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Vegas Trip Day 1
Mar. 2nd, 2018 11:59 pmParked at Ash Way and sat downstairs on the Double Tall for a change. On the train was a King County sheriff's deputy with a black Lab as her K-9 partner. The dog got loose and was sniffing around all the passengers. I had to stop for a wee as soon as we arrived at Sea-Tac and didn't quite work out where to meet Gary afterwards. There was a South Asian couple ahead of us at bag check-in with a lot of luggage; Gary helped the gentleman move a couple of bags at one point. We ended up in the fast security lane normally reserved for pre-check, and therefore didn't have to take off shoes or pull my CPAP from its bag (though I did have to ditch the suspenders because in my experience they always beep).
From security we went to our gate B7 but another flight was delayed leaving that gate, so we hopped on the train to the South Satellite to grab some breakfast. On the way up the escalator we spotted two cute bears working the security checkpoint at the exit from customs and immigration; a big young bear by the scanner and an older pocket bear with dark hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. The restaurant was out of their signature Dungeness crab so we settled for omelets: Gary had a cheddar and sausage while I had a goat cheese and bacon. The pocket bear TSO ate nearby. On the train back to concourse B, a very cute cublet flight attendant who reminds me of Jim Carroll chatted with a small child. We returned to the gate area and I charged my phone, initially missing the arrival of the UW women's gymnastics team behind me on the way to Salt Lake City. Just before we boarded the plane, someone who is obviously famous but whom we didn't recognize, wearing a heavy jacket, a Dodgers ball cap and a lot of backstage passes around his neck, was more or less discreetly ushered with his entourage through the gate and onto the flight. Our flight attendants were an incredibly cute cublet with a bushy reddish beard and a tall young lady with a pageboy haircut. We couldn't see much of anything out the window except the jet engine.
We arrived at the airport, claimed our shared bag and caught the Super Shuttle to the MGM Grand hotel. Our room is on the 14th floor at the extreme end of the West Wing (cue theme music...) We spent an hour or so getting settled in the room, then headed downstairs to the buffet for what turned out to be an early dinner rather than a late lunch. Then upstairs to shower and dress for the hockey game.
The route to the arena led us to a second story pedestrian bridge connecting the Grand to New York, New York. As we stepped out of the hotel a mildly inebriated dude called out, "Duck Dynasty is in the house!" referring to my beard. I thanked him for the compliment and after a couple of pictures we were on our way. We stopped to confirm the directions for claiming our tickets and I got some pictures of a group of dudes who were playing cornhole on a Golden Knights themed board in front of a mural advertising the Las Vegas Aces WNBA team. We managed to get into the arena and to our seats without incident. On the video scoreboard a lady held up a sign reading "MY CUP SIZE IS STANLEY".
The game began well for the Golden Knights (2 goals to 1 for the Sens in the first period) but missed shots and penalties took their toll. At first intermission I was thirsty so I went to stand in a horrible line. At least there were a lot of cute brown bears in attendance (including the one who finally served me my drink). The second period was all Ottawa with three unanswered goals, one a power play goal by Matt Duchene formerly of the Colorado Avalanche (Buy beer, Matt Duchene...) In the third period Vegas managed to come back to tie the game with a regulation goal and a shorthanded goal, but Ottawa sealed the deal with a regulation goal halfway through the period, and that was all she wrote.
After the game we walked through New York, New York on the way back to the room, then returned to the first floor for a late-night snack and some bearspotting at Bonanno's New York Pizzeria. The lady behind us in line wanted a whole pie but didn't want to wait a half hour for them to bake a fresh one, so she had them piece one together from all of the pies then on display. When we finished our pizza I took some more pictures and we went back to the room and to bed.
From security we went to our gate B7 but another flight was delayed leaving that gate, so we hopped on the train to the South Satellite to grab some breakfast. On the way up the escalator we spotted two cute bears working the security checkpoint at the exit from customs and immigration; a big young bear by the scanner and an older pocket bear with dark hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. The restaurant was out of their signature Dungeness crab so we settled for omelets: Gary had a cheddar and sausage while I had a goat cheese and bacon. The pocket bear TSO ate nearby. On the train back to concourse B, a very cute cublet flight attendant who reminds me of Jim Carroll chatted with a small child. We returned to the gate area and I charged my phone, initially missing the arrival of the UW women's gymnastics team behind me on the way to Salt Lake City. Just before we boarded the plane, someone who is obviously famous but whom we didn't recognize, wearing a heavy jacket, a Dodgers ball cap and a lot of backstage passes around his neck, was more or less discreetly ushered with his entourage through the gate and onto the flight. Our flight attendants were an incredibly cute cublet with a bushy reddish beard and a tall young lady with a pageboy haircut. We couldn't see much of anything out the window except the jet engine.
We arrived at the airport, claimed our shared bag and caught the Super Shuttle to the MGM Grand hotel. Our room is on the 14th floor at the extreme end of the West Wing (cue theme music...) We spent an hour or so getting settled in the room, then headed downstairs to the buffet for what turned out to be an early dinner rather than a late lunch. Then upstairs to shower and dress for the hockey game.
The route to the arena led us to a second story pedestrian bridge connecting the Grand to New York, New York. As we stepped out of the hotel a mildly inebriated dude called out, "Duck Dynasty is in the house!" referring to my beard. I thanked him for the compliment and after a couple of pictures we were on our way. We stopped to confirm the directions for claiming our tickets and I got some pictures of a group of dudes who were playing cornhole on a Golden Knights themed board in front of a mural advertising the Las Vegas Aces WNBA team. We managed to get into the arena and to our seats without incident. On the video scoreboard a lady held up a sign reading "MY CUP SIZE IS STANLEY".
The game began well for the Golden Knights (2 goals to 1 for the Sens in the first period) but missed shots and penalties took their toll. At first intermission I was thirsty so I went to stand in a horrible line. At least there were a lot of cute brown bears in attendance (including the one who finally served me my drink). The second period was all Ottawa with three unanswered goals, one a power play goal by Matt Duchene formerly of the Colorado Avalanche (Buy beer, Matt Duchene...) In the third period Vegas managed to come back to tie the game with a regulation goal and a shorthanded goal, but Ottawa sealed the deal with a regulation goal halfway through the period, and that was all she wrote.
After the game we walked through New York, New York on the way back to the room, then returned to the first floor for a late-night snack and some bearspotting at Bonanno's New York Pizzeria. The lady behind us in line wanted a whole pie but didn't want to wait a half hour for them to bake a fresh one, so she had them piece one together from all of the pies then on display. When we finished our pizza I took some more pictures and we went back to the room and to bed.