Las Vegas Day 1

Here’s a little update for you from Las Vegas. I’ll be posting about what I see and learn at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the next couple days, so be sure to check back.

All Times Local

3:00 AM – Kansas City – Wake up, brew/consume coffee, charge phone

3:30 AM – Kansas City – Drive to Airport

3:45 AM – Kansas City – Park Car in Economy Lot and Call for Shuttle Service

4:00 AM – Kansas City – Get Boarding Pass

4:30 AM – Kansas City – Pass Through Security (no pat down or naked scan required, just good ol’ metal detector)

5:30 AM – Kansas City – Board US Airways Airbus 319 (Seat 2A)

6:00 AM – Kansas City – Plane Departs

7:40 AM – Phoenix Skyharbor – De-plane for an hour, charge phone

8:50 AM – Phoneix Skyharbor – Re-plane, depart for Las Vegas

8:40 AM – McCarran Airport – Arrive in Las Vegas (before I left! Time Zones!)

I’ll suspend the time breakdown here. In the KC airport, which I could have arrived at an hour later than I did, there was a couple flying with a Scotty dog. It looked like a nice dog, and seemed well-behaved. Some Steve Jobs look alike came over and spilled his entire dog ownership history upon seeing the Scotty dog. This dude evidently has 4 Scotty dogs of his own back home. Thanks for sharing, Steve Jobs look alike!

Once I got off the plane in Las Vegas, I had to walk to the opposite end of the airport to claim my baggage, then I got on the shuttle to the rent-a-car complex and claimed my faithful conveyance for the week: the noble Chevy Cobalt.

Drove over to the Travelodge. They don’t just give out a 1.5 star rating to any ol’ hotel either. I’m sure this place has been around since Sinatra was in town. It’s good enough for who it’s for.

I drove up the Strip a ways. Really neat stuff. I can’t wait to do some exploring. I drove up to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop of Pawn Stars fame, but there was no sign of the Old Man or any of the other TV show cast. Maybe I’ll try back later. They’re open 24 hours a day.

Driving Down the Strip

On This Episode of Pawn Stars

Continuing to play tourist, I took a little drive out to the Hoover Dam. What an impressive structure. On the flight in we passed right over Lake Meade and I was able to see the dam from the air. Even from an altitude it looked impressive. I was glad that you can drive over again. I heard that after 9/11 for a while it was restricted. Now they’ve got it set up where you can drive across the dam one way, and then you have to drive right back across it. There’s no through traffic. I didn’t take the Dam tour because I didn’t have any Dam questions and I couldn’t find any Dam bait (Cousin Eddie!)

Lake Mead

Lake Mead Side of the Dam

Looks Like You Brought Your Scotty Dog All This Way for Nothing

After the jaunt out to the Hoover Dam, I headed back to town, stopped by the Riviera briefly to get my CES badge holder, and came back to the Travelodge. Where I wrote up this blog post. Keep an eye out in the coming days for my posts about the CES.

A final observation. I flew out here 1^st class, but I’m heading back coach. That’s going to be a mistake. I didn’t realize this, having never before tasted the sweet nectar of 1^st class, but when you’re up there in the big comfy seat, you actually get customer service. Flight attendants were falling over themselves trying to get me coffee refills. In coach, the flight attendants are basically zoo keepers. The passengers back there are more of a burden in their eyes than a customer. Maybe I can upgrade before my return flight…