Truth Time: Vegas wasn’t the best. PART ONE

So I’ve been putting off writing up my trip report because a few different factors.

The biggest is: we didn’t have a great time.

We weren’t sure what we were getting into, going to Vegas in the middle of a pandemic, but we knew that we wanted to renew our vows in Vegas in the year that would have been our 20th year anniversary, so we just went for it.

We booked a executive suite at Harrah’s.  We had never stayed there before and we knew that we would want a large room, since we would be hanging out in it a lot of the time.  We are both still scared of COVID and so our goal for Vegas was to renew our vows, meet up with a couple ppl and then mostly hang out in the room.  The room we booked was a two room suite that promised enough room between us while being stuck together for an entire week.  That is important.  😀

We packed up and hit the road Saturday morning (10/3/20).  We made good time but the traffic was heavier that we expected.  We arrived in Vegas around five PM if I remember right.

This is where the first monkey wrench found its way into our plans.  So we parked in the parking garage and made our way down to the check in desk.  For whatever reason, Harrah’s has a floor that is one floor above the check in desk and that is where the parking garage elevator spits out.

At this point we are both toting two suitcases each and a backpack.  We spy an escalator but not much else.  There are elevator places but they seem to be reserved for the hotel rooms.

So here’s the thing…I’m afraid of heights. Like SUPER afraid of heights. Looking up at a tall building while on the ground scares me.

Stairs without a railing are just NOT an option and escalators…well, they are the bane of my existence. I have to hold on to both railings and if we are going down I have to have Rob in front of me in case I fall. It had never happened but my worst nightmare was not getting my foot flat on the step and getting that one rising step push me off balance.

I think you know where this is going.

I was tired and I thought for whatever reason in my stupid little head that I would be able to handle this escalator with a suitcase in each hand and not being able to hold the railings. I made Rob go in front and attempted to get on the stupid stairs. Basically my worst nightmare came true. I wobbled as the stair expanded below my foot and down I went.

I can’t even describe it to you right now because it was pure panic. I felt myself hit the stairs on my left hip and all I could do was hold a death grip on the luggage and blink stupidly as I laid there.

Rob was telling me to let go of the first suitcase so he could help me up and I couldn’t comprehend. A wonderful older man saw me fall and ran down behind me on the escalator grabbing the other suitcase and telling me to let go. It felt like it spanned about a half an hour but eventually I let go of both suitcases and pulled myself up just as we were nearing the end of it.

I don’t really want to go into more detail as this was a horrific experience, but basically we thanked the man behind me and I sat down for a minute to get my bearings.

Eventually we found the check in and my Total Rewards credit card (the one we use to get reward points for all Caesar’s properties) was declined. We tried Robs and that was denied. Finally we put the charge on a debit card and the front desk lady told me that she wouldn’t charge me a deposit fee since we were Diamond. I said no worries because we weren’t going to charge anything to the room.

Up to the room we disinfected the hell out of it and got unpacked. We were still shaken by my most stupid of falls and just sort of putted around.

Eventually I took a shower to kind of wash off the day and started icing my hip. My legs were pretty torn up by the escalator stairs but they didn’t hurt and there was not blood. My hip was swollen and sore, but I hoped that was the worst of it.

Rob went downstairs to see about getting more stuff out of the car and when he came back up he said that the mask wearing that night appeared to be at a minimum and we should stay up here in the room.

Fine by me.

We were both wondering if the trip was already ruined before it got started.

DAY TWO:

Sunday was super chill. We woke up and snacked on the food we brought with us, played with our Lego kit and watched TV. Doesn’t sound like much but it was a little bit of heaven to not be able to sleep in and just hang out with my husband.

I was super sore this day but I knew that I would be. The worst was getting out of bed in the morning. It got really stiff over night and every step hurt on the way to the bathroom. After, it was sore when I got up from sitting but the first couple of steps it felt better. I was just hoping it would get better fast, or I might not be able to wear the cute chunky heels I wanted to for the renewal the next day. Oh well.

Game plan for the rest of the day was to go get our renewal duds out of the car and get something to eat.

Either way, I wanted to be in bed really early as we had to be at the Las Vegas sign by 6:30 the next morning. Ug…thankfully this is the only part of this trip where we have to get up early.

