Every year, we have an in-person summit for work. Last year, it was in Dallas. This year, it was in Las Vegas. The interesting thing is, I've been to 45 of 50 states. Nevada was one of the rare states I had not been to. This year's summit would change that.
As you know, I don't like flying. I would rather road trip. It feels like you're cattle herded and lose all flexibility. This is especially true during a government shutdown. There is an increased threat of delayed and canceled flights.
The morning of my flight, the news was already warning people of travel impacts.
After saying goodbye to the Little Dudes, I got ready to go. I decided to eat breakfast at home since other places are a bit expensive.
One of the things I do regardless of mode of travel is pack light. I put everything I needed in a single backpack I could carry on. This would reduce any complexity with luggage if my flights got disrupted.
I got to the Dane County Regional Airport and went inside. It didn't take long to get through security. The gate itself was peaceful, and I was able to relax and read a book.
The flight from Madison to Chicago was short. They said we reached cruising altitude. I swear a moment later they announced we would be descending. With that, my connection was tight.
I had to run to another terminal to make it on time.
Luckily, I did. The plane was pretty empty, and I got the row to myself.
I enjoyed looking out the window and watching the progress of my flight.
It was a longer flight, but eventually I made it to Vegas. They didn't spare any time from you getting off the plane to being able to gamble right away.
As I was walking to the hotel shuttle, I noticed a sign about public marijuana consumption. I found it interesting that it would be posted right outside the airport. Sadly, later on, I would find most people ignored that on The Strip. It reeked while walking around!
Our summit was at Planet Hollywood. It took a while to get there, but we soon made it.
The line to check in was very long. Over to the side, I saw some self-check-in kiosks. A few people were using them, so I figured this would help me check in faster. The first one I tried had the slot for my driver's license covered up.
I saw an option for a passport. I had my passport card on me, so I tried that. It literally got caught up on "verifying age."
The kiosk next to me opened up, so I tried using my driver's license on that. It saw my reservation, but told me my room wasn't ready. Granted, this was at 5:30 PM, so I was a bit confused.
Since nothing was planned that night, I decided I would check out the courthouse. I found everywhere to be a maze, so I got an Uber. The logistics of finding a bus was too much. We drove from the mega resort "new" Vegas to "old" Vegas.
I was lucky that my Uber driver was born and raised in Vegas. We had a nice conversation, and he told me that Vegas has changed a lot, especially in the last decade or two. It's gone from the mom and pop places to these mega resorts.
Old Vegas reminded me a lot of Wisconsin Dells. I could see where this area was a lot of fun back in the day and where Vegas got its reputation. Unfortunately, this area has become a bit run-down and sketchy.
Before you know it, we were at the courthouse. I may have been the only person going to the courthouses at that time, not looking to get a marriage license. There were several couples walking in and out.
I collected my first county in Nevada and then headed back to Planet Hollywood.
The check-in line was long again. I tried the self-check-in kiosk and got the same result.
I got in line and waited a while and talked to a real person. The kiosk was incorrect, and a room was available. I made my way to the 29th floor.
It had a great view!
Since I had to run to my next plane in Chicago, I didn't get a chance to eat. I went downstairs to the hotel convenience store to pick up some grab-and-go food.
A sandwich, a bag of chips, and a cup of ramen cost $28! Vegas has a way of extracting what it can from your wallet.
I was happy you could actually use the fridge in the room. It wasn't one of those that had a bunch of stuff in it, and if you set off a motion sensor, it would extract more money from you. Unfortunately, there was no microwave to heat up the water.
I was able to make it work with the hot water from the sink. I was exhausted and didn't want to go downstairs again to find a microwave or hot water. I ate and then fired up my beater laptop. This is an older, cheap laptop I brought that, if TSA roughed it up, it wouldn't be a loss to me.
The nice thing with the time change is that it was still technically kind of early. I was quickly in bed and ready to get a good night's sleep. I knew the next day would be long. I fired up my USB fan and tried to sleep.
Unfortunately, even being on the 29th floor, I could hear a band playing from somewhere. I could hear the lyrics almost word-for-word. I think they stopped playing around 10-11 PM. I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted, but I did get a good night's sleep and felt refreshed the next morning.
I've been at my job for over six-and-a-half years. The nice thing is, despite there being over 1000 people there, I am always running into people I know. It's great to see people in person.
With that being said, we are all remote workers. We have considerable flexibility over our schedules. We can also get up, walk around, and take breaks pretty easily. With a packed agenda of in-person events, it can get very tiring on a more rigid schedule.
After the first day of events, we had a team dinner at PF Changs. Thankfully, it was right inside Planet Hollywood, so I didn't have to walk far.
