South American Tour: Rio de Janiero, Brazil

Friday, February 26, 1965 Rio de Janiero, Brazil

We arose at 6:30 AM as the ship was coming into Rio harbor. There were about 40 ships in this Bay of Guanabara waiting for dock space and our ship joined them. Rio is a city of 3,300,000 people it covers an area of 431 square miles and is built on and around 365 mountain peaks with many bays and lagoons. The Santos & union airport for domestic flights is in the down town section and ocean going ships are docked off-port of the main street of the area. 

A word about their money. In "Pan-Am's World Guided," revised in 1961-2 it lists the cruzeiros as 190 to 1 dollar US. In the South American handbook it states that the value had dropped to 920 to 1 dollar US as of 8/14/1963. We exchanged U.S. dollars for 1810 to 1850 while we were there. What a shook to own a home or have money in the bank and watch nearly 90% disappear in less than five years. 

On a tour we visited the Copacabana Beach, the celebrated bathing place, Hunchback Mountain (Corcovado), their one we drove to the top 2330 feet above sea level, the highest of Rio's 365 peaks and on top is a 120 foot statue of Christ the Redeemer. It was a great spot for taking pictures. Twice we tried to take the cable car to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) but there was a delay of 2 to 3 hours because so many others had same idea.

We made reservations for four at the Copacabana Palace Hotel for dinner at 10 PM and nite show at 12:30. Cover charge 80,000 cruzeiros (about $43.00) for four. At 5 PM we decided to go back to ship to rest and freshen up for our nite on the town. The ship still anchored in Bay so we hired a water taxi for 8,000 cruzeiros. We could have waited until 630 PM and returned in agent's boat for free but we were too exhausted. In fact, we were so warn out that we passed up returning to Copacabana. When we thought of fighting the language barrier for food, water taxi and land taxi, especially at 2 AM we just didn't feel up to it. Coffee from Rio was loaded on the ship from lighters starting at 8 PM. I don't know when they finished their job.

Saturday February 27, 1965 Nite-Roi, Brazil

Sugarloaf

At 6 AM the ship pulled anchor and crossed to other side of bay to dock at the town of Nite-Roi, Capital of the State of Rio de Janiero where more coffee was taken aboard. We rose at 7 grabbed a cup of coffee, went ashore took a taxi to ferry to Rio. There were about 3,000 on their ferry and they run every 15 minutes. It takes about 10 minutes to cross the Bay. Then we took taxi to Sugarloaf to take cable car to top. There was a delay of 1.5 hours but we decided to wait. The trip is made in two stages starting from bahilonia Hill in Praia Vermelha (Red Beaches) to first stop at area 770 feet high. Then we walked across the top and entered a building where we waited forty-five minutes to take another cable car. Finally, our turn came and we went aboard with 20 other passengers. The car travels 2688 feet across land and water haging all of the distance from the cable with no ground support except at each end. At the top of Sugarloaf we are 1300 feet above the Bay from where the mountain rises. At each stop going up and coming down there was a delay to do so many families coming to Rio for the annual carnival which starts today. At noon and lasts until midnight Tuesday - actually each year until the beginning of Ash Wednesday. It was quite a day very humib and very hot in the direct sunlight. Distant scenes will not by too good in the pictures. I took because of the heavy haze. 

Before we left we were noted that ship would sail at three, so we were concerned about connections we would have to make getting out of Rio and the inevitable delays. There's a real language barrier in Portuguese speaking Brazil and it worsens when one is in a hurry, because with these people as with the Spanish it's always "Manana." The connections clicked and we were back on ship at 2 PM. Nevertheless, it had taken us 6.5 hours to make the round trip. The ship left the dock at 4:15 PM and sailed out of Guanabara Bay into the Atlantic at 5:10 heading for and due in Salvador (Bahia) Brazil) 748 miles Northeast, Monday Night.

