Time to start packing. I definitely didn't take as much care packing to go home as I did to come here. I brought a lot of clothes that I didn't wear because it wasn't warm enough.
Angela, Susan and I went searching for a place to eat breakfast and we couldn't find anything open, believe it or not. Again with the hard to find food, let alone healthy food. It's a good thing that I had a bunch of sample protein/carb bars from the expo. I just ate one for breakfast.
Angela and Meghan wanted to shop and it was their time to do what they wanted because they haven't been able to do anything they wanted to do in Vegas because they have been through airline hell. First of all their flight was cancelled on Friday and they had to re-book to leave on Saturday. They were put on stand-by and when they finally boarded the plane, their luggage didn't make it. Finally, they arrived in Las Vegas, but no luggage. They had to buy all their race gear. Hopefully they will be reimbursed for the night they lost at the hotel on Friday.
Once Meghan and Angela left for the airport this afternoon, after less than two days in
Vegas, Susan and I had an an hour to kill so we went in search of food. We were definitely
under-caloried on this trip, and it definitely isn't a great venue, in my opinion, for a marathon or any athletic event, at least not for athletes who want to eat well.
I haven't mentioned that the Nationals of rodeo have been in town since Thursday and will last for 10 days. We have seen alot of cowboys this week-end, and I gotta say that the hilight, besides Cher of course, was seeing all of those cowboys. When we were at Starbucks this afternoon, there was a tall, strapping young man in front of us with a cowboy hat. Susan and I didn't want to take our gaze off of him. Not only was he the epitome of a cowboy, and very polite by saying "Thank you, ma'am" to the lady who said "Jason, your Grande latte is ready", but we looked down and saw spurs in his boots. 'Maan', we thought, 'he must be the real deal'. I started a conversation with him about the rodeo and asked where he's from. "Wyoming Ma'am", he said. Usually I don't like it when somebody calls me ma'am, but there's something about a real cowboy calling me ma'am that made me melt. He's also a steer wrestler - no wonder he's so big and muscular. Susan and I melted at his cowboyishness. We wanted to sneak him home in our suitcase, but his girlfriend quickly came to his rescue.
We checked out this morning and left our luggage at the bell area. It was time now to pick it up and catch our shuttle bus to the airport. Arrival at airport... check; flight departure on time... check; check-in...check; sit and relax for a couple of hours... check.
I just got a text message from Angela that their flight was cancelled again. Air Canada will put them up in a hotel for the night. What bad luck. I wonder if they will ever get home. The time quickly came to board the plane, and guess what...I'm sitting beside a cowboy.
I'm watching CTV News and it tells me that Edmonton has had alot of snow and is very cold. Actually, I heard throughout the week-end that it was cold and snowy, but now it is closer to reality. I hope my car will start. If it doesn't, I may be calling my Dad to come and rescue us. Just kidding Dad. I wouldn't do that to you at midnight. I'm sure there are tow trucks at the airport for just these kind of situations.
10-4.
Vernazza
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Race Day, and then Cher
Our day started at 4am after our wake-up call. Since there is no microwave or even a coffee maker, I can't boil water to make my regular pre-race meal - oatmeal. I had to buy bananas yesterday for breakfast this morning. It is chilly outside so it's a good thing I was wearing my warm-up pants and jacket over my race gear.
When we got to the race site I heard someone say that there are over 29,000 participants in the race. I can't even fathom that many people in one place. I have never been in a race this big before. We were heading toward the bag-drop area to store our bags, but by the time we maneuvered around all the people, it was getting close to start time so Susan decided to leave her bag on the side of the road somewhere. I asked a lady if she would take my bag to the drop-off area. She said she would, but didn't want to take responsibility if she couldn't find it. I told her "it's either lose my bag by leaving it here, or lose it because you can't find the bag-drop area. I am willing to take the risk". She then told me that if she couldn't drop it off for me, she would take it to her hotel's registration desk and I could pick it up there. Deal! I am in corral 6 so my race starts a few minutes after the gun goes off at 6:15 because we start in waves. Fire works are all around to let us know that we are about to start and finally, my corral is moving toward the starting gantry. My belief system is shattered because I see hundreds of Santas over there. I thought there is only one Santa. That, my friends, is how I found out he isn't real. Besides, he's supposed to have a big belly and none of the Santas had big bellies. I also saw quite a few Elvises; in fact, more than the numbers of Santas. The last time I saw Elvis he was in Taree, NSW in Australia.
