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Mar. 23rd, 2007 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynneI had an absolutely wonderful time in Vegas. Internet connection was spotty and slow, but I mostly didn't care much. I don't remember the last time I had a trip that fun.
I've gone on trips with friends before. I've gone on trips with friends without adult chaperones, too. But on most of those trips, I'd feel left out, at some point or another. People would have conversations that I couldn't contribute to, or they'd walk around in a way that unobtrusively (and perhaps unconsciously) forced me to trail along behind. Partly in reaction to those things, and partly defending myself from them, I'd do more activities by myself, like bringing a book along--they can't shut me out if I shut them out first. That kind of thing.
This was my first trip with friends in I don't know how long that I never felt left out. Not only was no effort made to exclude me in any way, but it felt like it never occurred to them that they could. And sometimes I wanted to be by myself for a moment, but when I rejoined them, I always felt welcome. There were five of us there, including someone I'd only met once or twice, but even he didn't try to exclude me, even though he didn't really know me. It was wonderful.
I also got up in the mornings, of my own volition. Normally I sleep until two or three in the afternoon, when given a choice, but I ended up getting up between 8:30 and 9:30, all four days I was there. Part of it was that I'd gone to bed earlier and therefore had had enough sleep by that time, but part of it was also that I really wanted to get up and do stuff with my friends, not waste daylight sleeping.
We got down there Friday night, after a good seven or eight hours in the car. I was the only one who had an actual dinner, but I was also the only one who thought to pack a sandwich. There were like, four towns of more that fifty people in that entire 450+ miles between Reno and Vegas, and McDonalds pretty much the only thing available. Katie, whose dad owns a nice condo in Henderson, was the one who organized the trip and drove us down, and we stayed there.
Saturday was interesting. We ate sushi for lunch and then lounged around the pool for a few hours, but then three of the friends wanted to go to the Star Trek Experience in the Vegas Hilton, so we went to the Strip for that, and dinner. At the time, we hadn't realized that the Hilton was not actually on the Strip. :p So we wandered around a bit, but when we decided to just go back to the car and find dinner elsewhere, I was the one who knew where we should be going, and kept us from getting lost. Katie promoted me to navigator. I've always had a fairly good sense of direction, and it was great to feel like I was actually contributing something.
Anyway. So we were going elsewhere for dinner, but while we were stopped at a light just off the Strip, some drunk guys in Yale shirts crossed the street just in front of us, and one of them looked at me and yelled that I was "something special". I know it was just a random drunk guy who didn't know me, and was therefore fairly meaningless, but...I've never gotten a compliment from a stranger before. In fact, I can't remember the last time I got an unsolicited compliment from anyone at all, apart from someone saying I look nice when I get dressed up (and even then, it feels like it's the dressy clothes soliciting the compliment, not me). That just...made me happy, you know?
On Sunday we went shopping, and I got this really pretty new dress. (I haven't gotten a new dress since my prom, and I can't remember the last time I got a new dress before that. *facepalms* And only a few days ago I realized none of my shoes go with the dress, so once it gets warm enough that I can actually wear it, I should probably go shoe-shopping.) Then that afternoon we went to the Hilton for the Star Trek thing, but it ended up being $42, and only two of us were willing to pay that. I certainly wasn't, since it's not like I've seen even a single episode of any Star Trek. The three of us who decided to be cheap wandered around the Hilton for awhile, and apparently there's an entire store devoted to Barry Manilow, who I'd never heard of before this trip. :p
Then we went to dinner, and then we walked around the strip. Only James was actually twenty-one, but people generally don't care if people younger than that wander around casinoes, as long as you look like you're going somewhere and not just loitering. So we wandered around Treasure Island and watched the end of the pirate show, then we walked around the Grand Canal in the Venetian. We ended our tour of the Strip with watching the Bellagio water shows a couple times--they're really pretty.
Monday, we went to the Valley of Fire. I'm not normally one for hiking around rock formations and stuff, but I figured that I came to Vegas to actually do stuff, rather than hang around the condo doing what I could do at home, so I went. Happily, I had a good time. Hiking in moderation can be fairly fun, and the Valley of Fire is a pretty neat place. I didn't bring a camera, but James had his digital, and he and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
velesia took a ton of pictures, which maybe I will get my hands on at some point.
That night I also had my first real taste of alcohol, though I didn't get drunk or even mildly buzzed. But James bought some vodka (Smirnoff) and tequila (Jose Cuervo), along with a few things to mix them with. I had a vodka tonic, with probably a shot of vodka. Dunno. I didn't actually feel any different after I finished it, but I don't know how much alcohol I need to drink in order to get buzzed. I also tried tequila and Coke, but I didn't like how it tasted, so I didn't have more than a few sips. I wasn't really that fond of the vodka tonic, either. And I'm probably not going to end up drunk or buzzed until I find a drink that tastes good. Not that I really want to get drunk, but I am sorta curious about how I'll end up reacting, and for all that my roommates freshman year wanted me to go partying with them, I didn't want to drink anything unless I was with people I'm comfortable with.
And that, basically, was my trip. I had a great time, and would absolutely love to go again next year.
