Hurry!

There is no way the hotel pool is heated to 87! I’d be surprised it if was even 70. Definitely wetsuit legal...and I almost wish I had mine on. I only swam for 5-10min before calling it good. I had enough over stuff to get done before leaving anyway. Wes was all set to use the hot tub, but the hotel didn’t have one. I thought all hotels did!?!?!

The coffee pot did well with the veggie burgers. Next time we’re in this situation, I’m packing the cast iron pan (the small one) and the camping heating device thing. Wonder if it would set off the fire alarm. I wouldn’t be against setting up a campsite in the parking lot :)

We checked out with plenty of time to spare to play one final round of Bingo. This time we made sure to have tip money. I got two coffee and baileys. Wes had a tequila sunrise and a bloody mary. Good drinking for morning! We didn’t win anything, but were closer then the night before.

I thought we would have plenty of time to get to the airport. And we would have if we had gone straight to the car rental return. Unfortunately where we thought it was and where it actually was were two different places. The road signs are horrible in vegas! After a full lap around the airport which seemed to take FOREVER, we made it to the car return at 2:50. Flight leaves 3:50! If you’ve been to vegas you know it’s not a quick turnaround. Shuttle to the airport, wait in line to check in (thankfully no line for us), stand in line for security, then another shuttle to the gate.

The check in lady gave us a look that I thought meant we were not going to make the flight. They only have one a day, so we’d be stuck for another full day. But we just got a lecture and told to hurry. We checked one large bag and the bike box. Wes put the bike box on the scale, and it came in under 50lbs. I’m pretty sure it was due to the container not fully fitting on the scale, but I wasn’t about to try and adjust it. I put the suitcase up and it weighed in at 54 pounds. I took a few things out and placed them in our carry one and we were good.

We hurried to the security line and waited, and waited, and waited. Being the pain in the ass traveler that I am, I was pulled aside. My cooler had ice in a baggie which was considered liquid, so it was taken. I found out that they also consider peanut butter and almond butter liquids, so they were confiscated as well. I asked if I spread the peanut butter on my bagel if I could take it on. She said I would have to go back through security with my sandwich if I did that. Due to our lack of time, I gave in and let her take my peanut butter away. Next time I’m checking it! I also had “ice cube” things that were little packets filled with water. Each one was about 1 inch x 1 inch. Since they were all individual I thought it’d be okay. They made it through Cedar Rapids just fine. She said she could ask someone else to make sure it wasn’t allowed, but again, we were in a hurry so I let her have them. Damn!

My tri bag had the coffee maker shoved in it. It barely made it through the scanning device, but it made it all the way home safely.

We ran to the tram and finally arrived at our gate. They hadn’t even started loading the plane. Plenty of time to use the restroom, and still stand in line to get on. Mark (Cindy’s husband) had arranged our seats back, which was awesome! The plane ride was uneventful. I played Euchre on Wes’ iPhone pretty much the entire flight.

Back in Cedar Rapids it was freezing outside! Glad we missed crappy weather instead of good stuff. I waited for our luggage and thought I’d have to go to a special pickup area for my bike, but nope. It was on the carousel. The box was partially open, so I thought something had happened. When we got home I discovered that it had been inspected. They must have taken the bike frame out because the tie downs were untied and my handle bars were upside down. It looks to be all ok, but I won’t know until I ride it.

In all, it was a great trip. We got to see and meet great people and friends. I’m ready for my next vacation!