The next morning we got up early to meet my parents. They were supposed to get the rental car and call us when they got to the Tropicana. We got up on time and got ready to meet them. While we waited we decided to gamble a bit. My girlfriend sat down at a slot machine and almost immediately won a hundred dollars. I was at a different machine and wasn’t having much luck, when she called over to me and said she’d won. I smiled because now at least we’d both won some money. She walked past where I was sitting and sat at another machine. Again she won more money very quickly. At this point I was a little jealous. She had gone from being the one well below our spending money to ahead of me in a matter of ten minutes.
Finally we got a hold of my parents and found out our cell phones didn’t have any reception in the casino. We got in the rental and headed out of Vegas. We stopped at a Mcdonald’s for breakfast and then went to a Wall-Mart to get food for lunch. We had seen enough high prices for food so far and wanted to save money.
The trip out to the Grand Canyon was very similar to the first one we’d taken a few months earlier. The big difference here was my parents. We spent most of the trip talking to them about what we knew of the Grand Canyon and the Skywalk. Both my parents expressed excitement to see the Canyon as well as Hoover Dam. I kept thinking I was a tour guide for Nevada.
We drove past Hoover Dam without much problem. The plan was to get a look at the dam and then stop later after we’d seen the Canyon. We didn’t want to be out in the extreme heat longer than possible. I still marveled at the massive structure. I can only think that if man can create such a wonderful piece of engineering then we can solve any probem.
Getting to the Grand Canyon was quite an adventure. Driving on the dirt road a few months back was hard enough with the blue truck, this time we had a small car. A road definitely needs to be built there. We had fun, bouncing around not withstanding, trying to turn the ride into something other than a headache. Finally we made it out to the site and parked the car.
My parents had never been to the Grand Canyon, and we told them seeing it from the Skywalk was the best thing to try. We didn’t go, since we’d seen it so recently, but we got to take some good pictures of my mom and dad on the Skywalk. The heat made it really tough to walk around and enjoy everything, but we did it anyway. Seeing the Canyon again so soon took a little away from the experience, but not much. We went out to Guano Point and this time I got on top of the highest rock formations overlooking the Canyon. For someone who’s afraid of heights it was a big accomplishment.
The last thing we did, just like the first time, was the Old West ranch. This time it was a huge disappointment, since hardly anybody was there and the shops were mostly closed. We made our way back to the car and headed back to Vegas.
At this point the lack of sleep was getting to everyone, as three of us took naps on the way back. We had the car for a few more hours and decided to use it to cruise old Vegas. But first we separated and took a break. I was completely exhausted, and my mother wanted to take a nap, so my father came over to the Tropicana with us to gamble some more. Looking back on it, I should have just gone to my room and crashed, but I wanted to keep winning. That was a mistake.
I quickly realized my luck had taken a turn. Each slot machine that had been good to me previously was now taking my money very quickly. I tried switching machines, I even set very small betting limits, but nothing worked. All the money I had won the past two days went away, and then the money I had planned on using for the day started to go as well. After a little more than an hour I quit. My father and girlfriend fared little better. We all stopped at the same time and went back to MGM to find my mother.
We ate leftovers from lunch for our dinner and started driving around. I was so tired at this point i could barely stay awake. I missed out on a lot of good sights. Old Vegas has far older lights and signs than the strip, but I still liked them better. It fit the picture I had of what Vegas was supposed to be like. We couldn’t stop at some of the places we wanted to because they had blocked off some of the streets. We all were very tired but decided to stop at Stratosphere for a while.
I figured here maybe my luck would change. That didn’t happen. Once again i kept losing money, no matter where I bet or how much, I couldn’t win anything. Frankly I was getting really mad. I thought at least one machine would payout something. My girlfriend sensed my frustration and tried to calm me down, which naturally made me angrier. I stormed off hoping to cool down. I felt pretty guilty about snapping at her, so I went looking for her. She was at a machine I’d never seen before. I walked up to her and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. As I apologized for being a jerk I noticed her machine was going crazy. Apparently she’d hit a bonus game and was racking up some decent money. I watched as she won more than three hundred dollars. If there is a God, I’m pretty sure he was trying to teach me humility that day.
So here I was feeling sorry for myself, and my lovely girlfriend was winning again. This was the point where i resigned myself to just have fun and not worry about money. We’d set a goal to enjoy ourselves and I decided to achieve that goal.
The next day would be the last full day in Vegas, and it turned out to be the best.
Tags: Vegas Vacation part 3
