What’s up my ride-alongs?! Are you ready to hear about my trip with my good buddy Tony? If not, I’d just wait on this one until you’re sitting down and have had your coffee for the morning.
Bay Area, CA - 7 AM
Wakey, wakey…
After a 7am alarm, I got myself up, showered, and got ready for the day.
We had planned on only needing 1 hour to get from the house to the Oakland airport. We forgot was that schools start around that time (which just feels way to early to learn anything important, but that’s a different conversation). We live by 3 schools, so it took us about 20 minutes to get to the gas station, 1 mile away. I had ordered Starbucks as well, and you can imagine how busy that place can be when it’s within walking distance to a high school.
Naturally all of this lead to stress, by me, that we were gonna miss our flight. Luckily, flying out of Oakland typically means waiting in short lines for ~5 mins, getting us to the gate that much quicker.
Tony and I were the last to board, of course, but we took off with no issues and arrived in…
Las Vegas, NV - Noon
We landed at the airport right about on schedule, with just enough energy and optimism to walk to the strip for lunch and then walk back. Cool idea to discuss; in reality, walking several miles with our backpacks in the desert heat was a one-time event, even with our Fat Tuesday Slushes.
but but but aLeX, how was the rest of your 3.5 hour layover spent, no way you could’ve been walking the whole time!!!
Thanks for asking, random stranger, Tony kept time for us so that we could pace our return. It was about 40 minutes from the terminal doors to the MGM Grand, despite us getting lost in the parking lot on the way out. There was another guy in the same situation as us, looking for a way to the strip from the airport. Poor guy, I hope he’s not still out there.
The Strip
Tony and I stopped at a sports bars in the MGM Grand. My beer came with a free fly in it, but while I was pretty thirsty from our walk, I wasn’t that thirsty. The bartender was apologetic and poured me a fresh one. The food was fine, but my pulled pork was definitely not worth the $18 I spent for it, although everything in that city is expensive.
After lunch, we decided to get the aforementioned Fat Tuesdays (a slush filled with alcohol or cannabis that you can carry around the strip with you.
The last, and coolest, things that I noticed was that the roads all seemed to be under construction.
but but but aLeX why would you like road construction, it inconveniences people and infrastructure?
…Dude, who are you and where are you getting your information? The reason this is road construction is so cool is because it’s for Formula One in Vegas!! Tony and I saw the starting bridge (there were police officers stationed there for the sole purpose of telling people to go around and not under this bridge). The whole grandstand area and medical centers seemed to be almost finished! It all is getting built in front of TopGolf, which would be a great day of golf and racing, if you ask me. I thought it was so cool! I took some pictures, hopefully I can share them with you.
Needless to say, this path to the airport brought us more joy and energy than our outbound excursion, but time was running out for us to make our next flight…
Rushing back to the airport, I learned a valuable lesson about breaking in shoes before needing them to perform over distance-my feet HURT bad. But there was no time to waste as the plane had started boarding before we got back into the refreshing a/c of the Las Vegas Airport.
Fortunately enough, we got to the gate as the last groups were boarding. I bolted into the bathroom to change the shirt I had sweat through in the Vegas sun. As I emerged, Tony was just about the the front of the line. We quickly got scanned in, just before our scheduled departure and…
We waited for an hour on the tarmac as more luggage was boarded on the plane. I feel like I now understand the meaning of “hurry up and wait”. I didn’t really mind it, as I actually fell asleep in my seat, waking up just in time for the safety demonstration. The flight was fairly uneventful, though a new flight steward had a tough time getting ice out of his bucket, splashing me a few times in the process.
As we make our descent to Minneapolis, I am grateful to reflect upon how I got here:
I’ve got a good job that allows me to take time off
I’ve got a family that will receive me and my friend and host us for two nights
I’ve got a really good buddy who could also take off the time to go on this adventure with me
And, most importantly, I’ve got a partner who is willing to cover my household responsibilities while I travel
Touchdown (in) Minnesota - hopefully this is something I get to say often over Football Season, but our 0-2 record thus far is not promising. But I have hope!
Minneapolis, MN - 9 PM
Soon after we landed, I called home to arrange our pickup. After a brief wait, we got in the car for my parents’ house.
Of course my wonderful mother had some treats and food ready for us to enjoy, but soon after eating our full, it was time for bed after this long day of travel.