Whenever I take a trip I think might be of interest to my readers, I always summarize it in this column. I just got back from the bank after depositing a small refund from a trip I had to cancel at the last moment because she couldn't get away to go with me. The travel agent told me I could substitute someone else in her place. Since there is no substitute for her, I just cancelled the whole trip and took my financial lumps. So here's the story about how the trip that wasn't would have been.

We drove to Denver on Thursday afternoon, June 28th and spent the night at Embassy Suites near the airport. Embassy Suites is an excellent high-end all suite hotel with amenities not found at most hotels. Each suite contains two separate rooms, (a living room and a bedroom) a wet bar, microwave oven, and refrigerator are in the kitchen nook in the living room. Also in the living room is a couch that makes into a bed and a full-size television set. In the bedroom are either one or two beds and a full-size television as well. There are phones in the living room, bedroom, and bathroom. A complimentary complete breakfast is served every morning, prepared the way you like it.   There is also a complimentary cocktail hour in the late afternoon. It's a great place to stay and I highly recommend it.

We were early risers on Friday, June 29th because our flight left at 7am. We were booked on Champion Air and we arrived in Las Vegas at 7:50am, Vegas time. We took a limousine to our destination hotel, Caesars Palace, one of the world's greatest hotels, and checked our bags with the valet since we couldn't check into our room until 1pm. Since it's pretty hot in Vegas in late June and early July and we didn't want to do a lot of walking, I reserved the limousine for our entire stay. We spent the morning driving the strip, touring downtown, and stopping at some of the more notable places of interest. After checking into our room, we relaxed for awhile, then put on our swim suits and made our way down to the "Garden of the Gods" outdoor heated swimming pool and lounging courtyard. 

We found a couple of lawn chairs close to the water, ordered a couple of margs from the cocktail waitress that came by every few minutes, and just relaxed, soaking up the sun and each other's presence. We stayed out a couple of hours, thoroughly enjoying the fact that we were together in the most fabulous resort city in the world. We then headed back to the room for a little R & R before it was time to get ready for our first night out. The first order of business was dinner and we had a magnificent Roman feast in the Bacchanal restaurant.

We had reservations to see Paul Anka at the MGM Grand on Friday night. We left a couple of hours early in order to get in a little gambling before we went to the show. It's always fun to go to a big Vegas production because you have the opportunity to dress to the nines and fully indulge your fantasy. And that's what we did. We had fair luck at the tables and, before we knew it, it was time to go to the show. As those of you who have been to Vegas know, you can have literally anything you desire if you're willing to pay for it. Since she was with me and had never been to Vegas before, I wanted the whole trip to be a totally memorable experience for her, so I greased the Maitre-d's hand with a bill and we were rewarded with choice seats, down close and right in the middle. Anka was in great voice, the production qualities of the show were super, and we had a wonderful time.

After the show, we took the limo over to the Rio Hotel and went to the Voodoo Lounge, located on the 51st floor. There we took in an awesome, panoramic view of Las Vegas from the patio of the Lounge and since it was a weekend night, the place was jammed with all the "beautiful people." We stayed and danced till three in the morning. As we were leaving, we stopped to play a little more Blackjack and then we called it a night. As we rode back to Caesar's in the limo, I felt a peace and a joy inside me I had never felt before and I knew it was because of her.

We slept pretty late on Saturday because of our late night, and didn't make it to breakfast until 11am. After breakfast, we toured the incredible shops at Caesar's. If you've never visited them before, you ought to go. Practically every thing you could think of having or even wanting is there and, although most of it is pretty pricey, it's still fun to look. After shopping, I talked her into a massage and mud bath at Cleopatras Salon and Spa on the premises. She came back rested and relaxed and we spent the rest of the afternoon the way we had the day before. Pool, drinks, relaxation, enjoyment, and R & R. Saturday night we had reservations to see REO Speedwagon poolside at Mandalay Bay. Our travel agent had told us what an incredible venue this was to see a concert and she was absolutely right.

Because it was poolside, we dressed down this night instead of up and it was appropriate. It was like a huge beach party with Speedwagon sounding just like they always have. We danced the night away, took the limo to The Beach, a popular dance spot just off the strip and danced some more. It was again in the wee small hours of the morning before we got to bed.

We spent almost all of Sunday driving from one hotel to another because I wanted her to see everything. We went to the Las Vegas Hilton, the Flamingo Hilton, the Sahara, New York, New York, Paris, Bellagio's, the Mirage and downtown. Each offers something a little different and we had a great time.

Sunday night we went to lounge shows featuring top entertainers at the Sahara and the Las Vegas Hilton and turned in fairly early. Again, for those of you who have been there, you know that three days in Vegas is like a week anywhere else. We were pretty exhausted from all our forays but thrilled at the same time because we were able to experience them together.

We spent most of Monday lounging around the hotel, then left for the airport around 3pm to catch our 5:20 flight back to Denver. We arrived in Denver at 8:10, spent another night at Embassy Suites, and drove home on Tuesday.

The trip that could have been, but wasn't.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

My thanks to Rusty Eisenhart for pointing out to me that I quoted the wrong person last week. It was FDR who said, "the only thing to fear is fear itself". I apologize for the error.