Hello. On the second day of my summer vacation, my family & friends drove from Lancaster, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada.
When it came time to wake up, I realized that... I don't like getting out of bed. Despite the efforts of all the other kids, I was reluctant to get out from under the blankets because I was so dang comfy, and sleeping is such a nice thing. Calling my name multiple times and telling me to wake up didn't do anything. Poking and shaking me didn't coax me out of bed either. Eventually they just started stacking as many things on me as I hid underneath the blanket, still unwilling to get out. Apparently, multiple pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals were piled on top of me, and I'm not really sure why the others thought that this would get me out of bed. What did get me out was when the blanket was pried away from me, leaving me cold, and forcing me to finally get up and start being a member of society.
I got dressed, wearing a blue shirt that I remember being far too expensive (it was a plain blue shirt, and it was, like, 30 dollars. Social anxiety kept me from not buying the shirt), and a new pair of shorts (skorts?) that appear as a mini skirt.
We left around noonish, after eating lunch.
The kids split up, Joe, Ashley, and AJ in the rented car with my & Jona's parents, and my triangle of friendship, Jona, Allyza, and I were in Allyza's car with Allyza's parents and grandparents. The drive there was long and quite boring. The three of us managed to keep ourselves some what entertained by playing that Who Am I? game in which we hold up names of people and we have to ask questions to find out what name we are holding up. That went on for a couple rounds, until that became boring.
The rest, I remember, was a lot of sleeping, and quietness.
At one point, there was insane traffic. The bumper-to-bumper tail of cars went on into the horizon. Also, at another point, the GPS stopped working, so we had to pull over for quite some time.
At another point, we stopped at a rest area for bathroom breaks, in what seemed to be in the middle of a desert. I didn't need to pee, so I walked around and found some vending machines where they contained.... the Booty. Excitement filled me because, hot diggity dog, I love me some Booty. I asked my mom for some money, and was able to buy a small bag of it, and some skittles as well.
After I don't even know how many hours, we finally arrived in Las Vegas! I played Viva Las Vegas by Elvis multiple times. The cars were parked at a 5-star hotel called Bellagio. We were led to believe that we were staying there, and Allyza was very excited. We walked around the 1st floor of the hotel. It was extremely luxurious, and I was skeptical of our family's ability to afford staying in such a place- even for just a single night.
We saw a garden where big sculptures of finches and birds were hanging from the ceiling. It was very pretty. We also saw the world record breaking chocolate fountain. It smelled hecka nice, man.
After walking around the hotel, we moved on to see this water fountain show. We were able to catch the last few minutes of the show. Since a new shows starts every 15 minutes, the adults insisted on staying around to watch an entire water show. I was kind of annoyed. "Why do we have to wait for another show, we just saw a show. It's just water being shot into the air." That remained my attitude towards that matter.
While waiting around, I looked out for fake Elvises. I told Jona and Allyza in the car that I need to see a fake Elvis in order for this trip to Las Vegas to be considered complete. I did manage to find the Avengers. How I wanted to take a picture with them, but unfortunately I had no cash on me. At some time though, fake Hawkeye walked out of the group of the Avengers, and approached my sister. He was trying his best to get her to take a picture with them. My sister came up with excuses such as "I'm not photogenic" and blah blah blah. Eventually, Hawkeye takes the rejection, puts his hand on his chest and said "That hurts me" and walked away. I then turned to my sister was like "You broke Hawkeye's heart." To which she replied, "He was only in it for the money." As true as that statement may be... it's Hawkeye. I don't think she understood the importance of this fact. (I also don't even think she knew that he was Hawkeye until I said his name. She isn't as nerdy as I am).
Later, Jona points out to me "LOOK ELVIS!" I turn and see a very tan man wearing that ridiculous white outfit and hair that Elvis is famous for. Not too long after his sighting, we find another Elvis walking by! How fabulous! Trip: Completed.
After the boring water show was finished, we stared walking around. Sort of. My dad asked me if I waned to go check out Caesar's Palace, and I, hungry for adventure, said yes. This is what happened.
