The King and Tico, December 3, 2011

One of my best friends from Hawaii, and her family is in Vegas for the week.  We always try to meet up with them whenever they get to LV. 

So B and I loaded up the Toyota, Tico jumped in the backseat, and off we went at 7am.  We got in town by noon, and we both scarfed a double-double @ the In-N-Out burger off Tropicana.  We originally planned to check out the Neon sign museum, but they require reservations and appointment only, and they were sold out for the day.  I did manage to shoot a picture of the Lady Luck Casino sign, which is the first buffet I've been to in Vegas, some 14 years ago.  For $7.99, I had plates after plates of crab legs to my heart's content.

We proceeded to walk around downtown LV, one of my favorite hangout in town, and walked around the Fremont Street Experience area.  B and I grabbed a few outdoor seats and drank coffee at the Starbucks in front of Golden Nugget, and let Tico enjoy, or not enjoy the attention from the passers-by.  This is the Rodeo Finals Week in Vegas, held for 10 days during the first week of December, and there are cowboy hats everywhere. I've never seen so many denim jeans and cowboy boots in one place.  It was really cool.

We got tired, and proceeded to check in early for our reservation at the Westin Casuarina off of Flamingo, a block from the Strip.  I booked this hotel for free with my American Airlines miles, and I just had to pay about $15 of taxes and services fees.  We did, however, pay a one-time $35 cleaning fee for Tico, which is more than reasonable.  The hotel itself is pretty decent, but in no way a premier resort in Las Vegas' standards.  But between this or Best Western, or the pricey Mandalay Bay/Four Seasons, the pet-friendly hotel choices in LV is minimal, especially those who take large dogs.  They make exceptions to the size, 40 being their normal cap.  So it is always a good thing to call ahead and double-check on how strict their rules are, when it comes to dogs.



There is a dog area downstairs, with a little patch of 'green', and pet waste bags/trash area.   They provided us a handicap room, which means roomy.  And they are normally fairly new rooms in comparison to the others.  Westin is a good hotel, but it definitely is showing age in the floor and wing that we were in.  Would I stay here even without Tico, absolutely.  If the price is right.  Their website shows $159\ Saturday night, which puts them in the price range of Mandalay and MGM, which I would likely pick better because they are a bigger resort with better amenities.  Westin does have a nice size pool, as well as a decent size gym, as well as spa.  Their casino floor is lacking, which makes this the first time I've been to Vegas where I've never dropped  a dime into the slot machines.  No gambling in Vegas for me this weekend.

Turns out the plan is to eat and drink all night, so we scrambled to get Tico boarded for the night, since we can't leave him in the hotel room on his own.  We were recommended Craig Road Animal Hospital in North Las Vegas, which is around 15-20 miles from the strip.  They are open from 7am to 10pm every day, and their rates are very decent, Tico's suite being $35.  The suite is very roomy, I would say it's about 7x7 feet. 

We met up with Kathy for dinner at the M resort for their popular Studio B buffet.  It's an all you can eat, all you can drink buffet.  For Cal, Kathy's husband, this is a great deal, since he can down some beers.  And B said they have 4 sets of red wine, so he gave me two glasses of Merlot for the dinner.  Their buffet selections are one of the best I've seen in Vegas, and for $34 - it's a great price.  Turns out Kathy's entire family is in town, all 10 of them - and they treated B and I for the night's dinner. 

We were originally going to meet up with the couple after at the karaoke bar inside Imperial Palace, where they were staying, but B and I made a mistake of lying down and woke up an hour later, so there goes our plan.

I woke up at 7am and hit the gym, while B picked up Tico so we can spend some QT for the few hours we have left in town.  So while B is on the phone making some phone calls, Tico and I snuck out and went for a walk/run around the block towards the strip.  There were three Elvises in front of Flamingo Hotel, and they loved Tico.  I wanted to have Tico take a photo with them, but my camera's battery was depleted.  Back to the hotel, and B made me some shakes to drink afterwards, and we promplty checked out at 11am and started our way back to LA.  Lunch was in Baker, at our favorite Mad Greek Cafe.    

It was a sweet 24 hours in Vegas, and I wish we had time to check out the Red Rock area, but we will need to save it for the next time we come to town. 

Tico had a rough, albeit fun weekend in Vegas,  having to be boarded against his wishes for the night.  But all in all, we had a great time, and I look forward to another Vegas trip with the boys soon.

Carnival and Doggie Boot Camp, November 2011

Ah, November.  Our anniversary month.  B and I booked a cruise with Carnival Splendor, for the Mexican Riviera.  For $700, we got a Balcony room. 

B and I took the Metro's Green and Blue Line trains to Long Beach, and it dropped us off at 1st and Pine, where we caught the free Passport bus to the terminal.  We embarked at around 1pm, and about 2 hours later and tons of lines later, we got to the Lido buffet place on the 9th floor.

There are two main dining rooms, ours is on the Gold Pearl, upper level, and we picked the late dining time of 8:15pm.  We were seated with 4 other couples, two of whom are newlyweds and on their honeymoon.  One couple is from Chicago moving to LA, another is from Riverside, an hour away from LA.  Another couple is from Oregon.  The last couple we only saw once, and they never came back since.  We met some interesting people in the boat, one is a guy who got drunk and lost after his day at the Tequila factory.  We ran into him on our way back to the boat, and he was hoping to get back in without an ID. 

