So after a busy (and rather gastronomic) 1st week in LA, Chris flew for a 9 day stint. His time here was going to go off for a roaring start, because we were planning on hitting Vegas along with Miguel, who was coming down the day after he arrived from Fresno. So, the following day, in my rented bone-white PT Cruiser (UGH), we hit the open road.
Being that it was a friday, we wanted to get an early start to beat the weekend onslaught that was sure to slow the I-15 down to a crawl. Despite a bad call from me to get on the 405 instead of the 101, we still made it out of LA and into the high desert in good time. Once we got past Victorville, the rest of the trip was a breeze.
We got to Vegas in time for happy hour. It was typical Vegas hot outside, a dry desert heat I hadn’t felt in quite some time (I hadn’t been to Vegas since 2003). During our drive into town, I was absolutely shocked at all the new towers in the skyline, as well as all the MASSIVE construction going on all up and down the strip! Vegas has always been sensory overload for me, don’t get me wrong. But now, holy shit! This place has become aboslutely, insanely MASSIVE.
We checked into our room at the Mirage. Being quite the veteran player at the Mirage for years, I built up quite a lot of comp points with the players club. But, and this kinda hurt, since I hadn’t played there, in about 4 years, all my points were voided! So for the first time in a LONG time, we had to pay for our hotel and meals in Vegas. Oh well, that’s what happens when you fall out of the loop.
After a slow first night, we hit the town on Saturday. My brother actually told me about a friend of ours, James, who lives out in Vegas now and works at the MGM Grand. I had his number, so I gave him a call. He was at work at the show he manages, and invited us over for the show. We took him up on that immediately. The show is the Crazy Horse Revue, which is based on the popular Paris Burlesque show. So we weren’t about to turn that down.
We met James at the front entrance of the theatre, and he got us a great table just off the stage. The show was really entertaining (a surprise for me, because I never thought I’d go to one of these), and the dancers were frickin HOT, but hey, the show was entertaining. 
After the show, we met up with James at a casino bar for some drinks, and continued our nighttime trek from there. I wanted to get some poker in, so I suggested we check our Harrahs poker room. By that time, Chris was starting to feel some pain in his knee and decided to call it a night. Miguel went along with him, so it was just me and poker the rest of the night.
And what a night it was. In less than 2 hours, I won over $300 playing at Harrah’s. Then, I walked over to Mirage’s poker room, and they had a no-limit table open, so I jumped in. In less than an hour, I won another $450. Outstanding.
The next morning, we got some breakfast, and I decided to play another round. I lost $100 but it was time to go, and I was still way ahead. It was nice to see that I can still hold my own on the tables in Vegas, even after such a long absence.
We hit the road back to LA Sunday afternoon, and made it back just before sunset. Miguel didn’t have to be at work until the next night, so he stayed over and we went and got some drinks in Hollywood. Next morning after breakfast, we saw Miguel off.
The rest of the week was riddled with lunches and dinners with several of my LA friends, both old and new. We also met up with Tria one night for a really nice night out at the CityWalk, and then Hollywood after that. Tria is a budding DJ, and took us to a cool lounge that she sometimes spins at. It was a really cool place right off Vine. We hung out there the rest of the night until Chris got tired and decided it was time for us to go.
We also caught a movie, met up with Becky in Santa Monica for sushi and drinks. We also met up with a friend Angela who I’d only talked with online via Myspace for lunch. At the end of the week, Miguel came back to LA along with Arcelia and his son Chris. We spent a day up at the Getty Center on Chris’ last day in LA. The weather was perfect, and the views were awesome. We got Chris to the airport in time, and saw him off. Miguel’s brood spent the night, and headed back the next day.
So the visit’s been fun and productive so far, and I have managed to keep the pets alive with nary any issues, not counting when I had to break into the garage through the back window, and when Blue, one of the cats ran off and was missing for a day. Otherwise, everything has been cool so far.
To be continued…