Trip 1 June 1986 As I'm writing this it is August 31, 2003, so this portion is from memory and it’s getting much harder to remember things these days so I’ll do the best I can. In June of 1986 we dropped Jana off at Mom & Dad’s then Sharlette, Stacy, Jason, Joey and I got on a plane for Las Vegas. The plan was Las Vegas - Disneyland - Las Vegas - home. When we stepped off the airplane onto the airport ramp, it was 126 degrees. But it’s a dry heat. :) We rented one of them new Ford Aerostar vans and drove over to Circus, Circus where we stayed. Just imagine what it would look like if you sat a circus down inside of a casino. Fun for everyone. The circus was in a large rotunda at the end of the casino. It had a very high ceiling which was filled with artists performing trapeze acts. The outer perimeter had just about every carnival game imaginable and every video game available at that time. This was my first experience with a Las Vegas buffet. At Circus, Circus, you walked thru the buffet and loaded up on varieties of food and desserts. Looking back now, it was pretty low quality but we thought it was great at the time. So I guess it was! We also ate at the Peppermill restaurant across the street. It was very good. I can remember Joey got some pancakes and it had a bacon and fruit face on it, kind of like in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Stacy, Jason, and I went to the Fly-Away located at the old Landmark Hotel. After receiving instruction, and fitted in your skydiving suit, you enter a round, padded room with a giant airplane propeller in the floor which is covered by an industrial strength screen. The thing is turned up full blast so when you jump out into it, you float on air. Pretty cool. I dislocated my shoulder. We also toured the Ethel M Chocolate Factory, and took some pictures outside in the cactus garden. I think we were only there for one (maybe two) nights. We did hire a babysitter so Sharlette and I could go see Siegfried and Roy. I think it was at the Stardust. I remember standing in a long line waiting to get in. I wasn’t familiar with the Maitre’ D seating system yet, and didn’t tip, so we didn’t get very good seats. In fact, we had crummy seats. More about this style of seating later. The showroom was arranged as in the picture below. The tables were about 3 ft wide, by 10 ft long. Enough for two couples on each side, so each table seats 8 people. The problem is that depending on which side of the table you are seated at determines if you are looking towards the stage or only in the direction of the people seated across from you. Guess which side the non-tippers are seated at. We were seated with some other couples well before the show started. One of the couples on the stage viewing side left. After awhile we determined they weren’t coming back so we helped ourselves to an immediately better view. About 3 minutes before the show started, they had the nerve to return and sat across from us in our old seats. We could hear them snickering, but we played dumb. Guess we shouldn’t have done that. $$$$$PICTURE The show was grand to the layman, but being a student of magic, I thought it was kind of cheesy. I knew how they did all that stuff. The next day, we drove to California. I remember buying a styrofoam® cooler and filling it with Gatorade and other drinkables for the hot ride thru the desert. That cooler sure made a lot of sqeaking noise and got on my nerves pretty quickly. The highlite of the drive was probably seeing Hoover Dam for the first time. It is really something every American should see. We stopped in Barstow and my goodness it was so hot there. The next stop was in Anaheim and it was cool and refreshing. What a difference 100 miles makes. When we returned from California a few days later, we spent the night in some cheap, sleazy motel on the far south end of the strip that is no longer there. Didn't do much this time, just stayed until catching the flight out the next day. They did have a pool and we took the kids swimming. Joey was about 4 or 5 and I remember getting a wet towel and rolling it up and making a whipping motion towards him (you know, like guys do in a locker room). It didn't hit him, but it made the champion snap sound of all time. It scared him and he started to cry. I think all the other guests thought I was a child abuser. (Great snap tho)