Ch. 5a - Sin City Redux

After satiating myself with massive amounts of Del Taco (have I mentioned I am a sucker for Mexican food? They did not have Del Tacos in Jersey, I missed them. I draw the line at Taco Bell, though. OK, no I don't.. chalupas are too good to resist), I found my way to my friends' house. Dan works the overnight shift and was just waking up at 10pm. Kash was working and wouldn't be home till midnight. I, of course, was unemployed and thankful to have a place to stay! Kash and Dan (left to right) can be seen in the picture above.. they are about to eat burgers, exciting! Although, Kash looks excited but Dan looks quizzical and in some sort of pain. The burgers were good, however.

I ended up staying in Vegas for a week, in which time I played poker as much as possible at all my old haunts (The Venetian is still probably the best place to play, though the heavily perfumed air is equal parts blessing and curse.. if you win, it is the smell of success and better your clothes smell like that than cigarettes; if you lose, it's one of the most sickening smells on Earth). When I wasn't playing poker I went to a tattoo show (the world's largest.. ouchies!) with Dan and Kash, went bowling with my other Vegas-based buddies, James and David Weiner (I can never not use his last name.. he knows it's funny to say.. he knows I'll always be his little Jew), went to a buffett (used my left-over casino player points, so it only cost $2.70.. but buffets are still mostly a gross, glutinous experience), watched as much Curb Your Enthusiasm as Kash and I could watch (Kash is probably at least as Jewish as I am at this point, he loves Curb and Seinfeld so much), got $1 hot dogs and beer (that's what Vegas does best, baby!), played craps with the weatherman from the CBS Early Show (true story, but they left me on the cutting room floor), introduced Dan to the joys of Pai-Gow poker (he's a natural), and generally tired myself the hell out. It was a lot of fun and all told I won just over $700 gambling over the course of my entire road trip.. that sure helps! See, kids, gambling is a sure path to success!

Now that I am out West once again and flights are pretty cheap from SFO to LAS, I hereby promise to return to Vegas more often for more good times. City Center opens in December and I've gambled in every casino in Vegas, I owe it to myself to keep the streak alive.

Ch. 3c - Things To Do In Denver When You're Cold

Somewhere between being tackled by my cousins and being tackled again by my cousins, I found time to do and see several other things in the Denver area. This is that story.
 

First up, The WOW! Museum. Wow, what a museum! It is a nice little interactive kids museum right around the block from my cousins' house. Here you see Doolin in a bubble of his own making. He and I also spent about 40 minutes building what I am sure is the world's largest PVC pipe structure.. well, at least Lafayette, CO's biggest. Another night my Aunt and I went bowling and absolutely dominated the lanes. She bowled close to her best game ever and I had one game where I marked in every frame.. better get our autographs now before we turn pro and they will be too valuable to give away for free.


One day we all walked around the Pearl St. Mall in Boulder, bought some toys at a very cool toy store and some candy at a very cool candy store (where Willy Wonka is played on a continuous loop), and then the weather began to turn... clouds, wind, and eventually some significant rain rolled in and the rest of my time in Colorado would be spent shivering (not quite, but I am originally from Florida, ya know). This was especially not great since my aunt and I had put off all of our outdoor activities until the last couple days of my trip. Tickets to the Rockies game were already purchased and the golf course awaited us before that. But we were determined not to let the weather stop us. We suffered for our sports.

First up was the golf. We woke up and it was about 40 and rainy. Crap. But we wanted to play, damnit! And play we did. The course was still very pretty to me and we still had a lot of fun. Next up was the Rockies game at Coors' Field in downtown Denver. The stadium was beautiful but this was the first time I have ever sat in the rain to watch a game - cold, cold rain - and I don't know that I would care to repeat it. See my aunt and Cousin Lois bundled up in left-center field.. this is not how one is supposed to have to dress to go to a baseball game. However, I did enjoy my famous footlong Rockie Dog (probably only 10" and not that special) and Cracker Jacks, though. Also, the Rockies have since secured a playoff spot and I think we can take full responsibility.. we are clearly good luck.

Finally, did you know that if the Celestial Seasonings factory were to leave their stock of mint leaves exposed, passersby could smell them from 4 miles down the street?! It's true! We found this out when we toured the factory in Boulder and went into the "mint room" where your eyes will burn and the mint smell will attach itself to your clothes for days. The factory was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be and the free tour included a lot of free samples. After having all that tea we were so amped on caffeine that we climbed some mountains.. here I am upon my descent, the conquering mountain man. Ha.... Ha.