Together as a family
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 33,189
Likes: 1,646
From: Randolph, NJ
Together as a family
The four of us haven't been together at any one time in over 2 years. Andrew is in Reno, NV, Adam is in Dublin, OH and we live in NJ. Even though each one comes home and we've gone to visit them we haven't been together as a family in too long. We decided to change that but finding a location to meet was the hard part. Where could we go that was convenient for everyone, would be interesting and fun for everyone and be open on Thanksgiving Day?
We finally decided on Las Vegas. It seemed to offer everything we needed. We don't gamble, but there's lots of entertainment here and all of the restaurants are open on Thanksgiving Day. I booked the arrangements, sent both sons the money for plane tickets and started counting down the days. Everyone was excited about this. Liz and I couldn't wait to see Andrew and Adam, and the two of them could't wait for all of us to be together.
A few months ago Liz and I signed up for TSA Pre-Check. It's really just an excuse for the airlines and TSA to pick your pocket for $85 dollars each, but the thought of waiting on the security line for 1 1/2 hours at Newark Airport justified the price. Finally, Wednesday morning arrived. We left our house at 3:45 am, drove to the airport, parked the car, shuttled to the terminal, breezed through security and waited 3 hours for our flight. Finally at 8:00 am we boarded expecting to take off at 8:30. At about 8:25 the pilot announced that there was a glitch in the computer system controlling the air brakes and we'd be delayed while they reprogrammed the computer. Knowing that this was a Boeing 737-900 and knowing the problems that Boeing has been having lately with software we didn't feel especially confident, but 2 hours later the pilot announced that the glitch was fixed and we took off.
Liz and I are small people but the seats on the airplanes have been reduced in size to smaller than tiny. Aside from feeling like we were flying down in a straight jacket the flight was uneventful. We arrived at about 3:30 est, shuttled to the hotel. Andrew and Adam met at the airport about 2 hours later, rented a car and drove to the hotel.
So, here we are at the Mirage in Las Vegas. All four of us settled in, went across the street to Magginaro's for a Thanksgiving dinner, saw the Circ de Soliel show "Beatles" and are having a great time. This morning Andrew and Adam went off-roading in dune buggies somewhere not to far from here, returned for lunch and left to drive bulldozers somewhere near here. Liz and I went to the Casino where I promptly lost $3.00 in the slot machines (actually $2.21 because I hit one jackpot for a winning of 79 cents. When the boys come back we're going to have dinner and maybe go to Freemont Street to see the lights.
Tomorrow we're driving to the west rim of the grand canyon to try out the skywalk (not me, I'm afraid of heights) but Liz and the boys are going on it. After that we'll do other stuff.
Most importantly, and the best part of this weekend is that the four of us are all together. Lots to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving.
We finally decided on Las Vegas. It seemed to offer everything we needed. We don't gamble, but there's lots of entertainment here and all of the restaurants are open on Thanksgiving Day. I booked the arrangements, sent both sons the money for plane tickets and started counting down the days. Everyone was excited about this. Liz and I couldn't wait to see Andrew and Adam, and the two of them could't wait for all of us to be together.
A few months ago Liz and I signed up for TSA Pre-Check. It's really just an excuse for the airlines and TSA to pick your pocket for $85 dollars each, but the thought of waiting on the security line for 1 1/2 hours at Newark Airport justified the price. Finally, Wednesday morning arrived. We left our house at 3:45 am, drove to the airport, parked the car, shuttled to the terminal, breezed through security and waited 3 hours for our flight. Finally at 8:00 am we boarded expecting to take off at 8:30. At about 8:25 the pilot announced that there was a glitch in the computer system controlling the air brakes and we'd be delayed while they reprogrammed the computer. Knowing that this was a Boeing 737-900 and knowing the problems that Boeing has been having lately with software we didn't feel especially confident, but 2 hours later the pilot announced that the glitch was fixed and we took off.
Liz and I are small people but the seats on the airplanes have been reduced in size to smaller than tiny. Aside from feeling like we were flying down in a straight jacket the flight was uneventful. We arrived at about 3:30 est, shuttled to the hotel. Andrew and Adam met at the airport about 2 hours later, rented a car and drove to the hotel.
So, here we are at the Mirage in Las Vegas. All four of us settled in, went across the street to Magginaro's for a Thanksgiving dinner, saw the Circ de Soliel show "Beatles" and are having a great time. This morning Andrew and Adam went off-roading in dune buggies somewhere not to far from here, returned for lunch and left to drive bulldozers somewhere near here. Liz and I went to the Casino where I promptly lost $3.00 in the slot machines (actually $2.21 because I hit one jackpot for a winning of 79 cents. When the boys come back we're going to have dinner and maybe go to Freemont Street to see the lights.