Isn't that the Statue of Liberty over there? I thought I was in Vegas. It's just the New York New York Hotel. Then the Mirage, then Caesar's Palace. Oh look, Cher - well, just a sign of her. This is where we are seeing her tonight, and I think I'm going to have to wear sensible shoes and change into my Cher shoes when I get to Caesar's Palace as my feet may be sore when I finish. It's going to be such a good show.
I'm now entering sin city - or at least that's what that casino and movie rental place over there is called. I thought that's what this entire city is known as - sin city! I definitely wouldn't want to live here. It's not friendly enough and people aren't willing to help anybody out.
We are now at the turn-around and the first order of business is to find a porta-pottie. There's one. It seems like I have been standing here for three or four minutes waiting. Hurry up in there, I have a race to run!
Some marker signs are in miles and some in km, and when I started running again, fortunately I saw a sign saying '15 km'. I'm glad because I really didn't want to put the effort into conversion. That's six more km to go. Hmmm... that's about 32 minutes. Hey, I think I may be able to finish this race in a better position that I thought I would. Suddenly my pace picked up.
I crossed the finish line in 2:10:05. That's respectable and I am very pleased with that time. Here's my drill-down results for the half marathon:
5,621st place out of 17,827 finishers
2,505th place out of 11,322 women
195th place out of 1,200 women in my age category
Minimum time was 1:01:40, average was 2:31:45 and maximum was 5:06:23. I was faster than the average... yippee.
It's better than I did in Australia and I didn't train as much so I have decided that training is over rated; well, at least for shorter races. There's no way I could get through my longer triathlons next summer without training. Oh, and my gear bag was at the bag-drop area. After maneuvering through all the athletes, kiosks and free food areas (mmm, food), we made it back to our hotel for a latte at the clean-air Starbucks, but we had to go through the smoke-filled casino to get there.
I think I need a shower now and a good stretch. I have to be in top form for Cher tonight.
The time has come. Time to go to the lobby to catch a cab to Caesar's Palace. We checked out the Cher store, and my new Cher outfit was big a hit to the ladies and men. A couple of women commented on my outfit and how nice my jacket was as well. They actually thought I was somebody big. I told them I am just a regular person, and they insisted I was a movie star and that I looked like Celine Dion. That is the nicest compliment I have ever received from anyone before.
We're now in the Colosseum waiting to see Cher and the music just started. Impressive so far. The music is excellent. She's making her entrance by coming down from the ceiling on a platform and singing. She's on stage now and starting the show off with a 10 minute monologue. She's actually pretty funny. I'd say she's larger than life, but she is more petit than I thought, but that could just be that she's 50 feet away. She is just like you see on TV, with all the wigs and head pieces. When she is busy doing a costume change - and she does plenty of them - her dancers are either performing a very lively act or she is showing footage from the Sonny and Cher Show. It was very classy of her to remember where she started out.
Time for "If I Could Turn Back Time" and the black outfit she is so famous for. She doesn't quite wear the same outfit she wears in the video, but it comes close. For a woman in her 60s, her plastic surgery has served her very well.
She put on an excellent show with continuous action. She is AWESOMe! Who would have thought that the lady I saw on TV 30 years ago would become so big and such a diva and I would get to see her in concert.
