After work on Friday I drove over to Rick's and him, Gen, and Amanda P set off for the desert at about 7:45. We stopped for food along the way and by the time I checked my phone while entering the hotel room it was 2am. We caught a taxi to old downtown Vegas. I had never seen that part of Vegas before and enjoyed experiencing a different part of the city. It was older and a little less flashy. We met up with Jen, Alex, Byron, and Mwazhuwa. Jen's co-worker Jason was there whom we discovered we're both 2005 Otis grads (he's from graphic design for you fellow Otis graphic design majors that read this). We all just walked around and drank and did some gambling. On our taxi ride back to the hotel I noticed the sky was getting lighter and it was going to be dawn very soon. I can't remember the last time I have seen the sky at 5am. It was a treat I usually miss out on.
The next morning I got up and got on my swim suit and got my book and headed downstairs for the pool. While downstairs I spotted Dan in the lobby and we headed off to the pool. At that point there were no available chairs by the pool but Dan just happens to be a master at the art spotting people leaving and scooping up a spot. Thanks to him within an hour or two I was in a more shaded section with mist. Amanda S came to join us and eventually the rest of my carpool buddies were there as well.
I left the pool around 4pm. I needed some alone time to decompress before what I knew was going to be a very social and exciting evening. At around 7 we finally met up with the rest of our group in the birthday girls room (oh, I forgot to mention this whole trip was planned in celebration of the lovely Jessica's 30th birthday). We all had dinner at a tapas place that was yummy.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to change and get ready for the evening. We had an excellent time pre-party in Brian and Jessica's room. I will try to post photos later after people hopefully post some on-line. I managed to only take 3 photos with my camera the whole trip, ooops. Well into a state of good cheer we headed off into the night. I think the best way to fully describe the evening can be summed up with a conversation I had with Rick, Gen, and Amanda P at breakfast the next morning. Rick looked like he was thinking hard and then asked "Wait, what did we do last night?" there was silence for awhile because we were all trying to remember. We all agreed that we walked around on the strip and there was gambling and drinking. But the details remain a bit of a mystery. However I have very lovely fragmented memories of a totally fun time. I think we got to the hotel room at around 4:30 am
The next day after checkout we headed for a late brunch which I guess could be called lunch haha I think we finally left Vegas at around 3?? On the car ride back I got a call from Zach that Jessica's car was having some problems and they had pulled over. Unfortunately we were already pass the exit they pulled off on. We were heading to the next exit to turn around and stopped at what looks like it was an old gas station but was now just a market. So we could bring them water and also I really needed a restroom break after the 3 or 4 cups of recovery coffee I had that morning. The market was an old white wooden building with the word "MARKET" painted in big red capital letters on top. There was an old sewing machine out front and some old saddles on display. We were greeted out front by a man that I thought was part of some sort of old prospector costume with overalls and a rat nest of white hair. He was so excited to open the door and welcome us. The store was playing some classic rock and I stood in line with what appeared to be other girls on their way to or out of Vegas. There was this short man that looked like he had spent many years in the desert doing drugs and living out his life as one long party. He had scraggly shoulder length brown hair and resembled a hedgehog. He was managing the line that had formed for the restroom and seemed to be so pleased that he had the attention of so many ladies. I ended up using the men's room because the other ladies in front of me didn't want to. After I went in the man turned to Gen and asked if I was her friend then said "She's cute." Gen smiled and agreed with him and he responded with "Man, why do girls always do that?" Which we are not exactly sure what that meant but he moved on to other topics before remembering his manners and told her she was also cute. At the counter there was a tall skinny sun and drug burn out of a man that quizzed Rick about what the name of the artist was that performs the song that was playing. Actually he had trouble getting out the question and said something like "What what what's the name of this? You know. Like, who does this? Who is this" Rick guessed a bunch of classic rock artist but wasn't getting it right so the man said he would give him a hint. The hint was that is was Homer Simpson's favorite band. He still didn't know so he gave him another hint that it starts with Grand. Rick then guessed Grand Funk Railroad. The guy was happy and said yes and gave Rick a tootie roll and said "That's for knowing good music...it's vanilla." I got to the counter and looked to my right to see another burn out man who winked at me and mouthed something. I smiled and turned away. Apparently he did the same thing to Gen and he was mouthing the word "howdy." I have never seen a group of people who seemed to enjoy their work as much as those men in that shop. I totally want to stop there every time I am coming home from Vegas.
After the shop we got back to Jessica's car and found them talking with a tow truck driver. The car had cooled down and the driver was giving them the okay to head back on the road. We followed behind them and soon Jen's car was also caravaning with us. We ended up all getting back to LA okay. As we got into town all the 4th of July fireworks were going off. It was like LA was welcoming us back. I took what felt like the best shower of my life and fell into a deep and wonderful 12 hour sleep.
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