ADVENTURES OUT OF THE ERC !!

 

 

This week was Thanksgiving!  I was so excited, because the ERC is closed for Thanksgiving for a total of 4 days.  Three of my children, Danny, Corky, Bobbie, and her son, Ashton, came down to see me!   Danny and Corky came first, and it was wonderful to see them!!  I had permission to go down to stay with them at the resort (an extra bed), and we were soon joined by Bobbie and Ashton who literally flew down in her car (less than 5 hours to Las Vegas Blvd).  We met at our favorite restaurant, Outback, and had a wonderful meal, talking and laughing together.  I can't tell you how being with them has filled my soul.  Although they tried to get a bigger accommodation, like a 3 bedroom suite, they had to settle for what they could get at the last minute.  Bobbie got a studio for her and Ashton, while Danny and Corky had a  one bedroom (king), so I stayed on the Murphy bed in the living room.  It was very spacious and fun to be together, and we all had breakfast in "our" unit, which Bobbie lovingly prepared.  We decided to see a few "sights" and went to the aquarium at the Silverado and then the lovely duck and bird park in another casino.  We enjoyed both and should have just come home and gone swimming, but we wanted to see the fountains and the botanical display at the Bellagio.  Big mistake--were caught in bad traffic and stood still forever.  We decided to get out of there as soon as possible and  found we could drive up to the Circus-Circus.  After parking what turned out to be as far as possible from where we wanted to go, we found the whole place packed with wall to wall people like us.  Bobbie wanted to see the circus act which took us walking all the way through the casino and then we waited in the thick crowd with no seats available (except I sat in the midst of a group who made room) for about 10 or 15 minutes for the act to begin.  The performance was fairly good, but not worth the time and trouble, and we went back to the time share resort too late to swim, go to the movie, Girl on Fire, and have Thanksgiving dinner.  We still had not decided where to go for dinner together, but thought to go to one of the famous buffets.  We discovered that most were around $50 each (!), so we weren't sure what to do. Meanwhile, we all loved going to the movie, which was one of the best of the year.  We had heard that there was a less expensive buffet in that casino, but, when we looked at the long lines, we knew (what with food that was breathed and coughed on) that this would not be a good family experience for us.  We went back to the resort and wished we had bought a turkey and cooked it!!  But we were together and happy, so we just decided to find someplace for dinner--off the beaten path.  The resort, for some unknown reason, had recommended this place, BEE-GEES, across the street,  We went in and decided there was really nothing to recommend it!! It was a smoke-filled bar with a few drunks who welcomed us to their party!  Bobbie was inspired at this point and said we ought to go to the Cannery, another casino , further north (not too far from my apt).  By the time we got there, the buffet was closed, but we were undaunted and walked up to another little restaurant in the same casino which was open. It was called The Waverly, and we might not have even noticed it.  It was really a different world inside, and all the lights and smoke and noise just disappeared behind a partition where we were seated in the best table in the place!  It was extraordinary!  The food was wonderful (we even ate and prized the left-overs!), the best we had had, and the service impeccable.  It was quiet and lovely and intimate with all of us thoroughly enjoying the food and the company--and very thankful for these wonderful moments.  What a great day!  The next morning Danny and Corky had to drive home for Corky's  job, so we had a brief breakfast and sadly said goodby.  Luckily, Bobbie was staying through until Sunday.  Because she was in a studio which is very small, I drove home to spend the night at my apartment on  both nights.  On Friday, I took Ashton to the Spring Preserve for a couple of hours and then back to the resort, where we all went in the water--hot tub (huge) and pool (heated, but not hot).  We thoroughly enjoyed out time.  We ate leftovers (delicious!) and wanted to go back up the strip to see the "bodies" exhibit at the Luxor.  It was quite expensive, but interesting, if a little creepy.  Reading about the human body and its amazing qualities really helps grow my testimony of the divinity of the creation of man.  On Saturday, we just spent the whole day playing at the resort and didn't try to go where all the crowds were!  We swam, hot tubbed, rode the lazy river, played hide and seek, Ping-Pong, pools (the table kind), board games (like Uno, candyland, monopoly) and ate delivered pizza (the pizza was good, but the salad was ruined by the awful salad dressing).  It was so fun to be together and I went home late.  The next day, Sunday, Bobbie and Ashton came and stopped on their way home, but didn't stay very long (sigh!).  It was so supportive to me to have them come.  I thought I might be very homesick after they left, but I only felt strengthened, and I felt Heavenly Father had given me another special blessing (the happy kind).