South American Tour: Paranagua, Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Santos Brazil

Sunday, February 21, 1965 - Paranagua Brazil

Early Sunday morning we arrived in Paranagua, Brazil lying on a lagoon like harbor. The port is 18 miles from the open sea and is approached via the bay of Paranagua. It is a town of 18,500 and not too well known but it is the main seaport for paraguay which does not have one of it's own. At 1 PM we took the train for Curitiba, a city of 360,000 inhabitants and 3,000 feet above sea level. The trip took eight hours. It was a beautiful day. The train windows were wide open. The railroad is built mostly over bridges and considered a major engineering feat. We took Taxi to Hotel Lord where the ship's agent at Paranagua had phoned for reservations

Monday, February 22, 1965 - Curitiba, Brazil

In the morning we toured the town by taxi. It is the capital of the state of Parana which determines its economic prosperity from expensive coffee plantations in the North and East, timber forests in the southwest. At 12:30 PM we took the bus for Sao Paulo which is 250 miles away, all of it over mountain highways. We arrived at 8:30 PM.

Tuesday, February 23, 1965 - Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sao Paulo is the fastest growing city in the world - a house is built every 8 minutes and the largest metropolitan in South America - 3,850,000 population. Here there are 8000 restaurants and 184 movie houses. The city occupies 627 square miles of a high plateau, 1,675 feet above sea level which gives it a pleasant temperate climate. We stayed at the Excelsior Hotel - excellent accommodations. We took several tours and still did not get to see it all. Our Portuguese being nil, we had our language barriers all over again. We did have a car driver who could speak good English.

Wednesday, February 24, 1965 - Santos, Brazil

Packed, had breakfast, taxied to bus station to take bus to Santos where we could rejoin ship expected to leave at 10:30 AM, but bus was sold out so we waited for the 11:30 one, which left at 11:45.

The distance is only 40 miles and over good roads. The highways are usually much better than city streets. The highways are not wide but are paved an city streets are cobblestones. Try that in a 1940 taxi.

As we entered the city the bus was caught in a terrific traffic jam, caused by two trucks colliding, one turning over on a Volkswagen and spilling its load of heavy cases all over the street.

Finally, got into town and the bus driver put us off quite close to our dock. We didn't know that, but a five minute taxi convinced us.

Thursday, February 25, 1965 - Santos, Brazil

Santos is the leading coffee port of the world and is the gateway for Sao Paulo. It handles 24.4% of all Brazilian shipping traffic. Santos has a population of 300,000. The business area is somewhat decrepit, but the residential part is a real surprise with a large number of apartments facing a beach at least 20 miles long. After a tour we returned to ship and sailed at 5 PM for Rio.

South American Tour to Parangua Brazil

Thursday February 18th 1965 Buenos Aries, Argentine - Paranagua, Brazil

Sailing day, after 13 days in Buenos Aries a few comments before we leave. At night cars and busses drive without lights. Only at the very busiest intersections are there traffic signals. When cars and busses approach the blacked out intersection of which there are hundreds, the driver flashes his headlights on several times and gives the car the gas. Its amazing how many near misses and few direct hits. No parking meters. Tile sidewalks, but full of holes. Government Offices and banks are open on five day week. Banks are open 12 noon to 330 PM -- and are they busy! It takes 20 minutes to make a deposit after one reaches the teller's window. Daylight saving is in effect the year around. There were 268 labor strikes in 365 days.

We arose at 8 AM. Millie took off after breakfast to do some last minute shopping. I checked at hotel desk to learn how much the bill would be and then walked about six blocks to my favorite Dambio (money changer). I bought one hundred U.S. dollars of Argentine Pesos. The exchange  was 232 to $1.00, it was 210 when we arrived two weeks ago. The official rate is 152 to $1.00 U.S. We had an early lunch at hotel, brought our baggage down and then said, "Goodbyes." to the many friends and hotel employees. There are 8 passengers staging at the Dora. We enjoyed our stay immensely and the price for double room with twin beds and private bath including takes is less than $6 per day. The agent's cars and trucks picked us up at 1:30 PM and brought us to the ship. We did not have to go thru customs. The baggage was delivered right in our cabin. We had paid for this $400 - in our ticket purchase. It also includes radio gram between ship and agent to make reservations for rooms at hotel of our choice in time to secure them. We have a new couple on board who are replacing the Mortins. They are British subjects who have lived in Argentine for most of their lives. The ship sailed at 6 PM.