The food selection is great, with Escargot, Duck, Sushi, etc. on the menu.  One night, B and I checked out the Pinnacle for our anniversary dinner.  For $30 per person, it was a great night of good food and awesome service we don't even get at most regular fine-dining places.  We spent most of our breakfast and lunch at the Lido, they have an Indian station - my favorite, a Rotisserie, and Burrito station, Mongolian, Cold Cuts, and Omelette station.  The Lido's regular lunch choices are not Carnival's best, but those specialty stations saved the day.

The amenities are great, they have about 4 pools, one being an adult area, with 2 jacuzzi's.  We took advantage of the jacuzzi one night, and met a couple who goes to Puerto Vallarta almost every year.  There is also a mini-golf area upstairs.  The fourth and fifth floor houses the common areas, with bars, casino, gift shop, the main theater, a sushi bar, a specialty coffee place, a piano bar, and the disappointing night club.  Their comedy shows are our favorite, which is held at the gawdily-decorated Moroccan room.

The decor is pink, like Gaudi got drunk, went to town and just decorated the place in one day.  Some days I liked it, some days I'd say "wow", and not in a good way.  Carnival charges $11\day\pp for tip, but we also gave more tips to Bernadetta and Dewa who were our hostess and server at the Main Dining room, and also to Viktor our housekeeper and his assistant.  The room is cleaned twice a day.  It was awesome to be this pampered.  We got elephant, stingray, dog, turkey towel arts every night.

We did Cabo twice, since Carnival cancelled Mazatlan due to safety reasons.  Cabo has some of the best beaches and water, for sure.  B and I took a glass-bottom water taxi to Los Arcos, and then dropped us off to lover's beach, and picked us up, at $10\pp.  We ate at a restaurant in front of the marina, and did some people-watching.  For $2\beer, B had a great time.  After more walking around and shopping in/near the marina, we called it a day.  On the second day, we took the bus for 21 pesos, or $2 to San Jose Del Cabo, about 45 minutes by bus.  We walked around the City Hall/church/restaurant/hotel zone area.  B really enjoyed that day.  The last port is in Puerto Vallarta.  We took a bus for 8 pesos to Centro\central area, which is about 10 minutes away.  We roamed around the church and boardwalk area, and walked back to the ship.  On our way in front of one of the beach resorts, we rented a cabana, and ordered beer and pina colada. I got gutsy and parasailed for the first time for $35, and I had a great time.  The PV day was my favorite day.  The walk back was long and tedious, but it's a good way to get rid of the extra calorie from binge-eating the entire week.  I also went to the gym about 5 times, so hopefully that helped.

Tico also had a 'vacation' of his own the time we were away.  He's in boot-camp for two weeks with Whiskers and Tails.  We now learned to walk him properly, he's more mellow and obedient, and a lot calmer.  I am still not sold that we got our money's worth, but the follow-up from the trainer is still to come.  She's to visit us at the house, and go for walks with us as well. 

So November is a month of Camp and Carnival for the Tico household.

           

  

Vegas, Board Games, Boarding and Birthdays, October 2011

Mai had the genius idea of having a game night.  It was fun to play Taboo once again, and we planned to do it every month, alternating hosting.  So Mai's is October, Melissa's is on for November, and B and I will host in December.  Mai's was fun, there were 5 little boys from ages 1 to 4, and I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with this one boy named Gabriel. There were about 11 adults, so the house was full.  It was a fun night, especially since Mai and Jason recently got a bunch of wine from the Paso Robles area.

We took Mai and Jason to dinner at The Palm downtown one night, as part of our annual ritual of taking each other out one-on-one (or in this case, couple-on-couple) for our birthdays.  B and I are not a fine-dining type of people, while M&J are foodies.  I enjoy going to these places once in a while, but we can't afford going to these things more than once or twice a year, seriously.  But having eaten there a few times for work, I at least know we were getting our money's worth, because it's predictably good food, and lots of it.  The cheesecake and chocolate cake desserts alone can fill up a person.  Their Prime Rib is about an 1/8 of a cow.         

B's side business Herbalife has their annual get together in Las Vegas at the end of the month, so I gathered up the girls and their significant others for a weekend in Vegas.  And since it's the Halloween weekend, we decided to dress up one night.  We had a blast.  We ate at Pampas Brazilian Grille, the buffet inside Mandalay Bay, and we had a few take-outs as well.  I missed on a visit to Stripburger for their orange dream drink, but it's all good.  B and I stayed at Las Vegas Hilton one night (Thursday) and PH Towers two nights thereafter.  We Pricelined the PH hotel for about $125 a night, the Hilton I got for free with my American Airlines mileage points.  The Hilton is in bad shape, but for a few hours from midnight on, it served its purpose for us.  The PH Towers is amazing.  They put us on the 36th floor overlooking the south part of the strip.  Awesome room.  Clean, modern, automated. 

While in Vegas, Tico was housed for four nights at Whiskers and Tails.  They charge about $20 and up for the night, so it's not so bad.  And after grooming/bath, we always get Tico back all fluffy and fresh.  He's starting to enjoy this place, and has made friends with the staff.  They know him by now, and is his basically his second home by now. 

The month of October was very well anticipated by us, because of the Halloween weekend.  It's always fun to go out to Vegas with the girls.  But we definitely had a great time having the boys join us this time around.  Which is why I love Whiskers and Tails, because getaways to Vegas such as these will not be possible without the convenience of having them around.