Las Vegas, Meet Katie!

Thursday was one of the highlight days of our trip so far as Katie finally arrived.

Her trip had been planned since July when Helen and I decided to give her a very special birthday present for her 21st birthday - an all expenses paid trip to LV. So for many months she's been thinking about her visit and what fun things we'll be doing together during her 12 days here in Nevada.

Helen and I met her as she arrived about 1:30 yesterday. She left TC about 7:15 a.m. with a 3 hr layover in Minneapolis before landing safely at McCarran. We drove back to the apartment and just relaxed and talked for a while. I made a lunch of turkey sandwiches for us and we planned our fun for the evening.

We decided on Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet's restaurant at the Flamingo, for dinner and planned to hit the Strip around 6 so that Katie's first view of it would be with its lights ablaze. It didn't disappoint. I drove us east on Sahara and then south along the entire length of the Strip. That took us past such impressive landmarks as Wynn, The Venetian, Fashion Show Mall, Caesar's Palace, Harrah's, The Flamingo, Bally's, Paris, Planet Hollywood, The Bellagio, City Center, MGM, New York New York, Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.

Katie was thrilled with the lights and color of the Strip and it was really fun to see the excitement in her eyes as she took in the sights. After passing the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign at the south end of the Strip, we turned around and headed back north, parking at Bills Gamblin' Hall. Luckily for us, we got to watch a few minutes of the Big Elvis show - he's a 300-plus Elvis impersonator who does a free gig every weekday at Bill's. After viewing that "hunka, hunk of burning love," we headed to Margarita to eat.

On our way there we made a brief stop at the Flamingo to show Katie the live Flamingos in the hotel's garden area. It was dark though and after a quick look at the live lawn ornaments, we continued our trek to Margaritaville.

We got there about 7 and there was a 40-45 minute wait before we got seated. It went quickly though and we enjoyed a great dinner. Helen and Katie opted for HUUUUUUGE salads, while I had a Cuban Sandwich. I also helped them finish off their salads. The food here is always good and the bill was reasonable - less than $50 for the three of us.

Then, using the elevators and overhead walkways, we went over to Caesars Palace. The girls wanted to check out the Forum Shops and I headed to play blackjack. Our plan was to meet about 1.5 hours later at 10:30.

I quickly lost $50 in bj, going 7 hands without winning a single hand (5 losses and 2 pushes, both on 20s, aaaargh). Then I sat down and played some 25-cent poker - breaking even after about 15 minutes. By then it was almost time to meet the shoppers, so I headed to the Forum Shops where they were waiting for me. We made our way back to the car and drove back to the apartment. At the end of the day, we were all pretty tired.

Today will be another big day. Our plan is for me to make a hefty afternoon meal of grilled Italian sausage, red peppers, beans and rice. Then about 4 we'll head to the Strip, parking at MGM where we'll visit the Lions. Katie and Helen want to go to the nearby M&M and Coke stores, so I'll play poker while they shop. Then at 6 or so, we'll meet up and walk to the Ka theater where we have tickets for the 7 p.m. performance. After the show, we'll head to the Venetian's Grand Lux Cafe for dessert.

The girls want to see the Canal Shoppes, while I'm SURE I can find something to do as our adventure continues...