Friday February 19, 1965 Enroute to Parangua Brazil

Today we returned to our ship routine of sleeping, eating talking. The temperature of the sea is 75° and the air 73°. At noon the ship was placed at 34° 58" Latitude and 53°50" West Longitude.

Saturday February 20, 1965 Enroute to Parangua Brazil

The afternoon was spent by the Finnertys and Saegarts in preparing to host the passengers, Captain and chief Return Voyage Champagne Party. It started at 5 with champagne and hors d'oeuvres, white and red wine for dinner and liqueurs after dinner.

South American Tour: Buenos Aires

I have located the section section of the written by Ernest during a trip around South America. He was accompanied by his wife Mildred The last entry of the previous book and post was February 9, 1965. The second section picks up on February 10, 1965 in Buenos Aires.

Wednesday, February 10, 1965 Buenos Aires

Mapa!

Shopping continues as if it were going out of style. I took a solo walk on avenida Santa Fe which runs north just one block from the hotel. Continued on into Callas tunnel left and came to Nueve de Julio (9th of July) which is said to be the widest street in the world and I guess it is. It has two 100 feet wide malls on it besides, three separate highways, and wide sidewalks in front of the buildings with tables and chairs at cafes for outdoor eating and drinking. I returned to hotel via Charcas. We went with two other couples for dinner at 9 to a very famous steak house. It was very informal, all the men removed their coats. The steaks were large, juicy, thick and tender. Four had wine. Millie and I had a bottle of water. Water is never served at the table in S.A It needs to be ordered "con gas" (carbonated) or "sin gas". It usuallly costs more than a bottle of wine.

Thursday, February 11, 1965 Buenos Aires

Map on Reverse Side

In A.M. Millie shopped. I slept to noon we learned the rules had been changed and we had to have Brazilian Visas, so we went to the Consul's Office which is only a block from the Dora Hotel. It did not open until 2 P.M. and by that time there were more than 100 waiting to get in. We filled out the printed (in Portuguese) form and then learned we needed 3 pictures each. They were on the ship and we couldn't go into our cabin as it is sealed by customs. So we had our pictures taken again in passport form. The visas were to be picked up at 4 P.M. tomorrow. We went to El Mundo (the World) for dinner. There were 7 of us. All had 1.5" steaks, no plain water, only carbonated. The others had wine. Mille and I don't care for it so we buy water, its more expensive than wine.

Friday, February 12, 1965 Buenos Aires

Lincoln's Birthday but not mentioned in local papers. Weather good, very warm during mid day. BA is between 34 degrees & 35 degrees south latitude approximately the same as Los Angeles, Clovis, New Mexico, and Hot Springs Arkansas which are the same degrees north latitude. Shopping spree continues.

Saturday, February 13, 1965 Buenos Aires

Slept late, had lunch and took the Tigre River tour. A bus picked us up at hotel and drove us thru the suburbs to the town of tigre, 20 miles from B.A. Here we boarded a 60 foot launch which carries about 60 passengers. It was a very unique trip. Meandering amidst the rivers and steams lined with gathering, rowing and other clubs. It was quite peaceful. There were hundreds of summer homes along the banks, each with their private dock and boat. Water taxes are available for the residents and also carry mail and supplies. There are dozens of callegrate type racing shells, made of mahogany with one to eight seats for rowing and one for coxswain on all the streams. The water is coffee color but that doesn't deter the simmers. We are told that the water clears up slightly, but still remains coffee color.

Sunday, February 14, 1965 Buenos Aires

Valentine's Day not recognized in So America. Another tour today, this time in Pinar Azul, an old ranch which has been fixed up and used as a show place of Argentine ranch life of the past. Beer, wine and soft drinks were served an appetizers and then a four course luncheon of barbecued beef and lamb. There were four bussed and eight taxies which brought people to the fiesta. While watching a Gaucho dance I found Bob Joyce standing beside me. He retired from Denver Public Service in 1/1/1965 and was our Director of Employment. He is on a plane tour of S.A. with Mrs. Joyce.

50 Pesos Argentine worth approx 24 U.S. cents. We bought the pesos a 210/232. On 7/3/1963 the rate was 132.50 to $1 - US. 

