The 3rd Annual LAS VEGAS MARATHON

John and I had a wonderful weekend...well, I guess mine was better than his because I spent a majority of the time just relaxing and eating. He ran 26.2 miles on Sunday - not my picture of "fun" but whatever floats your boat. After we took Trent to school and Ella to Jackie's on Thursday, we left for the airport. We had a wonderful flight out west and arrived in Vegas about 6:00pm. We found a great deal at Hooter's Hotel and Casino right off the strip and I must say that it was a very nice hotel. Probably not as ritzy as the others like New York, MGM Grand, Excalibur, etc. but the point of being in Vegas is to stay out of your room, isn't it?

Since the other couple we were staying with were not arriving until later in the evening, John and I decided that we were hungry and wanted to see a little bit of the city. So we walked across the street to MGM Grand and found a McDonald's for a quick bite. We also were lucky enough to walk in just as feeding time was beginning in the lion habitat!

On Friday, we spent the whole day sightseeing...IN THE RAIN! But it was soooo neat. I had never been to Las Vegas so all I was really interested in doing was seeing all the different hotels that I could. And possibly play a slot machine or two. Well, I did both! And I won some money at the slots in Treasure Island! I had never gambled in my life before so I had no idea what the pictures on the machine meant. On my third quarter my machine started going crazy making noise and I was a little freaked...WHAT HAD I PUSHED AND WHAT TROUBLE AM I IN?!?!? That's the point when I learned what the pictures meant...and I just won a massive ...
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$35.00!!! Oh, yeah - $35.00!!! But, of course I spent a little of my fortune playing more slots so I only came home with $20.00, but it's $20.00 more than I had when I left! Since it was raining
buckets at dinner time we decided to stay in the hotel and eat at Hooter's. After dinner, we spent a little while on the casino floor (playing slots again :-) of course).

Saturday, John and I woke up and ate breakfast in the Rainforest Cafe at the MGM Grand. It was delicious...I would recommend to anyone, especially those with small kids or small kids at heart (like me). We met up with Jeff and Sharon after breakfast and took the tram over to Mandalay Bay to pick up the guys' race packets, numbers, and free stuff. We love that free stuff! We then spent the rest of the day walking through the few hotels/casinos we missed and ended up back at MGM in the sports bar to watch the end of the VA Tech football game and the beginning of the UT game. Saturday night we ended up eating in the buffet at Excalibur and playing a few more slots. A great time was had by all, but because we had to be at the start line for the marathon by 5:30 the next day we called it an early night at 8:30pm.

I have several pictures to post but I have to wait for them to be downloaded from the other computer. Here are a few from Sunday morning at the finish line:

John comes down the shoot to the finish line!!! (in the Mandalay Bay parking lot)


He always tells me it's fun to run and compete in marathons...I just can't see the fun on his face in this picture. He looks a little like he's in pain.


Maybe this is the part that he considers fun...the free postrace massages. His friend, (and our "tour guide" during our trip) Jeff joins him in the massage tent.