Mr. and Mrs. lightning Go To ‘Vegas (part three) By Mrs. lightning

I never suspected when I asked lightning to let me tell about our vacation, that it would take three installments.  But I know that when a post gets too long, people stop reading.  So in an effort to bore keep you entertained, I thought it best to divide it up.  I should probably have made this a four-part tale, but I have to give lightning a chance to write again. So here is part three, the final chapter.

Monday proved to be rather uneventful, and thus totally pleasant.  I went to the pool in the morning.  Harrah’s has a great lounging pool.  The water is only about 10” deep, and they have lounge chairs place in it.  It was easy to stay cool and get some sun all at the same time.

After the pool, lightning and I went to Ellis Island for lunch. It was pretty good. But lightning seemed to think we were in a hurry to get to my spa appointment. So after eating quickly, and telling the waiter we were in a hurry and needed the check, we got to my appointment about 10 minutes earlier than the 10 minutes early they had told me to check in. I happily went next door to a fabric store for those ten minutes. While I got my mani/pedi, lightning went back to gamble for a couple of hours.

What with laying out, going to the spa, and gambling, we were both pretty exhausted, so a nap was called for.  After a little snooze, we went to dinner at P.F. Chang’s, where we got the dinner for two.  Excellent, of course.  Then we strolled the strip, stopping to take in the Bellagio fountains and the numerous street performers, including a guy dressed up like…wait for it…a penis. I’m not sure what it says about me that it took me a while to recognize what it was.  Of course, like all those other “character” costumes, it was made out of fake fur.  Maybe that’s what threw me off.  Fortunately, the young mother with a 4 or 5 year old was urging her son to get moving, so he swerved off his trajectory toward the penis to get a hug. I can only imagine the conversation that would have ensued if that had happened!

After a couple of hours of walking around, shopping, stopping to play some slots, people watching, etc., we returned to the hotel: me to get my HGTV fix, catch up on work email, and to read; lightning to go back to out to play poker.

Tuesday-our last day.  We slept in (not hard for lightning since he didn’t get back until about 5 am!), then I went to the pool.  Lightning went to play poker, and I was to text him when I was ready to go eat lunch.  While at the pool, my left eye started hurting unbearably.  Both eyes had been red for a couple of days, which I attributed to hotel air.  But this was pain.  Not wanting to disrupt lightning’s poker, I texted him that I was going to Walgreen’s to get some ointment and would be in touch.  So I walked to the Walgreen’s just north of Harrah’s at the Venetian.  I explained to the pharmacist that I thought I had a corneal abrasion (please read that again, it DOES NOT say corn meal, as several of my FB friends misread). She told me that I’d have to see a doctor.  Just my luck, there was a health clinic right in the Walgreen’s.  Also my luck, it was 1:05 and the doctor had just left for a one hour lunch.  Fortunately, she came back early and took a look.  She couldn’t see anything, but said I needed to go to urgent care. So I texted lightning that I was going to walk there.  He asked if I wanted him to get me, but being the poor, kind-hearted, long-suffering soul that I am I told him that it was pointless to ruin both our afternoons, and I’d text him when I was finished.

Distances are quite deceiving in Las Vegas.  It turns out that the urgent care facility was almost 1 ½ miles away.  By the time I got there, walking in 101 degrees, with a very painful eye, having had nothing to eat all day, and developing a headache to boot, I was pretty disconsolate.  Add in a rather unfriendly staffer at the clinic, and it didn’t take much to have me sitting in the waiting room in tears.  After a wait while they checked to make sure my insurance was good (I had forgotten my card back in Illinois, so called home to have my kids text me a photo of it so I’d have the info!), I was finally called back.  The doctor immediately putting numbing drops in my eye, then a dye.  Blessed relief!  The doctor said I did indeed have “a small scratch” and proceeded to prescribe two kinds of drops—an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory.  During the process, she managed to say about two or three more times that it was “a small scratch”.  She said this in such as way as to imply that I shouldn’t really be in pain. Back in the waiting room I texted lightning to come get me as I was not feeling so great by that point.  While I waited I excitedly realized that I had change in my purse and there was a vending machine in the waiting room.  So I indulged in an ice cream sandwich while I waited.

Lightning finally arrived.  It took a while as he was playing poker at the Mirage  He had to wait for a chance to exit,  walk back to our room at Harrah’s to get the car keys, get the car, then find the urgent care.  Once he got me, we decided to go get some lunch and then try to get the prescriptions filled.  On the way to lunch we had to pull over because I thought I was going to be sick.  False alarm.  On to Del Taco for tacos for lightning and a burger for me.  Back in the car, I warned lightning that I was going to be sick.  We were in multi lanes of traffic, with no shoulder and no businesses.  What’s a girl to do if she doesn’t want to puke in the rental car?  She grabs her readily available cup of water she just finished drinking and uses it.  Let’s just leave it at that.

Back at the room I convinced lightning that I would be fine for the Cirque du Soleil show that night if I just took a nap.  So while he went to get my prescriptions, I got a 20 minute nap, and then showered.  By the time lightning returned, I was feeling almost my old self. lightning quickly showered and we were off to the show.  We saw Mystere, one of several Cirque shows.  We both concluded that it was good, but certainly not worth the ticket price.

After the show we walked around a bit, and then got some dinner.  Finally we went back to the room, where I began to pack in preparation for the next morning, while lightning took off to find another Walgreen’s to get the prescription that the first one couldn’t fill earlier.  After bringing it back to the room and checking on me, he went to get in one last night of gambling.  I finished packing so that it would all be done and I could get an hour or so at the pool in the morning without having to worry about getting ready to go.  The entire time I was muttering about how pissed I was that the last day had turned out this way and that I was turning into my mother.  My mother, bless her, never comes to visit us without a trip to the emergency room.  My mood was definitely not great for someone on vacation!

I don’t remember what time lightning stumbled in—4:00 or 5:00 am I think.  About 8 or so his phone alerted him to a text.  Our flight was delayed 3 hours.  That meant we wouldn’t be getting in and starting our 2+ hour drive home from Midway Airport until late.  Check out time was at 11:00, so we’d be sitting around the airport for about 6 or 7 hours.  Oh joy.
           

At this point, lightning realized that neither of us had anything we needed to be back for.  So I headed to the pool while he headed to check out staying an extra night.  After confirming with the hotel, the airline, and the car rental agency, lighting texted me to take my time...we weren’t leaving until the next day.  Yippee!  The best part was that it was our anniversary, which we would have spent in the airport and in the air. Now we could relax.

I spent the rest of the day sunning and shopping, while lightning played poker.  That evening we decided to hit up California Pizza Kitchen for dinner.  Then we grabbed a great dessert at Carnegie Deli, walked around a bit more, catching the tail-end of the fire show at the Mirage, and finally back to the room to share our dessert.  It was a totally relaxing day after the fiasco of the day before.

Thursday morning while lightning showered and packed, I went on one last shopping excursion to buy a pair of sandals I’d had my eye on since we arrived on Sunday.  Then off to the airport for an uneventful flight back to Illinois.  We made great time out of the airport, and stopped at Portillo’s for supper.  Then we finally headed on the road to home.  As on the way to Kingman, lightning had great ideas for how I could keep him awake on the drive.  I of course suggested that maybe next time he make it back a little earlier from his poker playing and actually get some sleep.

There you have it: the exciting tale of two middle-aged, middle class, central Illinois folks and their vacation.  Despite a flood and an eye emergency, it was a wonderful, relaxing week.  I got to shop and sun, lightning got to play poker, we got to visit with friends and family, and we both got to enjoy each other’s company. It was everything a vacation should be.