Monday, February 15, 1965 Buenos Aires

We went to ship agent's office to record our newly acquired visas for Brazil. They, the Brazilian officials are apparently very fussy about the whereabouts of foreigners. In Brazil if we decide to leave the ship to take a side trip which requires being overnight - then we better be away. Such a move is duly recorded at the agent's office and reported to the police and we can't come back until the date stated in manifest. Another oddity no meat served on Mondays & Tuesdays in restaurants in Argentina. This is to save if for export. 

We taxed around town to take pictures. Camera jammed so we came back to hotel. It was too hot anyway - no air-conditioned taxis in SA. The camera wasn't jammed. I had come to the end of a 20 exposure roll and I thought I was using a 36 exposure. While we were out we walked along 9 de Julio (Widest Street) for Millie was interested in the shop windows.

Tuesday, February, 16 1965 Buenos Aires

Walked over to Harrod's Department Store - two blocks from hotel to get a hair cut. It had one of the largest barbershops I have ever been in. Sixteen chairs and room for twice that many. Wall of room and pillars are white marble. Cost of hair cut - 120 pesos- very high for BA = 54 U.S. cents.

Wednesday, February 17, 1965 Buenos Aires 

Our departure from B.A, has been changed from 3 P.M. to 1:30 P.M. tomorrow. We have decided to leave ship at Paragagua (pronounced: Para-na-gwahi) our next stop, 780 miles North in Brazil and take a taxi to Curitiba, stay overnight and then take a bus to Sao Paulo, stay two nights and then bus to Santos to rejoin ship. All of this was carefully recorded by Purser on 17 copies more or less (Spanish equivalent for "Damned, if I know" ) turned over to Captain who passed it to Bergen, Norway (ships homeport) for distrubution. The Finnertys, Nelson's and Dorothy Willson were making similar jaunts but not identical so we gave those concerned quite a work out. The agent who apparently summarized all the trips told us it took him and secretary three hours to fill out the manifest for the Spanish cruise.

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!

Dirty Thirty Vacation Las Vegas, Nevada

May 29, 2015

The next morning we woke up to sound of furniture being dragged across the floor above us. Which was strange because the only floor above ours was the penthouse. We tried to sleep for the next hour or so, but it wasn't happening. So we started to get ready for the day. We could take our time because it was pretty early.

While getting ready we ate our breakfast, which consisted of yogurt and kind bars from the cooler. I brought breakfast over to aunt Karen and Bre, but I forgot to see if the tanner worked.

It was my official birthday!!! So, I opened the presents, an awesome shirt from my sister and a tennis bracelet from my g'ma!

After we were all ready we decided to walk down to New York, New York to ride the roller coaster. We also wanted to get Starbucks because it was my birthday and I wanted to get a free drink.

There was one next to our hotel which isn't that surprising as there are many on the strip. Inside it was a little crowded but the line went fast. All the baristas were dressed up as Disney characters though some had better costumes than others. Anyway, I found out after I ordered that the Starbucks doesn't do free birthday drinks!!! Only one on the strip does! I was so sad. But I ordered my coffee anyway and found out that the price was double what it normally is. That's just peaches. We stayed at the Starbucks so 'Nana, a nickname for Bre, could eat a bagel.

Then we went out to the strip and started towards New York, New York. We stopped in at Paris on the way because I thought other people wanted to shop but other people were their because they thought I wanted to shop! So we walked around that place for no reason until we realized the error and went back to the strip. We then walked all the way to New York, New York. Occasionally, we were stopped by promoters and once Melissa had some eye cream demo done on her. However, we eventually made it to New York and made it through the Hersey factory, past Coyote Ugly and up to the roller coaster.

Melissa decided not to go so we brought a four pass and got on. It was so cool. I loved being pulled up to the top and looking all around the strip. I could see MGM's lion, Excalibur's castle and the Grand Canyon...well a sign that read Grand Canyon. Then the coast dropped us! The initial drop gets me every time but then I like it. The coaster was a little jerky and not as smooth as some of the newer coasters, but I got to coaster around the Statue of Liberty...the fake one not the real one. I enjoyed it over all. We got two free pictures from our ride. Caitlin looks like our mom in hers.

While waiting Melissa sat down in a photo booth to hide. When I went to look at her to get our receipt for the photos I couldn't find her. So I sent Bre out and she found her right away. They are the same person!

