THE DIVAS LEAVE VANCOUVER......AND ARRIVE IN LAS VEGAS

If you can hear the music playing in the background..well....Tess... this song is for you....... I LOVE YOU MAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, April 8, 1999

We're Off to the Airport !!

Tess has arrived !! Wooooooohooooooooooo !! FB can't get her luggage out the door and into Tess's car fast enough !! So excited I could burst.!! As soon as Tess pulls out of my driveway, I did burst. I screamed. All this excitement had built up over the past 4 weeks or so, and the day was finally here. Tess tells me to shut-up and drink my coffee !! We're at the Park and Fly Lot at the Airport by 5:00 am.. The drive to the airport is normally about a 45 minute drive, but, we made it in 25 mins......Tess (aka leadfoot) was obviously in a hurry !! LOL. We leave the car for the Valet to park, and carry our bags to the waiting area where the bus will take us to the terminal. I only wish I had my camera ready to go when Tess was carrying her purse, her carry on bag, and a suitcase in each hand. Then she realized she had her full cup of tea to carry too. She got about 3 steps before she dumped her tea all over her suitcase and her pants !! WAY TO GO TESS !! OY!!

We're all checked in and decide to kill some time at the duty free store. Tess spends $ 77.00 and we haven't even left Vancouver yet !! Oh my !! The whole time we were in the airport, we were singing and shouting DIVA'S LAS VEGAS...... I'm sure everyone thought we were nuts. After duty free, we proceeded to the lounge to wait for our flight to be called. We phoned our "Pimpdaddy" aka Tim, to say we were there and on our way. He played VIVA LAS VEGAS for us over the phone. We got a lot of strange looks. What, haven't you ever seen two girls holding a phone between them, singing and dancing at 6:00 in the morning in the airport before???? GO FIGURE !!

Well, here's FB at the airport.....digging out her meds for the flight, and listening to Viva Las Vegas on the phone. What a way to start the trip !!

We're on the Plane !!

The plane was about 20 minutes late in taking off which for me, FB, is a lifetime!! Poor Tess had to endure my babbling as I was nervous, shaking, and scared to death !! I survived the take - off (sorry if I squeezed your hand too tight Tess!!). 35 minutes into the flight, Tess dumped her purse on the floor, which kind of lightened my mood as I laughed at her clumsiness!! Silly Tess!! The balance of the flight was basically a non-event, except for the little bit of turbulence which sent me into a frenzy thinking the wings were going to fall off the plane. Tess also got sick of me asking me what time it was...like FB!! You just asked me that 5 minutes ago!! The flight seemed to take forever!! We finally started to descend into Las Vegas. And Boy, WHAT A LANDING!! I was not the only person on the plane who thought we were gonna die. First time I've ever actually assumed the crash position !! Even Tess was scared!! It was bumpy and noisy and very frightening. Everyone on the plane let out a sigh of relief as we slowed down and cruised up to the terminal.

WE'RE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As we go down the walkway from the plane to customs, we see two very familiar faces staring at us through the glass !! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO !! It's our Pimpdaddy and Bunzoooo!!!!!! I could barely walk I was shaking so bad from the flight and also shaking because I had just, for the first time ever, seen two of my on-line friends. It was so overwhelming, it was definitely a time to dig out the kleenex. The only one missing was Nick, who unfortunately, had to work and wasn't to arrive until Friday Night. Oh Well, one more great thing to look forward to. After waiting 45 minutes to get our luggage, we finally get to go out of customs and get our hugs, real ones, which are much better than the {{{{{{ }}}}}}} kind !! Tim, looking fine in his Pimpdaddy hat and beads introduced us to Walter (our Limo Driver), who was standing there with a sign reading THE VEGAS DIVAS, and a red rose for each of us. I can't tell you how special it made us feel, except that we both felt like princesses. We went outside to the limo, had a few pics taken and then we were off. We had to drop Eric off at the other part of the airport, as he was greeting Mystery_Gal there in a couple of hours. But at least he got to enjoy a glass of wine with us!!

Well, here's our first taste of what Vegas Style means !!!!!!!

THE DIVA'S GET SPOILED !!!!!!!

