A quick trip to Las Vegas

My old mission buddy Mike Barrow got married in Las Vegas this last weekend, so I headed down for the festivities. Ironically, I was able to fund the trip to Las Vegas by cashing out my online poker winnings. I had to drive down myself because most people I know have jobs and responsibilities. 

I met up with Barrow and his clan at the Stratosphere about 8:00 Friday night and pretty much went non-stop from there. First we headed over to do some fast car racing just off the strip. I kept trying to replicate the moves from the Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift, but I only ever saw the commercials so I didn't get proper instruction. So basically I just kept 

clogging the turns and pissing everyone off. At the end, we did an awesome black panther Olympic protest pose on the winners podium. It's not the first time I've re-enacted this baby. It's only funny to me but I don't care. 

After that, we got passes to ride the Stratosphere rides. Everything is scarier up there. I actually hadn't been up to the top since before construction was complete and our scout leader took us up to look over the edge. But it was cool and Barrow had a pretty legitimate girl scream. 

Once the rides closed, we hit the casino floor. I knew it would be a good outing for me when I found a $100 bill on the floor. I was up 100 in a matter of 3 minutes. 

Almost immediately after that, we saw a girl who looked like she was OD-ing. My guess was ecstacy. She was falling over chairs and couldn't stand up and foaming at the mouth. I don't know CPR, so I just took some pictures and thought it would be good for the blog. None of the casino security seemed to really care. Everybody was looking but not really doing anything. And the guy she was with wanted no part of the situation. It was crazy and all, but we had gambling to do. 

We hit the blackjack tables and there was an immediate good vibe among us and the Australian tourists. Everyone was winning. Then one of Barrows buddies insisted we moved tables and it all went to hell. Barrow was definitely the shoo in for guy who couldn't win while everyone else was cleaning up. He was furious and genuinely thought the dealer was screwing him over. 

We played till about 6am, I slept for maybe 2 hours, and then went to meet up with Geoff to golf at Silverstone. It's one of my favorite courses. I golfed really badly, but did hit a record three houses. 

I had to drink Red Bulls all day just to stay awake, but on the way to the reception I fell asleep for what must have been a good 5 seconds whilst driving. That always scares the hell out of me. After the reception was over, I got my second wind and Geoff and I hit up the sleazy Santa Fe for some more blackjack. 

I decided to spend a couple hours hitting the dealer with some of the crappiest pick up lines I could think of. I'm sure she was annoyed, but the table was eating it up and I was winning. And she's paid to give courtesy laughs so what did I care? After cleaning up again, I celebrated with a Fat Burger. 

Sunday the fatigue hit me and I slept til 11:00. We did a little swimming and Geoff's kids roped me into a game of "Robot that has to be in jail". It made absolutely no sense and of course I had to be the robot. This game went on forever. 

After that, I headed back home. I stopped by St. George to see Derrick and ate tons of beef jerky. It was a great trip.