My fortune cookie made it seem like I had luck on my side.
After the dinner, I found the nearest machine to try my luck with $1.
I ultimately turned my $1 into $0.06. I don't think that would be enough to buy another fortune cookie that might give me a more realistic outlook.
I could now say I officially gambled in Vegas. I'm not much of a gambler, so that was enough for me. I was tired, so I went up to my room to get to bed early. Thankfully, it was much quieter outside.
The following morning, it was time to get ready for another jam-packed day.
After the day's events, we had a celebration night at Brooklyn Bowl.
This was the first bowling alley that I had to go through metal detectors to get in. After going through them, I went straight to the food. Fried chicken sliders are amazing! I washed it down with a $15 beer. That's definitely the most I've ever paid for a beer at a bar!
At work, a few people got a band together and they played for us. We stayed there and listened to their whole set. Then a group of coworkers and I walked to the nearby Ferris wheel.
While everything is expensive in Vegas, I will say the $65 for this was well worth it. You got to see Vegas from up top and it had an open bar. You had to jump into one of the moving cars quickly.
Then there were excellent views!
After our half-hour ride, we got down and saw Vegas from the ground.
Vegas really has a way of warping time. There was this one casino we dropped by that made it seem like the middle of the day, when it was night.
On the other end of it, it was cool seeing some live music.
After a night of walking through the mazes and everywhere else, I was hungry. I made it back to Planet Hollywood. There was a sandwich shop called Earl of Sandwich. They made an awesome Italian sandwich.
The next morning came fast. I was hearing people saying security lines were getting bad, and so were flight delays. I rode with a coworker to the airport and got to my gate. Lo and behold, my flight was delayed.
I took that as an opportunity to get something to eat.
The plane boarded, and we ended up sitting on the tarmac for 45-60 minutes. The pilot joked that, "We have to wait for 15 of our friends ahead of us."
That ultimately made my next connection super tight. I thought I might have to spend the night in Chicago since that was the last flight to Madison. As we were landing, the flight attendants made everyone aware. They requested that anyone who didn't have a tight connection remain seated.
As we landed, my app was saying I had 18 minutes to make my next connection.
Of course, everyone stood up and started trying to get their luggage from the overhead bin. I only had my backpack, so I started politely asking if I could sneak behind people. I let them know that I didn't have anything in the overhead bin, so I could get out of the way fast and make my tight connection.
A few people let me by, but of course, a group of older people decided to block me. They were preoccupied with the overhead bin. They seemed not to share the same urgency since they weren't actually taking their luggage out of it. The plane hadn't officially docked so that we couldn't get off of it. I asked them if I could sneak around. I explained I didn't need to get anything from the overhead bins and could get out of the way quickly.
This would allow me to catch my tight connection. They responded, "Well, we all have tight connections." They then proceeded to block me. They only got their luggage after the line started moving, further holding things up. I didn't feel like making the news, so I stood there and waited for them to slowly get off the plane.
The second I could, I started running. I had to go to another terminal. Thankfully, I got a text saying they were holding my flight for a few minutes.
I made it with barely any time to spare, but I was happy I was on my way to Madison.
When I landed in Madison, all was peaceful and calm. Everything was shut down, and it was a peaceful walk to the car.
I took a breath of fresh air and saw the changing leaves. The drive home was nice and tranquil. Victoria had ordered JonnyO's, so that was my supper for the night. It really hit the spot since I didn't get a chance to eat supper with all the rushing I did.
Later in the weekend, I could tell Little Dude really missed me. On Sunday night, we planned to go to the West Towne Mall. When it was closing, as we were about to walk in, we headed to Portillo's instead. We enjoyed a nice supper together.
I will say it was nice to see some of my coworkers again in person. I was also able to not only visit one of the remaining states I had left, but I was able to claim a new county. I will say going to Vegas reaffirmed why I like to travel like I do.
While Old Vegas seemed like it would be cool, new Vegas seemed a bit much for me. The environment felt so artificial. It didn't feel like I took a breath of fresh air from the time I left Madison to the time I got back. Additionally, the stink of marijuana in many places reaffirmed that the air wasn't too fresh.
Besides being artificial, Vegas has this over-the-top extractive environment to it. I can see where it serves conferences well since everything is contained. They make it hard to leave, so you continue to pay really high prices for everything. Even crossing the street takes 45 minutes.
With that being said, when you like to bounce around like I do and go off the beaten path, Vegas isn't really the place to do it. If I ever do get back to the city, I will probably avoid The Strip and find the areas that have the $5 buffets and drinks. I will also probably drive and avoid all the hassles and frustrations with the airline experience.