After the show, we went shopping at the Forum shops. We shopped at Jimmy Choo Shoes, Cartier, Diesel, David Yurman jewelry, Pandora. I also wanted some gelato, but it was $12 for a scoop. I'll pay for an over-priced dress or shoes, but not for something that's gone in a matter of 30 seconds. It's too bad that staff at Jimmy Choo Shoes didn't offer foot massages because I could have definitely used one, what with running a half marathon and then wearing my very high Cher Shoes. Not exactly practical, but they look great.
Time to go so we can hit the hay, but I didn't because I went out with Angela for awhile.
Tomorrow is our last day here and I've had enough of this town. I can't wait to get home so I can eat healthy. Oh, I forgot that I'm also looking forward to the cold; NOT! From what I hear, it is very cold in Edmonton woo hoo.
When we got to the race site I heard someone say that there are over 29,000 participants in the race. I can't even fathom that many people in one place. I have never been in a race this big before. We were heading toward the bag-drop area to store our bags, but by the time we maneuvered around all the people, it was getting close to start time so Susan decided to leave her bag on the side of the road somewhere. I asked a lady if she would take my bag to the drop-off area. She said she would, but didn't want to take responsibility if she couldn't find it. I told her "it's either lose my bag by leaving it here, or lose it because you can't find the bag-drop area. I am willing to take the risk". She then told me that if she couldn't drop it off for me, she would take it to her hotel's registration desk and I could pick it up there. Deal! I am in corral 6 so my race starts a few minutes after the gun goes off at 6:15 because we start in waves. Fire works are all around to let us know that we are about to start and finally, my corral is moving toward the starting gantry. My belief system is shattered because I see hundreds of Santas over there. I thought there is only one Santa. That, my friends, is how I found out he isn't real. Besides, he's supposed to have a big belly and none of the Santas had big bellies. I also saw quite a few Elvises; in fact, more than the numbers of Santas. The last time I saw Elvis he was in Taree, NSW in Australia.
Isn't that the Statue of Liberty over there? I thought I was in Vegas. It's just the New York New York Hotel. Then the Mirage, then Caesar's Palace. Oh look, Cher - well, just a sign of her. This is where we are seeing her tonight, and I think I'm going to have to wear sensible shoes and change into my Cher shoes when I get to Caesar's Palace as my feet may be sore when I finish. It's going to be such a good show.
I'm now entering sin city - or at least that's what that casino and movie rental place over there is called. I thought that's what this entire city is known as - sin city! I definitely wouldn't want to live here. It's not friendly enough and people aren't willing to help anybody out.
We are now at the turn-around and the first order of business is to find a porta-pottie. There's one. It seems like I have been standing here for three or four minutes waiting. Hurry up in there, I have a race to run!
Some marker signs are in miles and some in km, and when I started running again, fortunately I saw a sign saying '15 km'. I'm glad because I really didn't want to put the effort into conversion. That's six more km to go. Hmmm... that's about 32 minutes. Hey, I think I may be able to finish this race in a better position that I thought I would. Suddenly my pace picked up.
I crossed the finish line in 2:10:05. That's respectable and I am very pleased with that time. Here's my drill-down results for the half marathon:
5,621st place out of 17,827 finishers
2,505th place out of 11,322 women
195th place out of 1,200 women in my age category
Minimum time was 1:01:40, average was 2:31:45 and maximum was 5:06:23. I was faster than the average... yippee.
It's better than I did in Australia and I didn't train as much so I have decided that training is over rated; well, at least for shorter races. There's no way I could get through my longer triathlons next summer without training. Oh, and my gear bag was at the bag-drop area. After maneuvering through all the athletes, kiosks and free food areas (mmm, food), we made it back to our hotel for a latte at the clean-air Starbucks, but we had to go through the smoke-filled casino to get there.
I think I need a shower now and a good stretch. I have to be in top form for Cher tonight.