I applied some horrible fake nails that would prove to be a horrible idea, but look really good in our wedding pics.

Later in the afternoon I took a bath in the wonderful tub and then we headed down for food. Just some pizza slices from the food court but we didn’t need a lot.

We went to bed early.

DAY THREE:

Monday we woke up super crazy early as we were supposed to renew our vows at the Las Vegas Sign at sunrise.

So the alarm went off at four that morning and I was up by 4:30. Wasn’t feeling great but not horrible either. My hip felt VERY MUCH improved from the previous day. Still hurt like heck to the touch but walking was no longer an issue and that has been by biggest worry.

Got up, showered and applied make up. I am NOT a girly girl and since I haven’t had to apply make up for the last seven months, it was iffy at best.  I wanted to wear false eyelashes but I neglected to think of that detail when I put on the gigantic claws on my fingertips the previous night. I tried and I tried and each time I looked like small spider was crawling across my eyelid so I said Eff It and did eyeliner and mascara instead. I was super pissed when I found out I didn’t pack my eyelash curler and would have to suffer with subpar lashes even further. For not being a girly girl I was damn sure high maintenance.

I had a little panic attack after Rob zipped me into my dress but he reminded me that this was supposed to fun…and just for us and no one else so I sucked it up and off we went.

We got there super early and so we hung out in the car for a bit.

We eventually saw our Elvis and some of guests starting to arrive so Rob ventured over. I was still in a bit of an anxious state so I stayed in the car.

Finally around 6:40, I looked up and saw our buddy from the Vegas newsgroup Mike over talking to The Hubs and other guests so I strapped on my mask and headed over. Mike had met us several years ago at a slot pull and then just last year at a meet up and I absolutely adore him. He is one of the most genuine people I have ever met and just makes me so happy to be around.

He and I talked for a bit and he had a gift for us and then he wanted to take my pic over by the sign so we headed over there. While there, I met the photographer and our Elvis for the first time in person and then we headed back to the car to get my flowers and mask that matched my dress.

At that point we met up with several other newsgroup peeps and local friends.  I was overwhelmed by the people that showed up for the renewal. We had more ppl there for this mostly unplanned ceremony than we had for our very planned out ten year renewal. I felt blessed.

The ceremony was very cool in my opinion. It wasn’t perfect at all, but we didn’t want it to be. This was a very loose and free thing that we wanted to reflect our need to make fun of ourselves.

Counterfeit Elvis sang us in with “I want you, I need you, I love you” as our guests walked up to the sign and got their pics taken and then he did some hokey Elvis vows that I had sent him.

He then sang us OUR SONG “Fools Rush In” while we danced a bit.

Then we did our own vow exchange and I was floored. I did mine first. Rob and I had kind of agreed that we would just do them as funny take away vows with a Rick-Roll so that is what I did. What he read back to me was funny yes, but also beautiful and made me tear up a bit. As a theater kid I felt very outdone…but in a good way.

Once we were done Elvis sang us out to “Do The Clam”. This song is a favorite of Rob and I’s and has been for many, many years. We specifically asked Elvis to learn it as he had not had experience with it and he was able to find a track to sing to but it was not one he was used to.  So when he didn’t perform it perfectly, we were totally cool with it. It was something for Rob and I and we were fine with it.

Before we knew it the ceremony was done and I could breathe again. We thanked our local friends and our newsgroup buds for coming out and then headed back to the hotel.

Once we were back up in the room and changed out of our fancy duds, I got super tired. I laid down for a few hours but could never quite get to sleep.

Eventually Rob and I traded places and he was able to take a nap while I colored in a coloring book.

That night we needed to get new diamond cards and get some food so we headed downstairs and after the cards headed to the LINQ promenade to see what was out and about. We wound up at the Tilted Kilt for a couple sandwiches and some loaded tots.

While we were waiting we hit the LINQ and played some slots but nothing was really happening.

Back at the hotel I trimmed and filed the nasty nails that were preventing me from doing any typing since I put them on.

This day felt like a giant blur. I was an anxiety case most of the morning and then felt like a blob the rest of the day.

The good news is that my hip injury doesn’t appear to be effecting my walking any longer and that was a HUGE worry of mine for this trip.