Tomorrow we're driving to the west rim of the grand canyon to try out the skywalk (not me, I'm afraid of heights) but Liz and the boys are going on it. After that we'll do other stuff.
Most importantly, and the best part of this weekend is that the four of us are all together. Lots to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 46,080
Likes: 8,526
From: Mish-she-gan
Rob, loved your "what a pain in the ass to fly these days" report. We too signed up for the TSA speedy ticket but didn't follow through on it since it meant a 3-hr round trip just to get it and of course, as seniors, it did not matter. We breezed through our last flight and I didn't even have to drop the pants (ops, belt) but with a metal hip I did get to talk for a while with security.
Nice to have the family together. Vegas is neat for that. Been there, done that. Like you I never gamble but I do allow myself to depart with $20. Enjoy your time and the Grand Canyon is Out Of Sight in my mind.... To Great for Pictures to show.
Nice to have the family together. Vegas is neat for that. Been there, done that. Like you I never gamble but I do allow myself to depart with $20. Enjoy your time and the Grand Canyon is Out Of Sight in my mind.... To Great for Pictures to show.
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Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Long Beach, MS
What a great Thanksgiving, Rob, you big spender. When we went to Vegas I lost a quarter. I had to play a Vegas slot one time, after all.
TSA Pre--check is almost worth it just to get a tiny bit of "special treatment" amidst today's many air travel aggravations. But it sounds like it has gone up. It was $70 a couple years ago.
Enjoy Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Don't forget, the Hoover Dam is on the way to the Grand Canyon. Worth a stop.
EDIT: Oops...I see you posted that yesterday, so you either stopped off at Hoover already or didn't. Anyway have a great time during the rest of your trip
TSA Pre--check is almost worth it just to get a tiny bit of "special treatment" amidst today's many air travel aggravations. But it sounds like it has gone up. It was $70 a couple years ago.
Enjoy Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Don't forget, the Hoover Dam is on the way to the Grand Canyon. Worth a stop.
EDIT: Oops...I see you posted that yesterday, so you either stopped off at Hoover already or didn't. Anyway have a great time during the rest of your trip
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 33,189
Likes: 1,646
From: Randolph, NJ
Thank you everyone. So far it has been a great Thanksgiving weekend.
We didn't make it to the Grand Canyon. We've all seen it before and decided that the 2 1/2 hour drive each way wasn't worth it just to take a walk on the Skywalk. Instead, we went to Hoover Dam and took the tour. This time we got to go into the museum and to see the turbines. We're all convinced that we made the right choice. We'd seen Hoover Dam before but couldn't see the turbines because of 9/11. Hoover Dam is unbelievable. We're all in awe.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a few hours on Freemont Street. I loved it. It's a cross between the East Village in New York, 42nd Street and Venice, California. We had a lot of fun. Better still, Andrew sat down at a $5.00 blackjack table and in about 1/2 hour he won $100.00. We came back to the hotel so tired that we're going to call it an early night.
No major plans for tomorrow. Andrew and Adam want to go to New York, New York to ride the roller coaster. I suppose we'll walk down the strip and find some stuff to do. Maybe take a drive to the coutryside.
It has been a good weekend. It has been nice for the four of us to be together for Thanksgiving. I'm very happy to see that Andrew and Adam are still as close as when they were both home and growing up.
We all go home on Monday (snow permitting). This weekend took a very long time to get here, and now it seems to be going very fast.
We didn't make it to the Grand Canyon. We've all seen it before and decided that the 2 1/2 hour drive each way wasn't worth it just to take a walk on the Skywalk. Instead, we went to Hoover Dam and took the tour. This time we got to go into the museum and to see the turbines. We're all convinced that we made the right choice. We'd seen Hoover Dam before but couldn't see the turbines because of 9/11. Hoover Dam is unbelievable. We're all in awe.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a few hours on Freemont Street. I loved it. It's a cross between the East Village in New York, 42nd Street and Venice, California. We had a lot of fun. Better still, Andrew sat down at a $5.00 blackjack table and in about 1/2 hour he won $100.00. We came back to the hotel so tired that we're going to call it an early night.
No major plans for tomorrow. Andrew and Adam want to go to New York, New York to ride the roller coaster. I suppose we'll walk down the strip and find some stuff to do. Maybe take a drive to the coutryside.
It has been a good weekend. It has been nice for the four of us to be together for Thanksgiving. I'm very happy to see that Andrew and Adam are still as close as when they were both home and growing up.
We all go home on Monday (snow permitting). This weekend took a very long time to get here, and now it seems to be going very fast.