Where do I start???? Tim didn't leave out a thing !! In the Limo were 6 bottles of cold White Zinfandel (Berringers) and a platter of the biggest shrimp I've ever seen. We say cheers, we hug, and then Tim takes control of the CD player and voila !! It's Elvis singing Viva Las Vegas !! Kleenex time for FB again !! What a Sap !! Uh Oh.....Looks like Tess could use a tissue or two herself !! More surprises....Tim did a little shopping spree at the local music store.... We listened to FunkyTown, Madonna, Natalie Merchant, he had all of our favorite music !! What a guy !! We sat back and drank our wine (lots of it), ate the shrimp, listened to the music, and looked out the window as we drove down the strip to the downtown area and back down the strip again. We felt like Royalty. Two more firsts for FB here. First time in a Limo and also the first time FB and Tess had ever seen a palm tree. Yes folks, we lead very sheltered lives up here in Canada !!!!!!!!!

Can you say "Feeling like a Princess?"

No need to say Smile or Cheese for these pics !!

Only thing missing in this pic is the shrimp !!!!!!

Wow........Happy or What?????????????????

All Tess and I could say was "Oh My God, I Can't Believe We Are Finally Here !" After a couple of hours of touring around town in the classiest way possible, we were dropped off at our hotel. We said our goodbyes to Walter and walked in to our Hotel. Uh Oh, HOUSTON....WE HAVE A PROBLEM !!!! Seems the girl who booked our room put us down for August 8 instead of April 8. Easily sorted out, and we're in our room on the 12th floor overlooking the pool. Tess and I get changed out of our dressy stuff and into our casuals including our special t-shirts we got for the occassion. Luckily, we have a special t-shirt for our Pimpdaddy too !! We drink more wine and stare at each other........WOW.....WE'RE HERE !!

Here we are in our T-Shirts !!

Are we having fun yet????????????

I Love My Pimpdaddy !!!!!!!!!!!

The Diva's start depleting Tim's White Zinfandel supply !!

Now who's happier...us or the palm tree ?? LOL

THE FIRST NIGHT !! AND OH, WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS !!

We decided to go for a walk over to the Mirage. There we run into Bunzoooo and Mystery_Gal and Mystery_Gal's friend Beverly. So, the 6 of us went for a buffet. It was a great time for us to get to know each other, and to see those smiles for real, not just a *S* typed on a screen. We parted company with Eric and friends, and walked down to see the Freemont Street Experience. I've never in my life seen such a light show. We ran into Eric, Carol (Mystery_Gal), and Beverly again. We all walked and talked and watched the light shows. Everyone ordered these beers which came in giant plastic footballs. (All but FB cuz she's still suffering from this stupid cold and has basically the voice of a choking frog). Tess is in heaven.....WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN WALK DOWN THE STREET AND DRINK MY BEER !! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO !! I LOVE THIS TOWN !!!!!!!!!! Tess ends up fumbling her football and ends up wearing her beer on her pants and in her shoes !! LOL. I think Eric and Tim half expected her to get down on the floor and suck it out of the carpet !! We all went over to the Stardust to see a great band and have a few more drinks. Tess got a second wind, and turned into the party animal we all know and love. She even had her first shot of Yaegermeister..... which by the end of the evening she was calling Burgermeister Meisterburger. Tess and Bunz did some dancing and drinking, and we all had a great time. Walking back to the car, we were a class act !! Tess and FB with their arms wrapped around each other, dancing down the street singing Downtown......except we didn't know the words !! LOL We got back to our hotel, put Tess to bed and Tim and I went and gambled a bit. I didn't win... not surprising...my gambling skills are about as good as my cribbage skills. After a couple of hours, I finally said goodnight to Tim, and thanked him over and over again for the day.

Here we have, from the left side of the pic.. Beverly, Carol (Mystery_Gal), Eric (Bunzoooo), Chrissy (Tess), Tim (Vegaskindaguy) and me FB (Leslie).... what a fun start to our holiday !!!! This was our buffet dinner at the Mirage.

Think we're having fun here??????????????????? OF COURSE !!!!!!!!

Wow......in the Company of Friends....What more could we ask??

We made Tim an honorary Canadian eh !!

This is Chrissy doing her party trick......yes.....she can touch her nose with her tongue !!

Here are Eric, Chrissy and Tim at the Freemont Street Experience !! Those are footballs o' beer !!

Lucky FB !!!!!!!! Oh What a Night !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another bonding in the bathroom moment for Tess and I.

And this is what happens when you drink a football full of beer through a straw. Chrissy passed out in the car. Perfect opportunity for PAYBACK TIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do I really need to tell you to click on the dice to get to the next page????????