After finding Melissa and getting the photos we went back to the Hersey store and looked around. There were free samples and Bre got a present for Paul, a custom wrapped Hersey Bar. Super cute!

Then we went back down to Diablo's Cantina for lunch. We tried to eat inside but it was loud inside so we decided to eat outside which was interesting because we had to order at the bar. So Cait, Bre and I got to relive our waitress days. We first got two pitchers of margaritas that were delicious and chips with salsa and guacamole. For lunch I ordered the taco with soft corn shells they were so good, Caitlin, Karen and Melissa split two orders of fish tacos that looked great. During lunch the song Shook Me All Night Long played and we sang it at each other. Also, Melissa told Caitlin to do a cartwheel on the sidewalk which she did without question.

Lunch

After lunch we went back towards Planet Hollywood so that we could finally do some shopping, but we were distracted by the craps table! I was a terrible roller, but only put a few rounds on the pass line. Caitlin and Melissa were the only ones that did all that well, but we did get free drinks. During the game two guys came up to play and we thought they were friends, so we asked the one closer to us what the other guy's name was and he said Jason, that wasn't his name, but Melissa and Bre kept calling him that, which we decided was lucky because when we finally learned his real name he rolled a 7! During the game, one of the dealers thought that Caitlin and Jason were a couple, so for a while they played like they were. Caitlin kept telling Jason to roll her number and they'd get married, and we all took turns fluffing Jason's aura to add to his luck. It was pretty fun, but by the time we had to go Caitlin was down, but not by much and my mom was up, but not by much. We would have stayed longer but we needed to get back because we had to get ready to go to One, the cirque show that is at Mandalay Bay featuring all Michael Jackson songs.

We went back to the hotel and took time getting ready for the show. I thought we all looked really nice. We decided to take a cab over so as not to be late, but walk back later. When we were waiting for a taxi cab Bre realized her shoes weren't that comfortable, but she decided to stick with them, which turned out to be a bad decision. In the cab, Caitlin and Bre started to sing along with the radio, but in our family singing is not music to ones ears, so I'm sure that the cab driver was glad to get rid of us. We arrived about twenty minutes before the show and took our seats, then took turns going back to get drinks from the water fountain, eventually Caitlin bought a bottle for everyone to share.

ONE!

One was like many cirque shows where people dance, acrobat and tumble to a story that is amazing and partially unbelievable. The show was designed like the others and it was very good, but I have to admit that it was not my favorite cirque show. There was more dancing than acrobatics and the dancing wasn't as good as the other shows. I still enjoyed the show, but if you haven't seen Ka, Love or "O" then I would recommend seeing one of those before seeing One. I did like watching the lighting effects paired with the music and sounds, I thought they did a really good job with that.

After the show was over, we decided to go back to New York, New York using the monorail to go to Coyote Ugly or the Nine Irishmen. On our way to New York, New York, Bre decided her shoes hurt too much and she ended up buying sandals to wear the rest of the night. She left her other shoes behind, what a bummer! However, it turned out to be a good thing because we ended up walking the rest of the way back to our hotel, and it would have been way too painful to do so in the shoes she was wearing.

Martini

We tried to go to Coyote Ugly first, but the bouncer was a huge dick! We had a card from the manager at Gordon Ramsey's and he had told us that we could use it to get into Coyote Ugly and get a free drink. It didn't work, but instead of being cool about it not working, the bouncer was a jerk about it. He was so rude we decided not to go inside! So we went downstairs to Nine Irishmen. There was a live band playing music, they played Drunken' Lullaby's and Rattlin Bog which I really love! Also there were Irish dancers both performing at the bar and also some patrons that just knew the dances and were dancing near their table. We sat outside again which was cool because we could see all of the lights. Caitlin and I ordered martini's and everyone else got Dublin Ice Teas.

When we were finished with our drinks we moved on and were crossing the Brooklyn Bridge where we were stop by a bunch of people doing the Cupid's Shuffle, which we were forced to do in order to cross the bridge. Melissa and Karen made it across in one dance, but Caitlin, Bre, and I had to also dance to the wobble in order to cross. There were a bunch of other people on the bridge trying to cross and having to dance too, but so many of them were stuck dancing, and dancing. They were probably stuck there all night.