The time has come. Time to go to the lobby to catch a cab to Caesar's Palace. We checked out the Cher store, and my new Cher outfit was big a hit to the ladies and men. A couple of women commented on my outfit and how nice my jacket was as well. They actually thought I was somebody big. I told them I am just a regular person, and they insisted I was a movie star and that I looked like Celine Dion. That is the nicest compliment I have ever received from anyone before.
We're now in the Colosseum waiting to see Cher and the music just started. Impressive so far. The music is excellent. She's making her entrance by coming down from the ceiling on a platform and singing. She's on stage now and starting the show off with a 10 minute monologue. She's actually pretty funny. I'd say she's larger than life, but she is more petit than I thought, but that could just be that she's 50 feet away. She is just like you see on TV, with all the wigs and head pieces. When she is busy doing a costume change - and she does plenty of them - her dancers are either performing a very lively act or she is showing footage from the Sonny and Cher Show. It was very classy of her to remember where she started out.
Time for "If I Could Turn Back Time" and the black outfit she is so famous for. She doesn't quite wear the same outfit she wears in the video, but it comes close. For a woman in her 60s, her plastic surgery has served her very well.
She put on an excellent show with continuous action. She is AWESOMe! Who would have thought that the lady I saw on TV 30 years ago would become so big and such a diva and I would get to see her in concert.
After the show, we went shopping at the Forum shops. We shopped at Jimmy Choo Shoes, Cartier, Diesel, David Yurman jewelry, Pandora. I also wanted some gelato, but it was $12 for a scoop. I'll pay for an over-priced dress or shoes, but not for something that's gone in a matter of 30 seconds. It's too bad that staff at Jimmy Choo Shoes didn't offer foot massages because I could have definitely used one, what with running a half marathon and then wearing my very high Cher Shoes. Not exactly practical, but they look great.
Time to go so we can hit the hay, but I didn't because I went out with Angela for awhile.
Tomorrow is our last day here and I've had enough of this town. I can't wait to get home so I can eat healthy. Oh, I forgot that I'm also looking forward to the cold; NOT! From what I hear, it is very cold in Edmonton woo hoo.
In search of...
Up and at 'em. Susan was still in bed, so I decided to start the day by myself. I ran into a couple with a very southern accent who are doing the half marathon as well on Sunday. I told them it is colder than here back home in Canada. They agreed as if they knew what they were talking about and like we live in igloos. Stupid southerners!! I was in search of relatively healthy food, but had no luck. I walked around for more than an hour looking for a coffee shop, but they don't have them here. They're all in the hotels and I found out there is also no free wireless. So far I have no desire to return to this town. Everything's a money grab. I knew that before I came, but I expected the Internet to be free in the hotel at least. I finally found a mexican restaurant that serves breakfast burritos, which isn't my first choice for a healthy meal, but I was so hungry I could have eaten a kangaroo, and believe me, I would if I could.
There were a lot of runners out this morning preparing for the race on Sunday. Oh! Just got a text message. Susan must be up. I texted back telling her where I am. The Adidas store is next door and she remembers where that is, or at least she thinks she does. She said she'll be here in five minutes, but the streets are so big here and you forget which door of the hotel you come out of that I bet it'll be 10 minutes. No disrespect though - it is difficult to find your way around until you get your bearings.
Susan, where are you? I've been waiting for more than five minutes; as a matter of fact, it's been 20!
I'm looking forward to getting off the strip to do some shopping, and not just for the shopping, but to get away from this area.
After shopping for awhile in the Adidas store, we decided to check out Starbucks in our hotel, but not before we checked out the lion exhibit. After our lattes Susan wanted to go to the gym and stretch, but there is a fee to use the spa in our own hotel!!! There's another nail in Las Vegas' coffin.
