"Wed's Wonderings & Wanderings": Poker Games and Vegas Adventures

So as I keep mentioning my little brother turned 18 this past weekend. To celebrate this momentous occasion in our family, he's the baby and last one to become an adult, we decided to throw him a party Vegas style. He and his friends love to hangout and play poker, so we decided why not have the party theme be poker night? The guests had to dress to the nines and be ready to play some card games that ranged from straight poker to 21, aka, blackjack which I didn't realize until my brother told me. We even offered UNO for those not into gambling games like myself, throwing money away is just not exciting for me, even in a fake situation.

Lucky for me I was on Picture taking duty and DJ status for the second half of the night. We had kept that half of the night a secret from my brother. You see after the clock hit 10:00 we hit the lights off, then we light up the balloons with glowing lights inside, passed out glow sticks and extra lights, and had other flashing lights going on to turn the rest of the party into a dancing rave. I pumped that place with beats starting with Lady Gaga's Poker Face (couldn't resist) to keep the guest going into the night at least till we had to shut it down like Cinderella at midnight.

 Personally I like our version of Vegas tables better than my attempt into Vegas gambling. It was an EPIC fail, one which almost got us (as in my brother and I) kicked off the casino floor in Caesar's Palace. My brother has always claimed he could pass for 25, and me looking younger than may age usually gets me asked if I'm his girlfriend, just gross. Anyways, so when we were waiting to get into the most exquisite but freaking expensive buffet in Vegas, my brother got me to finally try to "gamble." Basically I agreed to do a slot machine because it reminded me of Chuck 'E' Cheese. Well the machine had no instructions and I stupidly just shoved a quarter in a slot trying to make it go in. After we realized we probably broke it we got up and ran to another machine where I put in a dollar and tried again. This time as I was pressing the button and I think loosing, again no instructions, we were approached by a floor attendant. The guy asked my brother how old he was and asked for his ID, not asking for mine at all, kinda mean, then my dad came and basically my brother had to scurry to my mom because he couldn't pass for over 18 like he thought he could. Meanwhile I'm losing my dollar because I had no freaking clue what I was doing except pressing the big red button.

 Las Vegas is just shall I say an interesting place. I have been there 13 times and each time I seem to walk away with a new story and a different perspective on the city. My first time I ever went to Vegas was when I was 4 years old, my family drove there for my grandma's wedding. Her and my step-grandpa got hitched in this small chapel off the strip among friends and family. I remember the wonders of all the lights and sounds of the city and the fact I got to go swimming at night because it was so hot. This last time through Vegas was especially fun because my whole family was together, me and my sibs are at this age were we are just old enough to be total goofs together. Hence the pic above, my brother decided to pose like the huge statues in Caesars Palace and we got quite a few stares despite it being Vegas. Personally, we never stay on the strip but love staying a bit off in Henderson and driving in so we can walk about and venture into whatever Hotels on the strip we want to explore. Las Vegas can be hot and then cool at nights, but it will always prove to be an adventure just ask anyone who's been they say Las Vegas is Vegas. 

"Wednesday's, Wonderings & Wanderings": To Road Trip or Not to Road Trip? That is a question.

I say HECK YES! Long live the road trip. It may be a tough way to travel and very long in comparison to a quick flight that takes you from here to there in hours, instead of days like a car ride, but I will argue it is one of the best ways to take a family vacation and see the sights. So many today choose to forgo the road trip experience for many reasons, and the issue of time isn't the only damper on the road trip option. No, there is the problem with having a sturdy and roomy car to travel in, then there is the mercurial gas prices to contend with (though they seems to be low right now), then of course time availability as road trips can be long, and of course last, but not least, there is the fact that you are literally confined with your family for hours with no escape, which may be THE reason, in and of itself, as to why most choose not to take road trips.

First issue the whole roomy and sturdy car issue, not an issue. Rent a van, rent an SUV, rent an RV, if you're brave enough, the point is there are options out there if your car wouldn't handle a long trip. Second issue the whole mercurial gas prices, well it all depends on where you live and where you are heading. Because living in L.A. our prices are upped just because of the economic supply and demand issue, however when we travel out of the state, BAM! prices drop rather drastically. So I can't promise the gas will be cheap or stay cheap wherever you go, but I can say you'll just have account for the price as an added expense for the trip. Third issue time availability, road trips take time and should take time. Meaning you shouldn't rush to all your places, by all means make sure you plan a schedule, but feel free to change it up if need be, take detours or an extra hour here or there. You'll most likely never make it back to those places you're driving to and should take your time at each place enjoying it and of course documenting the whole experience. 

Four Corners Monument: Utah, Colorado, Naveda, and Arizona.

Last but definitely not the least issue is the fact you are traveling for days in a small area with your family continuously. Now some may say 'Well, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing?', while others go 'Oh, Heck No!' Truly, it really all depends on your family dynamic AND how much you want to bond. Because if there is one thing a road trip pushes you to do, it's bond. My family has gone on about 10 road trips together, since I was kid up until about a week ago, yep we still road trip together, this last one was a week long and we did 5 states, phew it was long, but so fun. Now, living in L.A. I only count trips that take more than 3 hours as a road trip. I say that disclaimer, because my friend from Washington, who came down here for college, would always think an hour was a long drive. She came from a small lake town, so I had to remind her that in L.A we are used to driving everywhere and that we always hit traffic, sooo every fun destination takes about a 30-45 min drive.  

Well all that to say, each road trip we've taken as a family has only made us closer and given us more memories. Sure we've done other trips that used planes as our mode of transportation, but I must say the road trips by far seem to leave the biggest impressions. Sure we have moments of getting surly with each other, due to being tired or being hungry, but once we see a sunset over beautiful landscape or someone cracks a joke, it all just becomes another moment in our journey. And that's the thing about a road trip, it's not just a normal vacation it's truly a journey, your family is literally traveling together to get from Point A to Point Z, but you have all those other places in between to stop and smell the rose at first. Plus traveling out and really seeing how other places are in the flesh is way more impressionable on a person and can expand anyone views on culture, people, and the world they live in rather than just flying over them in a plane. So if you haven't taken a road trip I highly suggest you take one, maybe start out small taking a day trip to a place you haven't seen before in your own area and then the next time venture further from there for a weekend and so on. Just be sure you pack plenty of snacks, games, movies, maybe a book (if you don't get car sick when reading), couple of fun questions to keep everyone talking, and of course, make an awesome playlist, because I swear music makes any long drive a great drive.