Double Barrel Bathroom Adventure!

Then we went across the street, to the Monte Carlo and stopped at the Double Barrel. There we got shots. We had coupons from the girls outside so we ended up getting six shots. Someone had the bright idea of drinking Jameson's shots which tasted about as good as firewhiskey, I mean like battery acid. It was so gross and after the first shot, Melissa divvied up the last shot in our shot glasses so we all had a bit more to take. Then, Bre, Caitlin, Karen and Melissa spent a weird amount of time in the bathroom. The bathroom had the stalls in a separate room and the sink and mirror were outside so that the guys and girls could share it, but the entire time they were crowding the mirror, the guys were not washing their hands! I was outside the Double Barrel waiting for everyone to finish with the bathroom.

After that we continued our journey down the strip, back to the hotel. There was an interesting encounter in the Cosmo with a bachelor party. There was about nine guys all in various stages of being inebriated. The bachelor wasn't the most drunk, but he was a close second, also one of the guys had a camera and was filming, he was the least drunk. Anyway, the bachelor was wearing a shirt with a list of things to do while he was still a bachelor, like a scavenger hunt. They asked if we would sign the shirt with a little note of advice. I wrote, Stay Single. And a few of the guys pointed out that someone had written that the bachelor had a small dick, so Bre wrote a note saying that it was large.

While we were signing the shirt, the guys were trying to get us to do some of the tasks listed on the shirt, only most of the easy things like give a kiss on the cheek, were already checked off, some were checked off more than once! So there were only hard things like, get a girl to flash you, or get a girl's thong. Hearing this Melissa said, Caitlin will do it she will flash you. Which got the entire bachelor party laughing. Caitlin quickly denied that and explained to Melissa what exactly flashing was. In the end, Caitlin gave the bachelor a basic twerk lesson, and we got away.

PBR Rock Bar and Grill

After that we went across the street to the PBR Rock Bar and Grill. We were able to get in without a cover charge, Caitlin and Bre ordered drinks and we went back towards the beer pong tables. In the bar the music was playing loud and so we were dancing, singing and drinking, also taking pictures. It was so much fun.

Then we continued on our way, Bre and I were ahead, and we almost made it all the way back, but then we saw a bunch of guys dressed as Superman, at Margaritiaville, so we had to ask them why. They said they just did it because, but Bre and I decided it was because then girls ask them why! They were from Australia and really nice. We asked them what was the weirdest thing in the United States and they said that tipping is pretty weird, and also sales tax. I guess they are used to the price listed being the true price of what they are buying.

When we got back to the room, Caitlin, Karen and Melissa were already there and they were eating cheese, nut thins and salami. So we joined them and I think we ate all of the cheese and salami, but only one box of nut thins. Afterwards everyone went to bed!

Dirty Thirty Vegas Vacation

How it began. For my thirtieth birthday celebration, my sweet sister, Caitlin, orchestrated a birthday trip to Vegas from May 28-31 2015. The party-goers include Melissa, (my mom) Aunt Karen, and Briana (Bre). We decided to stay at The Linq a hotel on the strip, see One, a cirque du soleil show and have a pool day, but like any great Vegas vacation, so much more happened.

Thursday, May 28, 2015 Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada:

The previous evening, Aunt Karen and Bre traveled up from Tucson, in Uncle Jim's new truck, and stayed with Melissa. I also spent the night so that we could have an early start in the morning. The plan was to be on the road by 8:30, but we left closer to 9. Aunt Karen and Bre followed Melissa and me to Caitlin and Dave's house which was down the freeway a bit and on the way to Las Vegas. After giving Aunt Karen and Bre a tour of the house, and leaving my car there we piled in Uncle Jim's truck and started on our adventure.

Joshua Trees, from the Public Domain

Aunt Karen drove. We had to take the 101 all the way up through Sun City and it seemed to take forever to get out of the Phoenix area, but eventually we made it. The hills in that area of Arizona are pretty cool to see especially when we reached the area with the Joshua trees. If you don't know what a Joshua tree is they kind of look like a tree from a Dr. Seuss book with funny little tuffs of leafs. They grow in the Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States. There were a lot of them in between Wickenberg and Kingman. 

