Great Fun With Great Friends

The past few days have been a whirlwind of fun as longtime friends Nick and Lois Edson and John and Janet Tune joined us in LV.

Last Thursday Nick and Lois flew in from Traverse City, while John and Janet drove 9 hours from their home in Green Valley, AZ. We had great fun Thursday night, talking, laughing and having dinner at Bally's. On Friday, Helen and I checked in to Bally's, enjoying two nights comped. We were in room 5605 in the Jubilee Tower with a partial strip view. It was a nice, comfortable room, specially adapted for Helen's handicapped needs.

Friday we did a little gambling, visited a couple other casinos and enjoyed an Italian dinner at Bally's. Then we went to Mandalay Bay where we had tickets for the Michael Jackson - One show. It's a cirque de soleil show with lots of MJ music, dancing and acrobatics. While we weren't familiar with most of the music, it was still impressive. Before the show, we played some video poker at Mandalay Bay and I hit a nice hand. After a nondescript deal, I kept an ACE and was dealt THE OTHER THREE ACES! That lucky stroke earned me $100. Not five minutes later, John WAS DEALT A STRAIGHT FLUSH! We were high-fiving our good luck!!

We spent most of Saturday at the Bellagio Sports Book in a comfy sort of living room area with couches, chairs and a coffee table in the center. The six of us took over this spot and it was really nice. The guys bet hoops games and cheered them on, while Helen and Lois made horse racing bets. They were ON FIRE. Lois hit with a 50-1 longshot, while Helen picked a 49-1winner. What a fun day we had before heading over to Caesar's Palace Forum Shops were we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

John and Janet left early Sunday to drive back to AZ, so Helen and I joined Nick and Lois for another fun day at the Bellagio sports book. We met there at 8:30 for coffee and muffins and spent the whole day laughing and betting games. It was fun for all. For dinner, I drove us down to The Venetian where we looked around before settling in to eat at one of our favorites, Grand Lux Café. Nick and I enjoyed some great steaks, while Helen and Lois each had chicken pot pies. It was a great meal, ending a great day. After dinner, Helen and I said goodbye to the Edsons who were flying out Monday morning. We drove back to our apartment, arriving in time to watch Downton Abbey, one of our favorites.

It was such a fun time, we all talked about making it an annual trip. It was John and Janet's first visit to LV and they enjoyed it enough to return next year. Nick and Lois liked The Venetian so much that they are talking about staying there again next Feb. Helen and I are already looking forward to their return.

And so our LV adventure continues...