Viva Las Vegas!

Well, this whole trip got started with the spousal unit having a companion ticket with Delta, and Aerosmith is in residence, so why not?!!! Early Christmas present to us!

Knowing how the airline business works, and fails, I knew to be prepared for plan B.  The spousal unit travels by plane a lot, and she has enough stories to write a book.  I carried my medicines and my CPAP machine in my bookbag, two things that keep me alive and sane!

Check in at the airport was uneventful, except for the older couple at the counter.  They were asked to put their luggage on the scales. The old guy struggled to get the first bag up the required 12 inches to reach the scales.  It was obvious that he didn't use curb check in, so how on the hell did he get the bags out of his car???

Our departure was scheduled at 4:00, so we would be arriving in Las Vegas, via Delta, a bit late.  We boarded the plane, comfort class, a gift from the spousal unit, nice!  All loaded, plane backs up, ready to go! Nope!

The pilot got us almost to the runway, when all of a sudden we came to a complete stop.  There we sat.  Pilot tells us a circuit breaker has tripped, and they cannot get it to reset.  It powers several sensors that tell the pilot that everything is green.  No green, no flight.  We go back to the gate, deplane,  and wait for the repair.  They had to replace the circuit breaker,  which had gone bad.  Three hours later, we were finally in the air. While we were still in the terminal,  the Delta people were desperately trying to get ahead of the game by booking alternate flights for as many passengers as they could, full plane, and nope, we were not at the top of the list.

I had brought several snacks for the flights, but they were gone, eaten during that 3 hour delay.  Comfort class gets you early boarding, a plusher seat, and complementary beer and wine. Yes!

During the flight to Atlanta, the stewardess noticed that lots of flights had been delayed and were still in Atlanta.  The pilot made up some time, air time was 24 minutes!  Maybe, just maybe, we would make it to Vegas tonight! Once we landed, the spousal unit checked with Delta on their smartass app.  We had been rebooked on a later flight, but one bag was still in Jackson, and after a 3 hour delay, WTH??? Then, she noticed that we had first class seating, oh yeah baby!!!

We exited the plane on terminal B and headed to terminal A.  We chose to go straight to the gate, passing up a food stop, first class, after all!  They had just announced final boarding, we had made it to the gate, just in time.  No boarding ticket, except for the Delta smartass app had ours in it.  Gate attendant scanned it and printed out our seat assignments, handed them to us and sent us through!

The flight to Las Vegas is four hours.  Flight notes said snack and beverage only.  It was now 9 pm Atlanta time.  Remember those snacks in the Jackson airport?  And now, more of the same! Plus several beers and margaritas and movies!

We arrive at the Las Vegas airport, thankful for an uneventful flight. The pilot stops the plane short of the terminal.  All the gates are occupied.   At one gate, the plane will not crank for push back. At another gate, the jetway will not pull away from the plane.  We sat on the taxi way for 45 minutes until the Maytag repair guy could get into motion.  Pilot was not happy, we were just tired and ready for a cab ride!

As expected, only one bag made it to Las Vegas! Thankfully the one that did make it belonged to the spousal unit, so we would be able to look presentable at her conference at 8a.m.  We are staying at the Red Rock Casino,  taxi driver, says it's a bit of a ride out there.  Taxi fare with tip, $75! I asked, he said Uber is actually higher!

Guessing our Aerosmith concert is gonna have a $150 round trip taxi ride.  This concert better not disappoint!

Checked into the hotel, 15th floor, and the room is 400 yards down the hallway.  Minibar is broken.  I have not had any caffeine since 11 a.m. Jackson time.  It is now 4 a.m. Jackson time, 2 a.m Vegas time and our heads are just now hitting the pillow. Second bag should arrive around 10.

Stay tuned......