I'm now on my way to the host hotel of the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon, the Mandalay Bay. On my way there I realize I don't have my water bottle. I had to go back to Starbucks in our hotel because I remember leaving it there. I am lost in the hotel because it is so huge. I thought I got lost a lot on the streets of Australia, but in a hotel! OK, got the bottle and I'm off again to the Mandalay Bay, a short 15 minute walk down the strip. The hotel is huge. Then again, everything is huge in Las Vegas. For a minute I thought I was in Aussie land again because there is a huge fish tank with tropical fish and down the way, there is a shark reef tank. I haven't seen that yet, but I'm on my way now. Of course I also have to go through the casino to get to the Convention Centre to pick up my race package. Whoever designed the hotels in Las Vegas is brilliant because no matter where you are going, you have to go through the casino. They really want you to lose your money to them. Well, I'm not falling for that game. I work too hard for my hard earned money to risk losing it by gambling.
I digress. I will now sign off and continue my way to the Convention Centre to pick up my goodie bag, or swag bag, as we call it. Oh, by the way...they charge to see the shark tank so I'm not going to see it. I saw enough sharks in Australia.
Maan, I entered this hotel 25 minutes ago and I'm still making my way to the Convention Centre Bayside Hall C. This hotel is so huge that I had to take a rest on the way there. Once I entered the hotel, it's a longer walk to get to where I'm going than it is to get from my hotel to this hotel. Enough resting Ellen, get going, and I'm off again.
I checked in to collect my number at the appropriate wicket, corral 6; there are 29 in total, so that means there are close to 30,000 runners in this race. I can't even imagine that. Good thing there are 29 different waves to start the race; otherwise, it would take half an hour to get to he start line. That's why there are so many corrals.
The next stop was a table to get my swag and t-shirt. After that I wandered around the expo for quite a while. The expo was huge. Every kind of product that an athlete might be interested in was available, from clothing to protein drinks to protein bars. There were lots of samples of protein bars and our favourite, a probiotic drink that was delicious. We definitely weren't hungry after the expo. I asked somebody to take a picture of me posing as Elvis playing a guitar.
Enough of this sporty stuff. Let's go to the factory outlets. Speaking of Elvis, guess what I bought? ...some blue suede shoes.
I'm tired, let's go! We caught a cab back to the hotel and unpacked our loot and now I'm finishing my blog for today. I'm yawning so I better get ready for bed.
Las Vegas Here We Come
Well, here we are - in the Edmonton International Airport and things didn't get started off too well. Actually, I'll start off with telling you what happened last night. I tried to web check-in, but guess what...our tickets are more than two months old and their computer system has changed so our reservation code wasn't good anymore. I was on hold for more than an hour and finally gave up, thinking "well, we have our tickets, so everything will be fine". We managed to get checked in, but only after trying to use the kiosks to no avail. We finally waited in line for half an hour. Good thing we got here with lots of time to spare.
Now, on to Security. Step one...through customs. "Are you taking any fruit or vegetables to the U.S. with you" the nice lady asked me. "Just an apple and orange to eat on the plane", I said. God forbid...the plane might go down if you have an orange. I had to surrender it because who knows what you can transport in orange peel. Well, at least I still have my apple and sandwich.
Next...step two - through Security. I knew from experience that I'd have to undress - or should I say take off my belt, remove all my dangly jewelry from my jeans, take off my jacket and shoes. Good thing I wasn't wearing my Cher outfit, or I would have to take off my blouse, or do you think they would let me get away with leaving THAT on? For some reason they put my carry-on bag through the x-ray machine twice and I have no idea what it was they were concerned about. Memories of all the Security I had to go through last time I travelled came flooding back.
OK, now that we're through the portal, the first order of business was a latte, but unfortunately the only coffee shop nearby was a Starbucks. Susan owes me a latte because I won a bet, but I think a special latte in Las Vegas sounds better than Starbucks, so I told her to keep her money until we're there.
