The Big Cat Roars

     Traveling nightmares are probably the reason why blogging was invented, no airport, rental car or hotel check-in would be complete without something going wrong that you think is going to ruin your vacation.  Flight to LA was on time landed after midnight east coast time and proceeded to rental car agency, won't mention any names but Avis could be the slowest check out of all time. I will say the check in at the hotel in Vegas took less time even though there was about 500 people on line in front of us.  I am not exaggerating, this weekend was EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) at Las Vegas Speedway with 250,000 ravers. 
     At Avis there were 3 people in line in front of me, when I finally got our vehicle  the SUV we reserved had the third seats in the rear, which limited space for luggage, so the Big Cat did what he does best and improvised.  Unfortunately you are not allowed to leave the seats on the curb out front of the rental car agency and have them "hold on to them until we get back".  They were nice enough to give us a free up grade and we are now driving around in an Expedition and enjoying all the extra room.  The Big Cat continued to roar when the hotel in LA had reserved a room with only 1 bed for the 4 of us.  By this time it was well after 1am west coast time when he said "let's go straight to Vegas" (only 300 miles away through Death Valley in the middle of the night).  I must admit the drive was uneventful with me driving the first leg of the journey. The Big Cat took over at a rest stop somewhere around Death Valley (felt like a scene right out of the Twilight Zone) and after a cup of coffee drove the rest of the way to Las Vegas.  
     Arriving in Vegas at sunrise was awesome but 5 am is not what the hotel had in mind when they advertise 20 dollars for early check-in ( not kidding, I tried ).  Big Cat to the rescue again with his next stroke of genius ( Did I just say genius and Big Cat in the same sentence?, this guy never ceases to amaze me and the kids). "Pawn Stars (the pawn shop reality TV show) is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week,  let's go check it out and then get breakfast and go to the Hoover Dam".  At this point the 3 of us just shook our heads in disbelief at his ability to come up with things to do when most people are (or should be) sleeping.  Everything worked out perfectly, we saw a girl drive up on a scooter ask if the pawn shop was open (it was)  as she was taking her earrings out at the same time in  an apparent hope to get some much needed cash. I chipped in with the recommendation to go to the Paris hotel for the breakfast buffet (it's always better to eat if you are not going to sleep) then off to the Hoover Dam.
     I must admit I couldn't help myself with using dam in every sentence for the next hour, (Do the 3 of you  really want to go on this dam tour? What time does the dam tour start? How much is the dam tour? Do we have to watch the dam video before the dam tour?  Are you the dam tour guide?  That was a dam good tour). I know the dam horse is beaten to death but I had a dam good time doing it.
     We had an excellent time, Lake Meade and the scenery was beautiful and the side trip to the Hoover Dam while in Vegas is well worth it.
     Finally got checked into the hotel and took a nap (passed out) before the RUSH  concert while Emily, Zachary and their uncle went sightseeing.
     The RUSH concert was great, the crowd was excellent, the MGM Grand is a perfect venue,  and the band gives you quite the bang for your buck.  The concert lasted a little over 3 hours with a quick intermission.  I won't bore you with the set list but they did play the entire Moving Picture album in order to open the 2nd set. Emily took one for the team , not being familiar with their music but was nice enough to say they are very talented and loud. She did make out alright considering she is going to "O" by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio tonight.
     Finally we made it to sleep last night after a whirlwind of an adventure that took us from Florida to California, Nevada, Arizona and back to Nevada in a little over 24 hours.  My favorite line so far is Zach saying "I didn't realize how much you can accomplish if you don't sleep".
     Today the Big Cat was at the sports book placing bets on behalf of Zachary for his birthday and winning all day long.   Nothing like your uncle handing you a hundred dollar bill and saying "junior take this it's your birthday".  We went to Caesars Palace (Emily loved The Forum Shops) , Bellagio, New York  New York, Monte Carlo and had a great time.  Zachary wanted to go on the roller coaster on the top of New York New York and that is what the 4 of us did (I will never do that again), I shut my eyes the entire time after asking the ride attendant "is this the monorail to Mandalay Bay and that girl really needs to have that mole checked out". 
     I knew before we left that the unexpected would become the memorable, but underestimated how quickly plans change and how much fun happens when you aren't even trying. That's all for now, I think I hear the Big Cat saying something about this being the first time he was ever rooting for the f**king Red Sox, see what happens when your nephew asks you to place a bet on his favorite baseball team, the unexpected becomes the memorable. Go Sox.