Our Trip to Las Vegas

    Jason went to Las Vegas in November, 2005 and soon got a job in The Club Fortune Casino as a Blackjack dealer fulfilling a long time dream of his. His dad bought a house about two miles from where he lives for them to live in (and eventually buy) in Henderson, Nevada just a few miles from the Las Vegas strip. Autumn began making arrangements to move to Vegas to join him by giving notice to her employer, setting up an interview with an employer in Vegas, selling most of their worldly possessions, and getting the duplex ready to rent. We (Daryl, Cindi, & Ashley) agreed to follow Autumn, Taylor & Whitney out there and help her move some things so Daryl took a week off work (the first week of the new year) to do the driving. We rented a van through National and loaded it with Autumn, Jason & Taylor's remaining worldly possessions and set out toward Vegas on January 1, 2005. We drove west on 54 highway all the way to Tucumcari, New Mexico where we connected with I-40 for the rest of the trip stopping frequently for restroom breaks, snacks and food. Taylor and Ashley switched back and forth between cars when they got the urge and enjoyed each others company most of the time. There were a lot of other interesting things to see along I-40 (which follows old Route 66) like the Petrified Forrest, Bandero Volcano & Ice Caves, but unfortunately we didn't have time to stop; maybe next time. I did take time to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona for a bit and a girl in a flatbed drove by to take a look at me. Ha ha.
    We had wrapped the boxes on top of the van in plastic because the weatherman was predicting rain, but the weather was really good the entire two-day trip. We spent the first night at a Red Roof Inn in Alburquerque, New Mexico, ballooning is popular there because of the unique wind conditions that return them to their starting point. We saw several in the few hours we were there. We drove 6 miles off the highway to see the Meteor Crater in Northern Arizona but they wanted $12 each and we didn't want to spend a lot of time there so we didn't see it (thus the sad faces) maybe next time.  The only trouble we had was when we got to the Hoover Dam where there was a police security point. I think we looked suspicious with five big boxes wrapped in plastic on top of the van so they made us pull out of the line. They questioned us about the contents of all the boxes and then let us through without opening any.
    We arrived in Henderson, Nevada on the evening of January 2 and went to our Hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites) after quick stops at Jason's parents home and Autumn and Jason's home. The next morning we visited Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden, the M & M Factory, the Coca Cola shop, and the Las Vegas Strip. Taylor especially liked the castle (Excalibur). That evening we had dinner at Jason's parents and watched the kids open Christmas gifts.
    Cindi and I went to the Sunset Station Casino in Henderson on the second day in the Vegas area while Ashley stayed at Autumn's and played with Taylor. Together we spent about $40 playing slots and Keno and won $101 at Keno and walked away with a $61 profit. That night Jason took us to dinner at the Fiesta Casino. We loaded up Tamara's boxes that night after dinner in preparations for the trip home the next morning.
    We pulled out of Henderson early on Wednesday morning (1-5-05) for the long trip back home. We had decided to maybe stop along the way if we say something that caught our interest. A few miles past the Hoover Dam was a turn-off the the West Rim of the Grand Canyon so we took it. It was about a 50 mile trip, half of which was through small villages and the other half over bumpy dirt roads. We began to wonder if we were on the right road but we were passed by three jeeps from Pink Jeep Tours along the way so we kept going; they seemed to be navigating the rough trail much better than we were. At the end of the road was a helicopter pad, airplane runway, and a gift shop / tour ticket sales office. They were selling helicopter tickets, or tickets that allowed driving to the Canyon edge for $16.50. After driving all that way we were not going back without seeing something so we paid the $51 and drove to the edge. It was a very interesting site to say the least. The trip to the West Rim set us back longer than we anticipated (about 4 hrs) and we stopped at this chocolate factory for refreshments on the way out. It may not look like much; but they had fresh made chocolates and ice cream, mmm.
    It took us two and a half days to get home; we arrived home a little after noon on Friday 1-7-05 to quite a mess. My van was covered with limbs, all the maple trees along the road were broken and laying all over the ground, and several other limbs were down from all of the trees in my yard. The driveway was blocked so we couldn't get the car out to return the rental car. I went right to work and cleared the driveway using a rope and the rental car. I probably won't begin to clean them all up until the ice melts. What a mess. Mom had a huge tree down, too. The Fisher's and the Stuhlsatz's worked on cleaning it up on Saturday.

This page was last updated on 01/09/2005