Stockton Wedding and Las Vegas Retreat

Its been a busy few weeks.
Jim and Anne-Marie got married in Stockton on the 14th. John was one of the groomsmen and it was a delightful and almost stress-free day. They had a wedding coordinator who kept things going, even if you weren’t really ready. But a good time was had by all!

Afterwards John and I saw the new Harry Potter movie and some buddies came over to his house and they talked late into the night. I crashed around 11. The next day I was going to visit a friend but she wasn’t feeling very well. So instead went home and did a little packing.

Tuesday at 4 in the morning Julie, babs and I started our fact finding mission to Las Vegas. After navigating through SFO and getting on the plane, we arrived around 8am in hot hot hot hot hot “Sin City”. A chatty cab driver drove us to the hotel and time as we know it stopped until we arrived at the destination. Arriving at the hotel, we checked in our luggage, was told to wait for a long time for a room. So we grabbed some well earned breakfast and our fact finding mission has started! A few hours (and drinks) later the room was ready. Dumped our bags, put on swim suits and we were were off to the pool! We selected the MGM Grand because it has a 1000 ft lazy river. This did *not* disappoint, even though the walk to the pool was about 10 minutes it was totally worth it. We found this little side nook, applied all sorts of sun protection and discovered the Lazy River. It takes about 10 minutes to make the circit if you just float. There is also very powerful waterfalls that if you stand under there will actually be bruises. I didn’t see any cabana boys to come serve us drinks, instead you had to walk to the nearest drink receptacle (like an aminal!) but that would interfer with the pool activities.

After the pool, we had a wonderful dinner at the Red Square

With a nod to the glory of Imperial Russia, Red Square Las Vegas transports guests to a world of romance and intrigue. Along with an impressive caviar selection, you’ll enjoy such perestroika-inspired Russian and internationally influenced favorites such as Siberian Nachos, Roquefort Filet Mignon, Strozapretti Stroganoff, Salmon Kulebyaka and Certified Angus Rib Eye. Plush, private red velvet banquettes compliment the dazzling Russian-inspired décor, which has been featured on the Food Network, the Travel Channel, as well as in such magazines as W and Conde Nast Traveller.

You could cut the steak with a fork, and we did. and the martinis were good. This would be a very similiar theme for the rest of our stay in lovely Las Vegas. After dinner was Mamma Mia! We had lucked out and gotten 2nd row center tickets, so close we could touch the conductor (although that would be rude). It was Fabulous!

Next day I woke up bright and early and checked out the lazy River yet again. We explored Las Vegas some more, visited Quarks, went on some rides (including the New York Roller Coaster!) We tried to win some stuff animals and lost horribly. Had dinner with the slowest service known to mankind at the Excalibur then we drank a teeny bit at a Dicks Last Resort. We wanted dinner there but too crowded and no reservations. babs and I got lovely hats there.
Then we went to another event.

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Nexy day was another trip thru the lazy river, checkout, explore Las Vegas, have a cocktail or three and hop on a flight back home. The flight was scary when we were stuck on the landing strip, all the power went off and waiting for the paperwork saying it was okay to fly with all the auxiliary not working. Then all the strange noises and the very vey bumpy flight. It was a fantastic trip but I was happy to be home as well.