yup – I was smiling through all of this – it was only that first night that caused the slight eye leakage.
life is too short, you know? All I could do was laugh during all of this – I mean, just how much can go wrong to one person on a trip like this?
You’re going to find out – stick with me.
So, I had my water and my Milano cookies . . . a wash-up and a bit of a rest. I had asked for a 6 am wake-up because the original hotel was sending the Town Car back for me at 7:30. I was down to the lobby in plenty of time and checked out and then I sat
and sat
and sat some more
waiting for said Town Car and nice bellman in neat blue uniform to show up.
I asked the desk clerk if he would call hotel number 1 to see if the car was on its way. He nicely did just that – and then he looked at me to say WHO said they would send a car? Erm – her name was Bethany, I think. She says Bethany she thinks. Ms. Moose, do you mean BETSY? Betsy! That’s it! Ummm, no, Ma’am they didn’t get that down, but they will send a car for you. Great – thanks!
So I sat and waited some more. FINALLY, the Town Car arrives with nice young bellman in nifty blue uniform. Are you here for Ms. Moose, I ask? No, Maam, I’m here for R___ R____. That’s me, I hear from behind me. Are you going to aforementioned hotel, I ask sweetly? Wait! Did you say R___ R____? We’ve been emailing back and forth – I’m Ms. Moose from Kenai! Mind if I share your car? Nope – hop in.
It turns out that RR had the very same difficulty I had the previous night – he arrived at the desk shortly after I had been taken to the other hotel. Same results – he was taken to the other hotel as well. As far as I know we were the only two.
We arrived back at hotel #1 and checked our luggage with the bell captain – were told we should both have rooms by lunch time – and then went around the corner to registration for the conference.
They don’t have a name tag for me – I am NOT on the list! (I know, I am thinking the same thing – can ANYthing else go wrong at this point? Stick with me . . . it gets even better!)
No problem, we’ll print you a name tag – here’s your lovely bag (and it is very nice, too!) with the conference materials inside – go on and have your continental breakfast and listen to the keynote speaker.
You betcha – I AM feeling a bit hungry – so I have some fresh fruit and bagel and find the rest of the entourage (including RR) from Alaska and he and I regale them with our last night’s excitement. Someone comes in and says “you need to go back out to the registration desk – they say they have given you the wrong bag!” Erm – just as soon as I finish my breakfast, okay? Okay!
Turns out the bag I was given was just fine – and by that time they had printed me off a name tag and I got a cute little holder for it – just like everyone else.
The rest of the day was great – the keynote speaker was awesome and inspiring. The breakout sessions were very good and the lunch . . . well, trust me when I tell you that hotel knows how to make your tummy happy!
And – I was even able to go to my room – my very own room!!! How happy was this moosie!!!
After the last session of the day another woman and I decided to catch a taxi to the Tropicana to see the Bodies Exhibit. Wow!!! That was just awesome. If you ever get a chance to see it, do so.
We had dinner at the buffet there before heading back to my very own room – well, she went to her own, of course. And, there I found a card from the manager of the hotel with his apologies for what had happened the night before – if there is anything we can do to make your stay better, please let me know.
And, next to the note were a can of fancy mixed nuts and a can of chocolate covered coffee beans! Holding the note up was one of the biggest bottles of water I have ever seen in my life! Water from Norway – VOSS water – the biggun pictured here. I so wanted to bring that bottle home with me – it would be a cool vase. But, it was very heavy even when empty (the water inside? it was okay – I’m not really sure it was worth as much as the website says, but okay). And, I had only taken a backpack – which by the end of the conference was PACKED with paperwork and cds and such – so I sadly had to leave the beautiful bottle behind. The nuts and choccies were good, though.
RR and I kept telling everyone that when an airlines oversells the flights they (sometimes) reward you with a RT flight at another time – or a first class ticket – we said the least the hotel could do would be to comp a night at one of their hotels around the country – OR – arrange for us to go to a show on the strip – sigh – neither happened.
But we had water! from Norway! and nuts and choccies – AND an apology note.
Not too bad . . . on to day 3 . . . I’ll tell you tomorrow.
>..<