I left my stomach (and money) in Las Vegas.

We traveled a long way to make a big deposit at the Golden Nugget Bank of Las Vegas. We had fun, but did not win (i.e. LOST). Here's the run-down:

• We took the 7:30 a.m. flight from Austin Wednesday morning. We arrived in Vegas at 8:30 a.m. (two-hour time change). Great, an extra full day. Uh, except we couldn't check in until 11:00, and I was TIRED.
• We decided to have some breakfast while we waited. The Golden Nugget has a great cafe (The Carson Street Cafe). Unfortunately, there was a wait (but I guess we had plenty of time to kill). The hostess came through and asked if there were any parties of 5 or more. There was a group of 4 in front of us, so Sean suggested we sit together. Totally random, but I am so glad we did it. They were two fabulous couples originally from San Antonio, but now living in Georgia (and missing Texas). They were Hispanic, and they found my love of Mexican food amusing. We had a lot of fun visiting with them.
• We stayed downtown and gambled Wednesday and Thursday. Sean took 2nd place in a poker tournament and won almost enough to break even for the day
• Friday, we went to New York, New York, which is my favorite casino. We had lunch and gambled a little. We then headed back to the Nugget so Sean could play in another tournament (he didn't win).
• Saturday, we went to the Stratosphere where we went up to the tower. "At 1,149 feet, the Stratosphere Tower is the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River." Here is a picture of me and Sean on the observation deck.

• While 1,000 feet in the air, we rode Insanity and Big Shot. Insanity spins you at 45 mph at a 70 degree angle, 900+ feet above the ground. It was awesome. The Big Shot, however, was not so awesome. In fact, I HATED it. "The Big Shot thrill ride catapults riders from the 921-foot high platform up the Tower's mast to a height of 1,081 feet. Traveling at 45 miles per hour, riders experience 4G's as they reach the very top, and feel negative G's on the way down." Uh, yeah, I almost lost my lunch, and felt nauseous for the rest of the day. We just had to buy the picture they took of us, because my face says it all. (If you are wondering why I am shoeless, I had on flip flops and had to remove them because I would have lost them 1000 feet above the city.)

• We left Vegas at 8:30 a.m. Sunday (which was really early since we lost an hour due to Daylight Savings Time). We got to Austin at 1:00 p.m. and drove 1.5 hours to meet my parents to pick up Liv.
• I will do a separate post about Liv's visit with Granny and Papaw. I think they are still trying to recover.