It was around 5 pm.  
Spent the evening just chilling and watching the interesting views from my windows.

Day 7 of my Fall 2024 Vegas trip October 13

Sunday

One of the best parts of vacation is lying in bed  knowing that you don’t have to clean anything, cook anything,  or launder anything! 

It is awesome!

I did my usual slow start to my day.  I went down to the casino around 11 am to earn my keep.  I went to my favourite old Game King but while he let me play for an hour, he didn’t give up any Deuces.

I went to the washroom and noticed that a lady had been sitting at a Wheel of Fortune Cash Link machine for a long time.  I thought to myself “ These machines must be hitting” so I sat down at one.  At first it wasn’t doing much but then Vanna gave me $250.  Shocked the heck out of me.  A little later the machine gave me a bonus for $280!  I was very pleased.   Eventually the machine cooled off but it was fun while it lasted.
Jonathan Jossel came by to say howdy.  It is always good to see him.

I had to try the MoMummies near the door of the Plaza.  I never have much luck on these ones and this time was no different.

Around 3pm I went to Just Rice and got a bowl of Honey Garlic chicken and rice and brought it back to my room.  This will do me for both lunch and dinner.

I  took a little rest then went back down to the casino.  My brain wanted to wander down Fremont but my body had other ideas so I just stayed “home”.   People were on my old Game Kings so I wandered around trying new slots.  Lost three hundred dollars without a single bonus. So I sat down at a newer Video Poker machine and my first hand gave me 800 quarters!  Okay!  That is more like it. This gave me more play time.  Stayed down in the casino until 8 pm then came up to bed.

I didn’t see Mike and Terin today.  I know they went to the IT Escape room.  They did this last trip but liked it so much they wanted to do it again.  In the evening they went to a hockey game.  Sadly they fly home Monday. I am moving to New York New York for my last 4 nights.

I hate to break it to Jonathan, but none of his clientele here at the Plaza look like this.  Also I am getting very tired of these faces. Time for some new artwork!!!

Day 6 of my Fall 2024 Vegas trip October 12

 

Saturday 

I couldn’t locate my little room humidifier before I left for this trip and I am really missing it . Starting to get nose bleeds my nasal passages are so dry!

Some kind neighbour on this hallway at the Plaza chose to slam their door at 5:30 this morning so that was my wake up call.  As usual, I laid around in bed and did my daily instalment on my trip report.

I showered and got presentable. Breakfast was just a protein bar.  Lunch was mixed nuts. 

I didn’t leave the room until 1:30 pm when I went downstairs to catch an Uber down to Caesars.  Had an uneventful ride.   I wanted to be there in time for when the box office opens at 2 PM. I have been given comp tickets to Garth Brooks and I was going to let Mike and Terin use the tickets. Unfortunately they had bought some tickets of their own about two months ago. They were nosebleed seats. Michael attempted to try and resell them, but he didn’t succeed.  

When I got to the box office, I was happy to see that there wasn’t a very long line, but it seemed that everybody who made it up to the desk took an extremely long time to get their business done.  I was wondering why.   When I made it up there I realized why everything was taking so long. It seemed like a dreadfully disorganized situation. The first thing the fellow I was talking to said was that the hosts who distribute these comp tickets can’t do it until the actual day of the show so telling people to come to the box office is 2 PM is a bad idea because the tickets haven’t been distributed yet???   So I asked the fella if I should go away and come back a little later and he said no, just wait here.  But then there was all kinds of confusion about my identity, because even though I handed him my drivers license, they had my former address, my former phone number, my former email address on record. I explained that I had moved.  I asked if he was able to change all of that information and apparently whatever he was working on would NOT allow him to update my details.  What kind of insanity is that?  I guess it’s no wonder why I never receive any offers from Caesars Palace.  He was giving me such a hard time I was beginning to feel like I wasn’t going to get these comped seats at all! He was trying to email or text me using old info.  Finally after standing there for 15 minutes he did something or other and issued me two tickets. Thank God!   When I stepped away from the counter, I was thrilled to notice that my seats were on the floor (not in the first chunk of seats, in the second chunk of seats)  but they normally would’ve cost about $1200  so I was thrilled to give the tickets to Mike and Terin.  They went from the nose bleeds to the floor so they were pretty darn happy.

It was 2:30 by this time and I had told the kids to meet me at Caesars at 5:30. I had reservations at Gordon Ramsay‘s Pub and Grill. I settled in to play for the rest of the afternoon.  I tried one Mo Mummy machine and it wasn’t bonusing at all but then I moved to a different bank of machines and found another Mo Mummy  machine and this one was hitting really well. I just played that machine for several hours. I started with $400 and wound up with $500 so I was pleased.

I haven’t been in Caesars in a few years, I was amazed at how dark it seemed. But I guess in comparison to someplace like Fontainebleau where everything is so bright anywhere else seems dark. I was also astonished by the crowd there!   That place was mobbed.  I saw it least three wedding parties go by, but that couldn’t have been the reason for the crowd. A certain “ someone”  was in town but I don’t see why that would mob Caesars?   I don’t know why but the place was just incredibly busy.   Good for them I guess.  But it also made me say to myself that I never want to stay here.  I don’t enjoy crowds that big.  I was very happy I made reservations at the restaurant because it was insanely busy too. 

Mike and Terin arrived on time.  They did the Flyover thing that afternoon and really thought it was fun.  Initially the restaurant told us to stand to the side for a minute, but then they gave us our table almost right away. We ordered Gordon Ramsay‘s three-course meal again as we frequently do. I like this version of it even better than the one we had over at Ramsey‘s kitchen at Harrah’s. Last year it seemed that Ramsey’s kitchen was only offering the Tasting menu which is more expensive, but now they are offering the 3 course menu too.  Here at Ramsey’s Pub at Caesars it was three courses for $85 even though the website says $79.99.  I could have said something but didn’t bother.  You started with either soup or salad. I had the onion soup and it was excellent. Of course you got Beef Wellington and the dessert was the sticky toffee pudding again. I could be wrong but I think when we visited Ramsay‘s kitchen at Harrahs, we were only given half of a beef Wellington portion. This place gave you two chunks of the beef Wellington.  Of course I took advantage of my four free alcoholic drinks.  It was all delicious but too much food!  We were stuffed!

To walk off some of the food  the kids decided to accompany me to the rideshare area at Caesars valet which is was quite a ways away from the Colosseum.  I appreciate when they help me out like that. Mike  likes making sure I get in the right vehicle and he puts the walker in the back of the car for the drivers.  Mike explained about the “ no highways “ thing to the young driver. When I got in the vehicle I repeated it but he turned to me and said he didn’t speak English.  He seemed like a really sweet kid. I repeated “No highway” a few times finally he said  “No freeway???”  and I said “YES, yes no freeway!!!”   He chose to turn right on LV BLVD out of Caesars and go down to Flamingo then over to Paradise and go downtown that way. I think there’s shorter ways but I was just THRILLED that he was doing what I asked.   Made it back to the Plaza around 7 pm.

I hadn’t given Plaza any play that day so I felt like I should do that. I went to play my Wicked Wheel machine for about an hour but I wasn’t really enjoying myself because I was so tired so I just came up to bed.  I was out cold by 9 pm. 

I only have one more day at the Plaza and then I check out Monday and move to NY NY.  I wish I had booked for a longer stay here.  Three nights downtown is too short!

Pardon the awful overhead lighting!