Dirty Thirty, Las Vegas, Nevada Final Day

Saturday, May 30, 2015 Las Vegas, Nevada

The next day of our trip was our pool day. The promoter from the day before said that we could get into Drai's Beach Club without a cover. We decided to go over early to make sure that we were able to get inside. The Drai's pool party is on the Cromwell which isn't far from our hotel.

I got ready quickly for the pool and went with Karen to get coffee from the Nook which was cheaper than Starbucks and just as good. We brought coffee back for Bre and Melissa, and I brought a Chai Tea for Caitlin. By the time we got back to our rooms everyone was ready, so we went back to the lobby and out to the strip to get to the pool. I didn't have a swimming cover-up so I just wore shorts and a tank, but everyone else had cute cover-ups!

When we got to the Cromwell our promoter wasn't there, but we talked to another one and got inside before anyone else. It was really cool to get there before everyone. The water was still and crystal clear. The tables, chairs, and cabanas were clean and untouched. The staff was fluttering about getting ready. In order to get a cabana, the starting price was one-thousand dollars, which none of us were willing to pay! So we went into the bar area to see about getting something to eat for breakfast.

The price of drinks by the bottle were shocking, hundreds and thousands of dollars. Even the price for nachos and burgers were expensive. We were still going to order nachos for breakfast, but when I asked the waitress if they were gluten free they said that they were not! Since Caitlin and Karen get sick when they eat gluten, we decided not to have breakfast there.

By that time, more people had started to arrive at the pool, they were let to their tables or cabanas and they were starting to get in the pool. Caitlin wanted everyone to have fun at the pool party so, she and Melissa went down to the pool and stood in the water talking. Bre, Karen and I wanted to go get something to eat, go back to our hotel, and visit the pool there. It started to become a stand-off between Caitlin and Melissa, wanting to stay at Drai's and the three of us who wanted to leave. After a few minutes, I said that we should go over to the pool and hang out for a little while. I knew that the two groups were really stubborn and neither was going to budge, but if we spent a little time in the pool at Drai's and still didn't like it, that Caitlin and Melissa would agree to leave.

Karen and Bre still wouldn't budge, so I went over to the pool and sat on the edge with my feet in the water, then I stood on the step in the water, and for a little while I was even in the water up to my shoulders. The pool was nice, though it was really crowded. I think a lot of people thought that the price for the tables and cabanas were too expensive so there were tons of people in the pool and more sitting on the edge of the pool with their feet in the water. There were plenty of people that were at the tables and the cabanas too, but it didn't look like they were having a better time than I was!

After a few minutes Karen and Bre joined us at the pool and sat on the edge with their feet in the water with Melissa. Eventually, Bre stood on the step too kicked around, but eventually we were all hungry, and we decided to check out the other pool. So we left the Drai's pool. When we left the Cromwell, a promoter stopped us and asked if we wanted to go to the pool party, and we said we were just there, and left. I think he was a little surprised by that.

Brunch

Margaritaville was on the way back to our hotel, so we stopped there to get breakfast. There was a little wait and since I had gotten into the water at the pool, I ran back to our room to change clothes with a margarita in my hand! I changed into a black dress and went back to Margaritaville, I got a message in the elevator from Melissa telling me where they were sitting, and I was able to find them easily enough. I had finished my drink and ordered another with my meal. Bre and I shared a big plate of nachos that we couldn't finish, but I made sure to eat all the jalapenos!

After lunch we went back to our hotel, Bre finally made her bet on the Giants game and Caitlin made a bet for the Cardinals to win the Superbowl! Later it was discovered that the bet was for the Rams to win the Superbowl. I think, that because it was baseball season, when the attendant heard Cardinals she put in for St. Louis instead of Arizona. Luckily we saw the error before leaving Vegas and were able to correct it.

When they finished with the ticket buying we went to look at the pool. The pool that we could see from our window must be for a different hotel, because the pool that we ended up in was different. There were a lot of people just like at Drai's and there were cabanas and chairs, but we didn't have to pay for them. So we decided to stick around. There were no cabanas when we got there, but some people were leaving and told us we could have both of theirs! So we got nice cabanas right at the edge of the pool.

Since I had changed out of my wet bathing suit to eat lunch, I needed to change back to my bathing suit, also Caitlin wanted to go up and put her bet into the safe, because she was told that it would fade in the heat. So we went back to the room. Up there we took shots of fireball and then we filled up a water-bottle with more fireball to bring with us. I changed into my bathing suit and Caitlin put away her bet. Then we returned to the pool. When we got back we discovered that Bre, Karen and Melissa got drinks from other people at the pool. I'm still unclear about who got them drinks, but they were really big! I tried some of it, they tasted tangy like lemon-lime, but at least they were cold. The fireball that Caitlin and I were sipping was a little warm.

