Day I: Adventure in the American Southwest

Day I: Underway! The adventure began almost at once!

Talk about good "ground control"!

We were off to meet our friends,Jim and Beth, for ten days of adventure ! 

There was fun to be done and the anticipation was almost palpable... but there were also hiccups. 

At the airport, the look from the United Airlines agent suggested a bumpy flight in the forecast.  

"Going to Chicago by any chance?", she said.  

We smiled nodding.

"Oh dear!  All our flights to Chicago are canceled. A weather bomb is having its way with the city." 

"Oh! Oh! That's where we connect to Las Vegas." 

Smiling, she looked up from her computer. 

“Well then, bet you're going to love this! I'm re-routing you through Toronto with our Star-Alliance partner, Air Canada. 

 Thanks, ground control! Yahoo!!

 Hey, my new smart phone can help!

40 minutes later, we thought we'd surprise Jim and Beth, who were having a punishing four-hour stop-over there, with a small text:

"Where are you right now?"

Soon we were toasting over a nice glass of wine...a great way to begin a new adventure?

"I already love this place!"

Las Vegas is so photogenic!  On this clear autumn night, under an almost perfect full moon, the view on our flight approach was, simply put,“awesome”. 

From the dark dry basin, it calls home, Vegas' neon lights projected feelings of excitement and anticipation right up into our plane.  The proof: a sudden rise in the level of chatting and giddiness. 

Framing the picture were the Spring Mountains to the West, Lake Mead to the North and that endless black hole that was the desert.  

Wow!!

Of Vegas hotels and rentals:
Rule #1:
In short order, we were in our rental and on our way to the Tropicana Hotel.  Sadly our van took little time to start complaining.  The breaks and the transmission both seemed increasingly out of sorts.  And what of Rule #1?
In Vegas, know when to hold'em; know when to fold'em.  In this case, we made the "bold fold" with an unscheduled return to the airport for an exchange.
Rule #2: 
Walking into the Tropicana, Rule #2 was alive and well. “Always make'em cross the casino, no matter what!".  Indeed, our first hotel experience could well have been a game of Black Jack and a drink instead  of a "Welcome to Vegas!" from the front desk.

By the way, the Tropicana is both lovely and roomy.

Can't wait until tomorrow!