I've gone on trips with friends before. I've gone on trips with friends without adult chaperones, too. But on most of those trips, I'd feel left out, at some point or another. People would have conversations that I couldn't contribute to, or they'd walk around in a way that unobtrusively (and perhaps unconsciously) forced me to trail along behind. Partly in reaction to those things, and partly defending myself from them, I'd do more activities by myself, like bringing a book along--they can't shut me out if I shut them out first. That kind of thing.
This was my first trip with friends in I don't know how long that I never felt left out. Not only was no effort made to exclude me in any way, but it felt like it never occurred to them that they could. And sometimes I wanted to be by myself for a moment, but when I rejoined them, I always felt welcome. There were five of us there, including someone I'd only met once or twice, but even he didn't try to exclude me, even though he didn't really know me. It was wonderful.
I also got up in the mornings, of my own volition. Normally I sleep until two or three in the afternoon, when given a choice, but I ended up getting up between 8:30 and 9:30, all four days I was there. Part of it was that I'd gone to bed earlier and therefore had had enough sleep by that time, but part of it was also that I really wanted to get up and do stuff with my friends, not waste daylight sleeping.
We got down there Friday night, after a good seven or eight hours in the car. I was the only one who had an actual dinner, but I was also the only one who thought to pack a sandwich. There were like, four towns of more that fifty people in that entire 450+ miles between Reno and Vegas, and McDonalds pretty much the only thing available. Katie, whose dad owns a nice condo in Henderson, was the one who organized the trip and drove us down, and we stayed there.
Saturday was interesting. We ate sushi for lunch and then lounged around the pool for a few hours, but then three of the friends wanted to go to the Star Trek Experience in the Vegas Hilton, so we went to the Strip for that, and dinner. At the time, we hadn't realized that the Hilton was not actually on the Strip. :p So we wandered around a bit, but when we decided to just go back to the car and find dinner elsewhere, I was the one who knew where we should be going, and kept us from getting lost. Katie promoted me to navigator. I've always had a fairly good sense of direction, and it was great to feel like I was actually contributing something.
Anyway. So we were going elsewhere for dinner, but while we were stopped at a light just off the Strip, some drunk guys in Yale shirts crossed the street just in front of us, and one of them looked at me and yelled that I was "something special". I know it was just a random drunk guy who didn't know me, and was therefore fairly meaningless, but...I've never gotten a compliment from a stranger before. In fact, I can't remember the last time I got an unsolicited compliment from anyone at all, apart from someone saying I look nice when I get dressed up (and even then, it feels like it's the dressy clothes soliciting the compliment, not me). That just...made me happy, you know?
On Sunday we went shopping, and I got this really pretty new dress. (I haven't gotten a new dress since my prom, and I can't remember the last time I got a new dress before that. *facepalms* And only a few days ago I realized none of my shoes go with the dress, so once it gets warm enough that I can actually wear it, I should probably go shoe-shopping.) Then that afternoon we went to the Hilton for the Star Trek thing, but it ended up being $42, and only two of us were willing to pay that. I certainly wasn't, since it's not like I've seen even a single episode of any Star Trek. The three of us who decided to be cheap wandered around the Hilton for awhile, and apparently there's an entire store devoted to Barry Manilow, who I'd never heard of before this trip. :p
Then we went to dinner, and then we walked around the strip. Only James was actually twenty-one, but people generally don't care if people younger than that wander around casinoes, as long as you look like you're going somewhere and not just loitering. So we wandered around Treasure Island and watched the end of the pirate show, then we walked around the Grand Canal in the Venetian. We ended our tour of the Strip with watching the Bellagio water shows a couple times--they're really pretty.
Monday, we went to the Valley of Fire. I'm not normally one for hiking around rock formations and stuff, but I figured that I came to Vegas to actually do stuff, rather than hang around the condo doing what I could do at home, so I went. Happily, I had a good time. Hiking in moderation can be fairly fun, and the Valley of Fire is a pretty neat place. I didn't bring a camera, but James had his digital, and he and
velesia took a ton of pictures, which maybe I will get my hands on at some point.That night I also had my first real taste of alcohol, though I didn't get drunk or even mildly buzzed. But James bought some vodka (Smirnoff) and tequila (Jose Cuervo), along with a few things to mix them with. I had a vodka tonic, with probably a shot of vodka. Dunno. I didn't actually feel any different after I finished it, but I don't know how much alcohol I need to drink in order to get buzzed. I also tried tequila and Coke, but I didn't like how it tasted, so I didn't have more than a few sips. I wasn't really that fond of the vodka tonic, either. And I'm probably not going to end up drunk or buzzed until I find a drink that tastes good. Not that I really want to get drunk, but I am sorta curious about how I'll end up reacting, and for all that my roommates freshman year wanted me to go partying with them, I didn't want to drink anything unless I was with people I'm comfortable with.
And that, basically, was my trip. I had a great time, and would absolutely love to go again next year.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-25 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 09:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-25 05:35 pm (UTC)I was really disappointed that I didn't have enough time to really see anything when I went to Vegas for Lumos last summer. I'd have loved to have more time to explore, so I'm living vicariously through your vacation. :D
no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-26 06:26 pm (UTC)I certainly enjoyed myself. I can't wait to get those pictures from James...
that reminds me, did you give him your email for those or would you like me to forward them to you?