Day 11

Driving into the night was a great idea last night because today we wake in Vegas in our lovely RV resort. The boys want to swim since it is so warm outside, so we head to our tropical paradise pool at 9:00 am. We have to live every moment of this day because we want to swim, relax, see Vegas, and visit with old friends.
I get the boys changed into their suits and the four of us head to the pool. Our resort has two pools, one for adults and one for families, and hot tubs. We also have a restaurant, a very nice store and gift shop, and room service to our RV! The family pool is surrounded by giant rocks, a waterfall, and a sandy beach. Finally, we get to relax and just hang out! The boys JUMP right in but I am less eager. The hot Nevada sun bakes down on us and I am hoping the sunscreen I have applied on the does the job. Under the thatch-like umbrella, Ben and I sit and relax and watch the boys revel in the gorgeous, hot day. We talk about what we are going to do with our day, and Ben enters the heated pool and plays with the boys. I love to watch him interact with the boys and there is nothing on earth, not a Nintendo, a Wii, an ipod, or a television show that they like more. Ethan’s giggles and yells echo throughout the resort and a man from California compliments me on my “beautiful” family. We strike up a conversation about California, our next destination, and he gives us tips about traveling around San Diego. The water is warm and pleasant, and all of us are enjoying this pit stop because we are travel weary.
Ben is expecting his old college friend, Tonia, to drop by our resort so that they can have a mini-reunion here in Vegas. After some time in the hot tub for both of us and a very warm, happy conversation with my sister-in-law, Mindy, Tonia arrives and Ben is very happy to see her. After intros, I let them catch up and I play in the pool with the boys and buy them snacks in our campground store, which is just great. Bennie and I buy a Las Vegas magnet for the RV, and the early afternoon is a real success.
It is hard to pull the boys away from the pool and the sand, but we must explore Vegas. I have not been to Vegas since 1995 so I am expecting a lot of changes and great new things. Traffic is a bear, but we enjoy taking in every inch of the strip. Mandalay Bay, the Luxor, New York New York are like busy paintings to the eye. Bennie is very enthusiastic, and as I look into the backseat, I notice how sunburned little Ethan is. He is a freckle monster! Bennie is absolutely amazed by the mini Statue of Liberty (which is not very mini) because he has been to the Lady Liberty several times (again, lucky kiddo). I love the Brooklyn Bridge that spans the entire sidewalk and I adore the ethnic neighborhood building fronts. If you have never been, you will be delighted by the New York Taxi rollercoaster! Hehe How appropriate. As we continue down the strip, I am just anxious to get to the Bellagio Hotel and I imagine Ocean’s Fourteen (the 14th cast member being me). The Eiffel Tower looms ahead and stands erect over the strip. Just awesome and cheesy all at the same time. Across from the Eiffel Tower and the Paris Resort is my Bellagio. Ohhhhhhh…stately, luxurious, magnificent and grandiose. Could such a palace have been created for middle-aged fat men in Bermuda shorts eating buffet style? Me thinks Not! We park at the Bellagio, and I am so happy to be in the city again. I adore city life and all of its business and hectic happiness. I am telling you now, I will live in Manhattan yet. While we park, we hear the not-to-distant sounds of the water cannons exploding and dancing in the Bellagio Fountain, which is the size of a large pond in front of the wonder that is the hotel. We opt to go through the Bellagio on our way to the strip, and I have died and gone to hotel heaven. The towering ceilings, covered in glass colorful flowers and merry-go-round with sunflowers in each of the cars is breathtaking. Giant watering cans water down on a beautiful Italian garden, and the front desk is bigger than my entire home. I am constantly in danger of bumping into fellow tourists as my eyes are always up and I am hypnotized by grandeur. Our first stop will be the gorgeous dancing fountains. As we come to them, the music begins: Bocelli’s ConTe Partiro, one of my very favorites, and the fountain guns rise out of the beautiful lake and waltz to the rhythm of the music. I love this! After singing along and watching until the choreography ends, we make our way to the Mirage for the dolphins and Treasure Island so the boys can see the pirate ships on the Boulevard. It is difficult to keep the boys on track because they are so overwhelmed by their surroundings, and I can tell that Bennie loves Vegas. We walk and walk, and Bennie asks so many questions about the almost nude women on the sides of the trucks and the word “prostitute.” Ay Carumba! We are all hungry and I know that the pirate ships battle and sink so I tell everyone that after we watch the war at sea, we can get something to eat. Turns out that the pirate show only happens in the evenings, so we partake in a luscious Vegas buffet and then head to the Mirage to see the animals.
In the meantime, we get in touch with Joanne Genits and her daughter, Andie, and we decide to meet them on the strip around 7:30. The boys are enamored with the wonderful dolphins at the Mirage, and Ethan just adores the baby dolphin who swims by his mother’s side constantly. However, nothing could prepare our boys for the gigantic lion and the playful, huge tigers. They love watching them, but I am really angry that I have paid for and helped to perpetuate the lives of the animals in these small living areas. They are healthy looking, but I cannot help thinking about how truly awful this whole environment is for such magnificent creatures.
We can barely pull the boys from the mini-zoo to see the pirate ship show, but I am finally able to do so. We wait outside Treasure Island for it to begin. I saw this once before and I know it will be very cool. Boy was I wrong. The show is completely sexual in nature, and six or seven “Sirens” dance on a ship and call to the other ship filled with horny sailors who have not seen women in a long time. They dance Vegas style (stripper style) and I am thinking, “Oh Lord, I brought my sons here!” The songs they sing are filled with innuendoes and strong sexual undertones, and Bennie keeps looking at me and rolling his eyes. I want to pull them away but we are surrounded by such a large, chaotic crowd that I cannot move them as I would like to. Bennie keeps saying, “This is lame. I don’t think you should let Ethan see this,” and a mother next to me is as aggravated as I am!
Finally, the burlesque is over, and we enter Treasure Island to meet Joanne. We find them at Ben and Jerry’s and the reunion is touching and tear-filled. I have not seen Joanne since right before my mom died, so we talk about her and what it was like, and more and more tears. Joanne feels like home. To be with her is to feel my mom, and I like it and miss it. That feeling seldom occurs and no matter what I try, it is only conjured when I am with her friends. I am so glad I saw Joanne and Andie. Love to them both. Although it was a wonderful night in that way, I am struck with a minor gall bladder attack, so I am in some pain. This makes me cut the evening a bit shorter than I would have liked, but it was all for the best because Ethan James Turrano had reached his full expiration point. He HAD it! He wanted to go back to the RV resort and swim and he was very, very tired. He slowly begins to hate everything around him, and no matter what we say or see, he doesn’t like it. As we come back to the Bellagio hotel, we want to watch the fountains in the evening and Ethan keeps exclaiming, “They’re lame!” They dance to the theme from “Titanic” and “Hey Big Spender” and I am mesmerized again. Ethan is sitting on the ground exclaiming that I don’t love him. The Bellagio security guard ( the size of a bouncer) cannot stop laughing and Ethan, and finally I put him out of his misery and we find the truck and head up the strip toward our RV resort.
Ben and I have decided that we are going back without kids…soon! Tomorrow we see California!