I began walking towards it- and I was told to stop and wait for the others.
What felt like half an hour (but probably was only at least 15 minutes), I am able to start moving again. Impatient, I just move through the doors, and up the stairs by myself, and I'm already on the 2nd floor of the building you must go through to get to the bridge that leads to Caesar's Palace. Deciding to save my mom high blood pressure of losing her daughter in Vegas, I decide to wait 5 more minutes for the rest to catch up.
Once I catch sight of them, and they're half way up the escalators, I follow a sign out the door to the connecting bridge. Once the entire party catches up to me, we walk the bridge together. As soon as we got to the other side of the bridge, my dad announces that we have to turn back because we're too far away from he car. ....... Seriously???
That's all that happened. I didn't go to Caesar's Palace. I simply crossed the bridge that lead to Caesar's Palace. UGH.
We head back to the car-- but we couldn't even do that without having to wait for people because their 'far behind' or 'missing'.
Annoyed, I settled with sitting back inside of the lobby of Bellagio with the others, waiting for the old folks to show up.
Once the party is all together once again, we at last start going back to the car. On the way back, I've made a game for myself to try to sit on all the fancy chairs I see that are empty. Those chairs are very nice and comfy btw.
It was then time to eat. I was hoping for some good ol' American food but... yeah no, we ended up going to Jollibee.
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| On our way there, Allyza was texting a friend of hers, and wanted a picture of Jona and I. We posed to give the best impression to a person who hasn't ever met us in real life. |
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| And another photo from Jona's perspective. I saw her about to take a picture, and this face happened. |
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| At the Jollibee, my sister, Jona, and Allyza and I start taking pictures with the mascot. I tangoed with it. |
At Jollibee, my sister ordered some Peach Mango Pie, and had all of us (save Jona) dance and chant along as she said "Peach-Mango-Pie! Peach-Mango-Pie!". People looked, but it was hilarious.
After eating, there was a question of where we were going to stay for the night. Turns out the Bellagio thing was a big fat lie. We ended up staying at the Stratosphere, which was a pretty cool alternative. The Stratosphere featured a 1148 foot structure, where at the top were observation decks (one indoor, another outdoor) and rides that leaves you dangling off of the building. It also had a Sky Jump where you basically jump off the building up top, but not die.
After checking into our rooms, my sister and I sought out Jona and Allyza for some Stratosphere adventure. I ran towards Jona's room, knocked on their door, and was able to get Jona with ease. Getting Allyza, though, I knew needed careful wording, otherwise her younger brother or parents might want to come as well.
First off, I needed to find out where her room was. Jona told me what she thought was her room number, but wasn't entirely sure. I stopped in front of the door Jona said might be Allyza's room. I pressed my ear against the door, trying to listen for recognizable voices before daring to knock on the door. After a minute or two, I knocked on the door, and thank goodness, it was the right room. I said these words exactly, "Allyza! We're going on an adventure."
Note how I didn't specify what the adventure entailed of, and I specifically said only Allyza. Unfortunately, her mom and AJ knew what we were up to, and tagged along. Oh well.
The five of us quickly made it up the 1000+ feet and, oh boy, it was a sight to behold.
We watched people jump off, and looked at the rides. I said something like "Oh wow, you need to pay $115 to do the Sky Jump," and Jona didn't hesistate to add on "And sign a waiver." That quickly became a run on joke, because whenever I menioned wanting to go on a ride and "ugh I have to pay $15", she'd always chime in, "and sign a waiver!"
After some good times up there, we went back to our respective rooms. I took a shower where the water was way too hot, and verbally said "Ow....ow...ow..." as pressed myself against the shower wall waiting for the temperature to drop, trying to stay out of the water. It seemed that my sister was able to hear me through the bathroom door, and questioned me about it. She said that while that was happening she heard me and asked my mom "Is Jess talking?" and my mom replied "I don't hear anything."
My mom is convinced that my sister was just hearing things, and I was just siding with her.
Anyway, that basically ended Day 2 of my trip!
Thanks for reading.
-Jess