We're on the plane now. Hey, where's the flight path and the International Date Line? Oh, I forgot that we're only going three hours away. I'm already acting like I've been drinking, but I haven't. I'm just excited about going to Vegas. There's a man sitting beside me and I told him we're going to see Cher and he told me he's jealous. I asked him if he's gay. He isn't, but that was the topic of conversation for awhile. Whaaat! A man who likes to shop? "Are you sure you're not gay?" I asked. "No," he said, "but it's great ice breaker if we see each other this week-end." He's also running the Rock n Roll marathon. In fact, there are a lot of people on this flight running in the race. Just to give you an idea of how many people are in this race, we are each assigned a corral number to start the race, as it starts in waves because there are so many runners that we can't all start at once. Each corral houses 1,000 runners. My next door neighbour here is in corral 20, so you figure it out. I don't know if there are more than 20 corrals, but I have never been in a race so big. Good thing they're closing the strip for the race. I eventually told him "OK, I'll shut up now". He didn't seem to mind my childlike attitude though. When I eventually shut up I started reading a magazine that was left behind by a previous passenger. There was an article in it about the Queen's grand daughter relaxing at a luxury eco-resort in the Blue Mountains in Australia after putting on a dazzling performance in the Melbourne Cup. Hey, I've been there, and not only that, I've heard of the Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately, I didn't stay in a luxury resort, but had I not been in Australia only a month ago, I wouldn't have known what either was, but hey, I'm in the know now.
We're starting our descent now. That was a much quicker flight than last month, but I have to say that I would much rather have the long flight I had last month if it meant I was going to the same destination. I am looking forward to the race and seeing Cher though.
Viva Las Vegas
We're here and it's freezing outside. I just may be able to get away with wearing my down filled jacket, but I don't think I will; it's not THAT cold. The forecast for overnight on Saturday is down to -5 degrees Celcius, which means it will be cold at race start on Sunday morning. That's as cold as it is at home during the day right now. I think I may need to buy some cheap throw-away gloves.
The MGM Grand is massive. We got lost looking for a place to eat. Oh, and did I mention that they also allow smoking in casinos. So much for my healthy, pink lungs! That won't serve me too well for the race. I hold my breath a lot. Not only that, but Internet costs $14.99 a day in the hotel. So far, so bad! Are Edmonton and St. Albert the only places in the world that offer free wireless??? I doubt it, but it seems that everywhere I travel these days - being the world traveller I am - has high-priced Internet. Our room doesn't have a microwave or even a coffee maker. So much for the oatmeal I brought for breakfast. Even Super 8 has a microwave and coffee maker. We're now in search of a restaurant with healthy food for breakfasts. Do they even know what healthy is in this town? I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time near casinos, and I'll be carrying my lap top with me everywhere again hoping to find a free connection. I'll ask the concierge tomorrow if he knows of anywhere. So far I'm not too impressed with the MGM.
After dinner We went for a walk on the strip. Maan, the strip is not how I remember it, but I haven't been here since 1995. I can't even describe it, other than to say 'there are a lot lights!' We went to the M&M store. Four stories of anything and everything M&M - Christmas decorations, clothing, stationery, kitchen trinkets, and M&Ms in colours, in bulk, that we don't get at home. I bought some of my trademark green, purple and yellow peanut ones.
On the way back to the hotel, we were looking for somewhere warm to hang out and went into a tacky souvenir shop. I hope it's warmer tomorrow.
Now, for a good night's sleep to start the day bright and fresh.
Now, on to Security. Step one...through customs. "Are you taking any fruit or vegetables to the U.S. with you" the nice lady asked me. "Just an apple and orange to eat on the plane", I said. God forbid...the plane might go down if you have an orange. I had to surrender it because who knows what you can transport in orange peel. Well, at least I still have my apple and sandwich.
Next...step two - through Security. I knew from experience that I'd have to undress - or should I say take off my belt, remove all my dangly jewelry from my jeans, take off my jacket and shoes. Good thing I wasn't wearing my Cher outfit, or I would have to take off my blouse, or do you think they would let me get away with leaving THAT on? For some reason they put my carry-on bag through the x-ray machine twice and I have no idea what it was they were concerned about. Memories of all the Security I had to go through last time I travelled came flooding back.
