Greetings – to begin, some of you may have already noticed that this is actually Day Fifteen. I am, however, going to share what actually happened yesterday. I had it all done last night the had a disagreement with my iPad. Apparently it took offense when I attempted to add the wrong photo and it punished me by deleting my efforts. I sat there looking at it for 15 minutes before I “got it”. Everything I had so painstakenly written was gone. Forever. Now I have to make a bunch of stuff up to fill that void.

Yesterday … hmmmm.

The Cate’s awoke refreshed, ready to start another day of serious walking as they used the inefficient Las Vegas monorail system to gain entrance to Bally’s Casino. The goal this day was to visit the Saxe Theater, located deep in the bowls of the Planet Hollywood Casino. Planet Hollywood is directly across Las Vegas Blvd from the Paris Casino, which is physically attached to Bally’s via a 4 mile long tunnel filled with shops and overpriced things to eat and drink. It’s all a trick to wear you down so you succumb and buy something.

After finally finding someone who would talk with them, the Cate’s were directed to the “V Theater”, which had the box office where they could exchange their vouchers for actual tickets with assigned seats. This box office was located directly on the opposite side of the casino. To get there require a circumnavigation of the facility which took 45 minutes and covered approximately 1.8 miles. Once there, the Cate’s were greeted by a cheerful young lady who took the vouchers in return for reserved seats for the 7:00 pm performance that evening. The performance, you may remember, was going to be at the Saxe Theater so “Why”, you may ask, “did they go to the V Theater for the tickets?” Why indeed. It was explained to them that the Saxe Theater didn’t open until 2:00 pm and it was, at that time, only noonish.

The reason they arrived at noon was because it was their understanding the performance they were going to see was at 1:00 pm and that they needed to be an hour early to ensure reservations. So, in addition to be forced to walk miles and miles to get the tickets, they also had to either endure a 7 hour wait, or eat. So they ate. It was free with the tickets, and the tickets were also free, so that ws good and really left no room for complaint.

Traversing the circumference 15 times, again, they stumbled upon a sign pointing to the Spicy Somethingorother Buffet, one level down. They entered, got a seat, and proceeded to partake.

Jerrie, being the gentleman that he is, stayed in the booth, guarding Diane’s purse, while she filled her plate first. It was a long ordeal for him as she dillydallied over all the choices, deciding what to select. Finally she returned with about 3 small things on her plate, and released Jerrie to gather some food, with instruction to not take too long.

Having had time to view the choices from a distant, he knew exactly what he wanted and returned in 30 seconds for 6 different kinds of shrimp. Shortly after he sat down Diane was off again in search of sustenance. Sitting there, all alone, he ate his shrimp slowly, savoring every bite. All the choices were good, as there are no bad kinds of shrimp, but some are more interesting than others. One choice, for instance, was Buffalo Fried Shrimp.

Finally, the buffet served its purpose by filling them up, so they left. They had decided to return to the condo and lounge by the pool for a few hours fore returning to the evening show. It was windy and overcast, making the pool not a valid choice, so they soaked, instead, in the very hot hot tub. Yes, it was very hot.

They departed their accommodations at 5:45 pm for the transit to the theater. Jerrie knows this is true because at that time he pointed out that they had planned to leave at 5;30 and that they should probably leave soon. He was reminded that he wasn’t in charge of anything and that they’d get there when they got there. He sat quietly on the couch thereafter.

The monorail ride was uneventful, as they usually are, with the exception of one extremely loud couple with whom they had to share their car for two stops. It was annoying.

After the interminable walk to the theater, they were greeted by a stern lady wearing an apron, who ceremoniously ripped off the bottom portion of their tickets, and told them to go left, around the bar. They did, and found themselves surrounded by VIP ticket holders who were waiting to be summoned for the show. While they waited, they purchased two drinks, both sodas, in a wondrous cup with blinking lights on the bottom, for $14. They were allowed to keep the cups forever.

Finally they were summoned to enter the theater and find their seats. It turned out that the VIP ticket actually had value as they were seated smack in the middle, 4th row from the stage. Perfect seats. And, the show was stupendous. It was called “VEGAS! The Show” and was performed by approximately 30 extremely talented young people who took the crowd through the history of Las Vegas. It was one of the most entertaining shows the Cate’s had ever seen and Jerrie remarked that he’d put it right up there with “O”.

Pictures were not allowed in the theater but Jerrie conned someone into taking this one after the show …

And this one, on the walk to the monorail …

Too many people, most of them stumbling around with drinks and talking way too loud. Guess the Cates are just getting too old for this kind of stuff.