Bre, Karen and Melissa were on one cabana and Caitlin and I were on the other bed. Caitlin and I heard them saying that they were going to be snobby mean girls and act like they didn't know us when we talked to them. Ha ha! That didn't last very long, but it was a little funny.

Bre asked Caitlin if she wanted to play with the big jenga set, though I couldn't hear what she said, they went across the pool to the jenga set. I love jenga! So when I saw, I followed after them! By the time I got there, or maybe all along two guys were playing with them, Brad and Ivan. Brad was in Vegas for work later that week, but was hanging out on the weekend with his friend who lived in Vegas. They were both originally from Wyoming.

Caitlin and Bre, with my help a little, won the Jenga, so the guys gave all of us drinks. They had a tablet of drinks Vodka with stuff to mix it with and PBR. Brad kept mixing drinks and shots for us and we were drinking the PBR. Brad figured out quickly that Caitlin and Bre were dating people and I was single, so he started to talk to me. He was alright, but he asked my name a dozen times, I started counting, and he wasn't following conversations well. I wasn't interested in hanging out with him all night or anything, so I told him we were going to play craps and went back to the other side of the pool. Caitlin and Bre were already back at our cabanas with Ivan. I felt a bad for drinking their alcohol so I left them with the rest of the fireball-water-bottle, though I'm not sure if they knew it was fireball.

It wasn't long after that, that we did go down to the casino to play craps. I had put my money away when I changed to my bathing suit, so I didn't have any money to play, which was probably good because I had drank a lot at the pool. Caitlin and Melissa played though and they ended up doing really well. I guess one guy was a really good roller. Bre played a little, but she only had a little bit of money that she wanted to gamble, and sometimes with craps you need enough money to go down a little to go up.

Eventually, Karen, Bre and I went upstairs to get ready to go to the female impersonater's show. On the way, Bre bought Karen and I expresso shots. I said I would have one with Karen. I had never had one before, and said I wanted to try one early. When they set out the shots, I immediately took a huge drink, and I regretted that for an entire week my mouth was burnt so badly. There was still more expresso left and upstairs Karen and I topped ours off with southern comfort, and we had some wine.

I think expresso is good, but I think the next time that I've been drinking all day and it's nearly five in the evening that I will not have an expresso, because after about thirty minutes, I was sprinting up and down the halls of our floor, we needed ice, so I made a few trips, and running was the best way to do that. Running while stumbling was even more fun! Later that night, I had trouble sleeping as well, which wasn't fun, especially since we were going home the next day.

Eventually, Caitlin and Melissa came back from the craps table to get ready for the show as well. When we were finally all ready to go to the show, and I had run around a while, we went down to the lobby and then up another elevator to the stage where the show was. By that time the drinks were wearing off, and I decided to stop drinking for the rest of the night, which was a good decision.

The show we saw was called Divas, and it was a great show. One of the performers dressed as Joan Rivers and was so funny, and all the singers and dancers were great. Some we very realistic, others were more in jest. I really liked the show and recommend it to anyone going to Vegas.

After the show we decided to go out to the strip and find something to eat. This turned out to be a difficult task because by that time some places had closed their kitchens and others were not gluten free. During our quest to for dinner, I tried to entertain everyone with my lyrical dance moves, which are kind of like jazz dance moves only with more flow to them. At least, this is what I decided as I grew up watching my sister dance. Caitlin didn't laugh at me, so I must have done something right.

We eventually stopped at one place, Karen and Bre got chicken wings that weren't breaded and I got chicken fingers that were so good. Melissa went back to get pizza from a by-the-slice window. Caitlin decided not to risk the chicken wings because the cook was being evasive about whether or not they were gluten free. They were probably okay, but Caitlin didn't want to risk it. Her reaction to gluten is severe so she decided to go back to the room and eat the crackers and snacks that we brought with us. After the chicken fingers we went back to the rooms to go to bed.

Ciao, 20s

I'm really glad I decided to stop drinking before the Female Impersonator's show, if I hadn't it probably would have made the next morning really rough. As it was, I was still tired and ready for our trip home. We decided to pack up and get on the road early enough so that Bre and Karen could make it to Tucson before it was dark. I sneaked off when we were waiting for the valet and made my own bet on the Cardinals to win. It was because of my bet that we realized that Caitlin's ticket had the wrong team. Cait and I sprinted back to the sports betting area to get her ticket corrected. They fixed it without any problem which was a relief. I'm glad we found out that she had the wrong ticket before it was too late. After that little delay, we made it on the road and said goodbye to Vegas, and I said goodbye to being twenty. Thanks Aunt Karen, Mom, Caitlin and Bre for sharing these events with me!