OK, now that we're through the portal, the first order of business was a latte, but unfortunately the only coffee shop nearby was a Starbucks. Susan owes me a latte because I won a bet, but I think a special latte in Las Vegas sounds better than Starbucks, so I told her to keep her money until we're there.
We're on the plane now. Hey, where's the flight path and the International Date Line? Oh, I forgot that we're only going three hours away. I'm already acting like I've been drinking, but I haven't. I'm just excited about going to Vegas. There's a man sitting beside me and I told him we're going to see Cher and he told me he's jealous. I asked him if he's gay. He isn't, but that was the topic of conversation for awhile. Whaaat! A man who likes to shop? "Are you sure you're not gay?" I asked. "No," he said, "but it's great ice breaker if we see each other this week-end." He's also running the Rock n Roll marathon. In fact, there are a lot of people on this flight running in the race. Just to give you an idea of how many people are in this race, we are each assigned a corral number to start the race, as it starts in waves because there are so many runners that we can't all start at once. Each corral houses 1,000 runners. My next door neighbour here is in corral 20, so you figure it out. I don't know if there are more than 20 corrals, but I have never been in a race so big. Good thing they're closing the strip for the race. I eventually told him "OK, I'll shut up now". He didn't seem to mind my childlike attitude though. When I eventually shut up I started reading a magazine that was left behind by a previous passenger. There was an article in it about the Queen's grand daughter relaxing at a luxury eco-resort in the Blue Mountains in Australia after putting on a dazzling performance in the Melbourne Cup. Hey, I've been there, and not only that, I've heard of the Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately, I didn't stay in a luxury resort, but had I not been in Australia only a month ago, I wouldn't have known what either was, but hey, I'm in the know now.
We're starting our descent now. That was a much quicker flight than last month, but I have to say that I would much rather have the long flight I had last month if it meant I was going to the same destination. I am looking forward to the race and seeing Cher though.
Viva Las Vegas
We're here and it's freezing outside. I just may be able to get away with wearing my down filled jacket, but I don't think I will; it's not THAT cold. The forecast for overnight on Saturday is down to -5 degrees Celcius, which means it will be cold at race start on Sunday morning. That's as cold as it is at home during the day right now. I think I may need to buy some cheap throw-away gloves.
The MGM Grand is massive. We got lost looking for a place to eat. Oh, and did I mention that they also allow smoking in casinos. So much for my healthy, pink lungs! That won't serve me too well for the race. I hold my breath a lot. Not only that, but Internet costs $14.99 a day in the hotel. So far, so bad! Are Edmonton and St. Albert the only places in the world that offer free wireless??? I doubt it, but it seems that everywhere I travel these days - being the world traveller I am - has high-priced Internet. Our room doesn't have a microwave or even a coffee maker. So much for the oatmeal I brought for breakfast. Even Super 8 has a microwave and coffee maker. We're now in search of a restaurant with healthy food for breakfasts. Do they even know what healthy is in this town? I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time near casinos, and I'll be carrying my lap top with me everywhere again hoping to find a free connection. I'll ask the concierge tomorrow if he knows of anywhere. So far I'm not too impressed with the MGM.
After dinner We went for a walk on the strip. Maan, the strip is not how I remember it, but I haven't been here since 1995. I can't even describe it, other than to say 'there are a lot lights!' We went to the M&M store. Four stories of anything and everything M&M - Christmas decorations, clothing, stationery, kitchen trinkets, and M&Ms in colours, in bulk, that we don't get at home. I bought some of my trademark green, purple and yellow peanut ones.
On the way back to the hotel, we were looking for somewhere warm to hang out and went into a tacky souvenir shop. I hope it's warmer tomorrow.
Now, for a good night's sleep to start the day bright and fresh.
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