Monday, December 31, 2007

Storm brewing

After a brief rest in the room, I headed over to the Rio to meet up with some poker friends who were down here for new years. When I was crossing the pedestrian overpass I saw the strangest sight I've ever seen on the strip...no traffic. And I don't mean very little congestion either. I'm talking zero cars. Starting at 5 pm, the police shut down the entire strip for as far as I could see. It was just like the movie "I am Legend" ...except for the fact that there were still people around and all the strip was still lit up completely...but other than that...exactly like the movie.

I also noticed that there must have been a New Years moratorium on the card flicking peddlers on the strip. There were guys selling shirts and glow sticks but no leaflets.

By the time that I was passing through they were already staging the strip for the fireworks show. The police were moving miles of metal barricades to expand the walking area to take over the outer two lanes of the roadway while the inner lanes were being reserved for emergency vehicles. They also had ambulances parked in each partition of the strip to whisk off anyone who got a little too exhuberant. I did not encounter one car on the way to the Rio and that includes taking Flamingo road over the highway. Anyone who tells you that shutting down the strip would paralyze the city is mistaken. Taking a cab would be doable though slower and more expensive going around the long way.

And as if that weren't enough, they also shut down access to the casinos. In an about face maneuver the casinos actually prepping to turn people away. I tried to cut through the Bellagio to take the sky bridge over the street but they had shut that down. On my way out they had signs posted on the makeshift fencing that hotel guests should be prepared to show their room key to get back in. The rumor is that they even shut the doors and don't allow any ingress or egress during the period right before to right after midnight to avoid any New Years shenanigans. And presumably as a precaution to revelers being ground up in the machinery, all escalators were shut down as well.

The stroke of midnight was still a few hours off by the time I was passing through but all of the preparations were clearly indicating something major coming up. Perhaps it is the logistics of shutting down the strip which explains the absence of a July 4th fireworks show.

New Year's Eve plans

Texting John and Ken from Sea-Tac. "I'm on my way down to Las Vegas. Where are you guys going to be tonight?" We agree to meet up at the Rio around dinner time. I update John as I land and get settled into my room. The plan ends up being to meet at Rub's a BBQ place at the Rio.

New Year's Tour

Hello avid readers of the blog (both of you).

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am back on tour this week. I
just landed and got my room at the oh so luxurious Tropicana. OK so
it's not so great but it is a room and the price was right for a room
on the strip for New Year's eve.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Las Vegas on short notice

So at poker on the 26th John kinda mentions off the cuff that he was going to be down in Las Vegas with Ken and company. He said that he had a cheap room at the Rio that I could split with him. I'm of course not opposed to going to LV in general but I usually plan more than just a week in advance. I kinda blow off the idea but check airfare the following day and it's a respectable $315 round trip. Doable. Plus Marsh/Rosa and Jason/MB were going to be down there starting on the first so I text John and ask him if his offer is still good but I didn't see any response so the idea was withering up.

Went about my business for the next day or two then checked back on Saturday and the same roundtrip tickets were now $415. Zoiks! That's the travel industry for you! So the trip moved from the "sure why not" bucket into the "meh prolly not" bucket. But since I know how wacked out the travel biz is I went ahead and checked out Expedia (dot cooooommmmmm) and found that I could do Mon-Fri with airfare at the Tropicana which is OK for a room and the location would be central to Marsh/Rosa in the Luxor and Jason/MB at the MGM. A rate of $600 for air and room is totally reasonable considering that I'm booking two days before leaving. Then as I'm checking out the web page asks me if I want to apply my $100 e-coupon...ummmmm...helloooo?...ya, that would be a good idea. So five days four nights and air for five bills. I knew rooms were cheap starting the first but wasn't expecting to be able to get a room on the strip on New Year's Eve for a song. I type in my 16 digit account siphon and I'm booked. Las Vegas, here I come!