8th to 11th hour stuff

Meet at the BBQ place. It's basically an all meat menu and even the beans have meat product in it so I settle for sipping on a soda pop. Half of the plasma screens in the restaurant are highlighting the 300 foot motorcycle jump attempt (spoiler: he makes it) which is actually happening right oustide of the Rio visible from the rooms of the people at the table.

We hang out at the bar for a while Ken works his clout to get me included in his party up at VooDoo lounge up on the 51st story at the top of the Rio tower overlooking the Strip.

Mission accomplished by Ken and we are all escorted by the concierge type people assigned to keeping Ken a satisfied Rio customer. We get our wristbands and are shown the way to the guest elevators which whisk us up to the top floor in no time. The table is on the perimeter of the lounge's deck. A bit brisk to be sure and most of the party retreats to the warmer confines of the indoor lounge area but by a quarter til midnight the deck steadily fills with onlookers who are treated to a bird's eye view of the strip fireworks. It's not often that you look *down* onto a fireworks display which by the way were being shot off from the top of buildings which aren't so short themselves.

After the fireworks it's time to head back inside and hangout with the other revelers and get sauced. I save myself the drunken stupor back to my hotel and just crash at John's place while he terrorizes the blackjack tables.