Vegas...10 p.m. Tuesday night

Hmmmmmmmm......I admit I had fun. Satisfied?!?!?!

First, before you ask "where's the picture you promised us?" let me toss it at you now. THIS is what our booth looks like at the Western Car Wash Association Trade Show, 2008. Enjoy it 'cause odds are by the time you read this we will be in the process of tearing it down (Wednesday, 3 p.m. Pacific Time).



The show seemed to go on for quite some time but, in reality, was really only 6 hours....7 1/2 if you count me heading up to the banquet breakfast at 9:30 thinking I was going to have to wolf my food down to get on the show floor by 10....turns out its tomorrow at 10, today it didn't start until 11. It was nice seeing some vendors I have met at previous shows (one from Coeur d'Alene). Its just fun spotting a familiar face and having a chat with someone who remembers you too.

After the show we got out of our "show clothes" and went to In-and-Out Burger (Dan and Lori both love that place). I have to admit I am not a fan of the place...the burgers are good but the fries taste like they were freeze dried before being fried...its like eating hot greasy cardboard. Then I asked Dan to drop me off at the Tropicana so I could go through the Titanic exhibit. Lori and Dan looked at me as if I was nuts. Dan asks if I am sure I want to go to the Tropicana (its run down) and Lori asks "Didn't you already see that thing?"

Yes.....and, well, yes.

I admit I went to the Titanic exhibit on my first sojourn to Vegas one year ago. Of course I was under a time limit and was all but zipped through by Ronetta but I was detirmined this time to make it last. Honestly I was seriously wanting to visit the Promenade Deck again.....in the midst of this very busy town it was a place of quiet and solitude....and I was willing to shell out 30 bucks to get it. So even though I didn't share the particulars of why I wanted to go, Dan drove me to the Tropicana and let me go.



Of course the exhibit tells you several times that there are no pictures allowed to be taken once inside but I tried to sneak a shot of the Promenade Deck...without the flash it turned out all red and frankly is a crappy shot, but I honestly think the flash wouldn't have done anything either since its supposed to be outside on a very dark and frigid night, sailing over waters filled with icebergs. There is a fan blowing cold air like a chilly wind and there are lights that flicker on the wall and ceiling of the "star-filled night" that passengers had. The light flows off the side of the deck railing and simulates starlit waves (there was no moon that night) that slip past. There's a recording of burbling water and the rumble of a ship's engines and, if you're very observant, the floor beneath you rumbles just a bit as if stories-tall pistons were actually propelling the "ship" right under your feet.

I love this part of the exhibit. Sure its a tad creepy being in there all alone but I sat down against the ship's bulkhead and watched the stars and listened to the wind and the waves and felt so freaking relaxed.....until the employee walked in. It took her a moment to see me sitting on the floor but she screamed and ran (no kidding) back through the gangway door. A few long moments later she peeked back out to see if I was still there and then came out saying "this part of the tour always freaks me out--its so creepy in here--I am definately peeking through the window before coming out here again" (the door has a large round window in it). She was laughing and clutching her chest when she said this to me but I really don't think she was all that amused.

Well since that kind of ruined the mood I continued on with my tour, "touched the iceberg" and walked around a hugemongous replica of the decaying ship on the ocean floor. I have to say that while I appreciate the nice touch of simulating sunlight trickling down from the world above its pretty unrealistic; at nearly 2 miles beneath the surface no sunlight reaches that far down.

Finally you come to a room of personal items that they know who they belonged to. There is a write-up on these passengers and you are informed whether they lived or died before being confronted with the wall listing all of the survivors and victims of the tragedy. At the beginning of the tour you are given a "passenger card" and once you reach the end they ask you to see if your passenger survived or not. The first time I went through my passenger survived but had lost everyone else with her; this time was a bit of a letdown because I knew up front that my gal had survived. I decided to backtrack and take one last moment on the Promenade Deck but there were people already in there and I realized that the mood was definately gone...I still love that space though. I have to say that if you have the remotest interest in the Titanic its worth the money if you happen to be close to one of the exhibit sites.

So it was on to the gift shop where I bought a book and then out onto the bustling Vegas strip. It was a nice night out so I decided to walk back to my hotel (I'm at Bally's this time).

Of course, as with anywhere else you have the usual jerks and some surprisingly nice guys....leaving the Tropicana and crossing the skybridge to the Excelsior I heard a group of guys get behind me on the escalator going down. One of them starts exclaiming "OMG how huge is that" and starts joking about "getting a piece of that". Readers I hate to tell you this but he was talking about me. I was debating if it was even worth turning around and telling this guy what I thought of his comments when one of his companions lets out a "DUDE!" and I hear someone getting whapped.....then silence. Its nice to know there are some guys out there who do not feel that picking on the fat girl makes for good sport.

Once back on the street level I snapped a few shots (yes I played tourist) and walked to the Belagio to watch the water show. Funnily enough, the first song they played once I got there was "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (from the Titanic movie soundtrack). I watched a second song ("Hey Big Spender") and checked out Michael Jackson watching the show (a pretty convincing celebrity impersonator) before heading back to my hotel room to rest up. From my tour of the Strip I smell a bit smokey and my nose still stings a bit from all the smoke and exhaust, but I feel pretty happy that I went out tonight. My feet are tired but not killing me though my back is insisting it is done for the day so I will sign off, take some more Tylenol and climb into bed.

I will post some of my Vegas shots after I get home....for being high speed internet here in my room its taking forever to load shots and keeps dropping some of them....I am too tired to want to fight with it tonight.

So I say goodnight to all of you Gentle Readers out there and I hope that you are happy to see me write the following words: Vegas ain't that bad of a place after all.