When we got to Wickenberg we stopped at McDonalds, for a bathroom break, and Caitlin saved a little elderly lady from the giant curb! She also walked her to the door. Go Caitlin! At McDonalds, we also took apples from the cooler in the back of the truck and snacked on those, since none of us had breakfast. Then, we were off. We traveled through up 93 through Nothing and Wikieup, Arizona on our way to Kingman. 

In Kingman, we decided to stop for lunch at the In-N-Out, because they serve their burgers protein style which means that Caitlin and Aunt Karen can eat them. The wait was long when we got there, but it was longer by the time our meal was ready because 13 bikers from Sweden, on a tour of the Southwest, United States, decided to stop to eat there as well. They had just spent two days in Las Vegas and were on their way to the Grand Canyon and from there Scottsdale, Arizona. They were really nice guys!

From Kingman, it barely took any time to get to Las Vegas, recently a bridge was built over the Hoover Dam so instead of spending time driving down to cross over the dam we were able to travel over it in minutes. You can see a little of the dam from the bridge, but it's easy to miss. We were still able to see Lake Mead after going over the bridge.

Bernadette, Bre and Caitlin

We made it to the hotel with out much of a problem though there was a moment where we weren't exactly sure where the valet was. We were able to check in online before we arrived so it was a matter of getting the keys to our rooms and then we were up in our rooms. At first we agreed to head down after making sure out bags got into our rooms, but by the time we left everyone had changed outfits, and were looking cuter for it.

Bre had never been to Vegas before, so we decided to walk down the strip a bit so that she could get a look, and then try to see the water show at the Bellagio. The Linq is across the street from Ceaser's Palace, and we stayed on our side of the strip as we walked down past the Cromwell and Planet Hollywood. There were plenty of people out on the street, though it was too early for the strip to be lit up. We stopped to talk to a promoter about going to a pool party at Drai's later that weekend. We crossed the pedestrian bridge near the Bellagio and found a good spot to watch. The water show was set to "Your Song," by Elton John and it is always cool to see the water shows on the strip.

After the show was over we went into Cesar's Palace in hopes of finding a place to eat. Inside, Aunt Karen told me that the ceiling changes from a dawn sky to dusk sky over an hour. I had seen that before, though I hadn't realized that is what happened, so it was interesting to see this time. We also got to see a replica of The David! He was almost as cool as the real one, and you can take pictures of him!

We finally settled on, Gordon Ramsey's Pub and Grill for dinner, I am not sure how this was decided, but I think it was because it had a gluten-free menu, but also because we were really hungry by then. I ordered a Shepard's Pie which was really good and a Stella beer. Bre ordered me a dessert because it was my birthday! It was so good, but it wasn't gluten-free so Caitlin and Aunt Karen couldn't eat it. More for the rest of us. The manager came out while we were eating dessert and told us to visit Nine Irishmen later that week and gave us a card. He also got me a shot of tequila for my birthday. It was delicious.

After dinner, we walked around the shops at the Cesar's Palace, Bre wanted to try to get the self tanner that my sister had used the night before, so we found a Sephora, and Angela helped us. She said the self tanner Caitlin used was good, but was supposed to be left on over night and turned your skin a little green, but another kind dried faster. She said that if Bre didn't like it we could find her the next day and return it for the other. We never returned! I also got free lipsticks because it is my birthday! Bre also got free lipstick. If you are in Sephora in Cesar's Palace ask for Angela, she was great!

When we were finished with our purchases we decided to go back to The Linq. It dark then and we could see the lights, but we only had to go across the street to get back to our hotel so we didn't see much of it. Bre and Aunt Karen decided to go up to bed, they both said they were tired, but I think Bre wanted to try on her new tanner.

Melissa wanted to play blackjack, Caitlin and I kibitzed. Well, we started too, Caitlin sat down with Melissa at a losing table and when Melissa decided to move tables she stayed there and talked to the dealer about craps. I went with Melissa to kibitz some more. She found a better table and was winning her money back. I stayed around for a while, but some of the younger guys at the table were making some blackjack moves that was worrisome, so I went back to the first table to talk with Caitlin and the dealer until Melissa was finished. She ended up pushing for the night and we decided to go to bed.