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Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Travel Day

The day started out very very early, as the alarm started waking me up at 4:00 a.m.  The night before, I was too tired to take a shower before bed, and then when I got in bed, it took me a while to get to sleep.  UGH.  But I actually got out of bed, got ready, and got out the door.  Thank goodness I didn't encounter any traffic jams, because I was going to arrive at the parking lot in Ontario later than I planned.  Then I parked my car in not-a-space, and had to move it after I had already gotten out my luggage and had my backpack ready to walk.  Luckily for me, I had seen spots in the other aisle already but passed them up because dumbness.  Bag drop and security had no issues, so I had time to get a bottle of water and a protein bar before getting in line to board.  I was in Group A because the day before, I kept forgetting to check in and my number was way too high, so I went fancy and upgraded.

On the plane, I had a nice window seat so that I could take a photo when I wasn't asleep.

Above the Clouds

Actually, it was kind of hard to sleep because the guy next to me was tall and our flight was full, and I felt crowded.  It really only bothered me when he moved, which wasn't that often, but I still felt cooped up in my seat.  I'm glad I was at the window so that I could just look outside and wonder if one of the weird things I saw below was Area 51.

There was just a little bit of turbulence on our descent to Vegas.  We arrived at Gate B17, which is what I call the "Please, Mister, Please" gate because I'm old and know Olivia Newton-John songs.   I had originally planned to fly through Denver, but my flight got changed, which is a shame because I had time to kill and I prefer the shops at DEN.  But I got socks at a sock store, and they have hippos on them, which is probably better than sitting at a slot machine and donating my money to Vegas.  

View of Vegas Strip from airplane

My gate had just emptied, so I got a prime seat by the window with a charger, and finished formatting all of the corps repertoire for Prelims.  One less thing to do when I get to Indy!

Upon boarding, I snagged a seat in the 2nd row, aisle.  So I was able to get off of the plane fairly quickly to meet up with Bro and V, but then I also had to wait longer to get my baggage.  I did overhear someone saying that it was taking longer than usual, so maybe that's why I felt like it took so long.  Anyway, next to the baggage carousel was a cafe that had these KAWS figures hanging around.

Bro ordered a lyft for us, and the driver hummed to himself instead of using a radio, which was mostly unnoticeable except for when we were at an intersection for about 4 lights before he was able to turn.  

We are back to our normal hotel now that SCV is back in the competition as this is their home base.  We waited for the elevator with 3 other people, and the one I presume was the mother of the two young girls didn't really practice elevator etiquette, like waiting for the other people to exit before going in, and also not asking what button she could press for us as there wasn't a panel on our side.  Anyway, by then, Bro and V were tired of dealing with people because other stuff had happened during the day.

We unpacked in our hot room.  It was 81 degrees for some reason.  Then we walked over to Tastings.  We didn't get to go last year because they were having a private function on our planned day, so we figured today would be our best chance.  It was kind of weird to walk in, because they changed the furniture.  The menu has also changed, but we still found food that we wanted to try.  V and I opted for cocktails this time, and Bro did just one wine tasting, which was some French wine with a mermaid on it.  

Cheers!

Ceviche

Mango Margarita 

I take pics of people with their mouths full.

Summer Salad with watermelon,
feta, and almonds

Meatball Crock

Filet Skewers

Mushroom and Garlic Flatbread

Somehow we were able to finish all of this food, probably because none of us had eaten lunch.  We walked back to the hotel, and I was able to get this shot of the stuff they added to the windows since the last time we stayed here.  I wonder if it's there all of the time, or just during NFL season.

"For The Shoe"

I like it better without all of the stuff on the windows, because the reflection of the clouds makes it look much more lovely than this picture.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching Olympics.  I was happy to see the 2022 Figure Skating team finally get their gold medals! 

Next up:  DCI Prelims