We've had the most amazing week in Las Vegas. We booked this trip before Stephanie died and I'm glad we did or I don't think we would have done anything. It's so hard knowing we'll never see her again. Every part of our trip Stephanie was with us. We only ever took her on one family holiday, but she was always with us. An 11 hour flight was out of the question, navigating all these people just wouldn't have been good for her. Most things we did we wanted Stephanie with us, for us, but most things never benefited her and it would have been unkind to her to have taken her with us to so many places just for our benefit.
We always talk about her being with us, the 5 minutes of each place she would've enjoyed, the food, the lights, the music. Every souvenir shop I thought of her. A t-shirt I would've bought, a drinking cup unused and a pair of sock unworn, a postcard unsent. In the end I did buy and send a card to the staff. Stephanie had no concept of a postcard, she couldn't read and after she died, I discovered they'd kept every letter, every card I'd sent for 16 years. I also bought them a souvenir t towel, I did that every holiday.
358 Monday Last minute packing, as in we hadn't done any. washing machine on and hung up, bins out, cat fed and litter tray out. Friend popping round to feed cat. House locked up. Drove down to Heathrow to our hotel for the night. Car parked and just bedded down for the evening.
359 Tuesday A lazy morning with hotel breakfast. Got to Heathrow at 11am to check in and drink coffee before going airside. Flight to Vegas 4pm, but delayed by an hour. A good flight, but 11 hours, I'd forgotten how long the flight was. We managed some sleep and the food was good. Arrived at 8pm, taxi to Excalibur hotel, checked in, grabbed coffee, went for a walk and explored local area, showered and straight to bed. It was 11pm local time, but 7am UK and Christmas morning already.
360 Wednesday Merry Christmas. I was up at 5.30am local time, went for coffee as there is no tea/coffee making facilities in the room. Peter joined me an hour later and we headed off to New York New York for breakfast. Back to our hotel for a rest then headed out on the strip. We walked to Caesers Palace, watched the fountains at the Bellagio. Christmas dinner was a chicken salad in a pot on the side walk. Dinner was chips and a milkshake in the food court.
361 Thursday We booked a timeshare tour through our hotel. It was a 2 hour presentation with food and drinks. We've done these before. In exchange we received vouchers to spend on food in the MGM. We've had a free holiday in France after a presentation in the Cotswolds in 2001 and tickets to see Cher in Caesar's Palace in 2010. We went to a mall then back to our hotel to rest up for a couple of hours. Cousin and Daughter flew in to see us for a few days. They're staying in the Mandalay Bay, we met up with them for the evening. I've not seen my cousin since 2007.
362 Friday A long day. Peter and I went out for breakfast and I had my first cup of tea since we got here. There's no tea/coffee facilities in the room. We met my cousin, her daughter and friend for the day. We walked the strip to the Bellagio, stopping for lunch, watching the fountains at the Bellagio, generally just looking at whatever took our fancy and entertaining a 3 year old. We were all shattered when we got back to our hotels and collapsed on the bed and had a nap for a couple of hours. Peer and I went out for a walk and I took photos and videos of the strip at night for our grandson who was excited to see in a video call from the morning that we were staying in a castle.
363 Saturday Day spent with cousin at her hotel in the pool, it was 14c outside, but the pools were heated. We then some lunch and back to our hotel for the afternoon via Fedex to post some British goodies to my other cousin. We spent the evening at a magic show, visited the Pawn Stars shop then to Freemont Street for the light show and a taxi back.
364 Sunday Up early and off for coffee and to read my book in the casino. I brought a coffee back for Peter. We then went for breakfast in the Mandalay Hotel and waited for my cousin to wake. We said our goodbyes. It was 17 years since we last saw her, let's hope it's not another 17 years till we meet again. We then caught the bus to the outlet mall for a bit of shopping, bus back down the Strip to our hotel for a couple of hours to rest up, change and out for dinner at the MGM hotel. We popped into Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood then walked back.
365 Monday Up early and we caught the bus up to Circus Circus. We stayed there with the kids in 2007. We then walked to Denny's for breakfast and down the Strip to Harrah's stopping at different casino's before catching the Monorail to the MGM, booked a table for dinner then walked backed to our hotel for the afternoon. Out for dinner, a walk round then an early night before our flight home tomorrow.
366 Tuesday Up early, packed and out for breakfast at New York New York, checked out at 11am and off to the airport for part one of our flight home, stopping in Atlanta. No idea where or when New Year will be celebrated as we'll gain 3 hours by the time we arrive in Atlanta after a 4 hour flight. We arrive in the UK at 11.40am on New Year's Day after an 8 hour flight and a time gain of 5 hours.
Books read this week:
Nice work if you an get it - Celia Imrie
In plain sight - Marion Todd
Words written towards book: 0
Clothes bought: Hoodie GAP $29.99 Trainers COACH $99
On the blog this week: Our family Christmas past
Things that made me happy this week:
Christmas away, revisiting Las Vegas, meeting up with family, time to relax.
