Last Day in Las Vegas

Jon had to leave quite early in the morning, and Stephanie

and Christa were going to the airport earlier than us as well, so we went to the Venetian again, in an attempt to get Zoe on one of the gondolas. It turned out to be kind of a hassle (you need to make reservations and buy a ticket at some random place), so we skipped it, walked around for a while and then had lunch.

Alex mysteriously got ahold of a slice of lemon, the taste of which did not meet with his approval







We made it back to the hotel with a few minutes to spare before the airport shuttle showed up (Note to self: try to find a hotel with its own hotel shuttle in the future) and spent an hour driving around the gridlocked strip picking people up from five other hotels. In computer science, there is a famous problem that is called the "Travelling Salesman Problem", which refers to choosing an optimal route between geographically distinct locations. I am pretty sure that we managed to achieve the most un optimal route possible during this voyage. None of it was really the driver's fault: he had a list of people to pick up at specific times, and kept receiving more calls on the radio. Additionally, there was a several foot deep river running through one of the parking garages, which he was reluctant to ford in the van.

At the airport, Kenji and Gail split from us and the two kids, since Kenji needs a wheelchair to get to the plane. Things were a little less well organized here than in OAK, and we did a lot of standing around before it was finally time to take the shoes off our fifteen month old child, etc. etc. Getting two adults and kids through the checkpoint is kind of painful. So anyway, I was midway through the process, when I looked up and saw that Kenji was at the metal detector. He usually causes some kind of stir, so I wasn't really surprised to hear him talking to the TSA people manning the machine in a confused voice. He was talking about his suspenders and starting to stand up. The next thing I knew, the entire line of passengers was getting mooned by Kenji. One of the TSA women shrieked, and Gail looked around confusedly for several seconds before either she or Kenji decided that the show was over and it was time to pull his pants back up. I was a little surprised by it all, and haven't actually seen him expose himself during security before, but events like that are not unusual when traveling with Kenji.

The wrap up: Rain played a big part in our Vegas experience, which is annoying, seeing as the LACK of rain is a big reason why climbers go to vegas in the winter time. However, it was great seeing Jon, Stephanie and Christa, and especially great for them all to have some time bonding with the kids. Happily, Christa would rejoin us in san francisco later in the day.