Shopping in Portland (Day 1)

Early this morning, the Popa Fatt and I went down to Enterprise to pick-up our rental car.

The Mitsubishi Lancer was alright, but its stereo didn't have an auxiliary port and its trunk space was slightly limited.  :-(

After we crossed the border,

we grabbed a bite at...

Jack in the Box!

After our unhealthy brunch, we were back on the road towards Portland.

Since we arrived into the city earlier than expected, we did some shopping before checking into our hotel.  I was able to pick-up a few things at IKEA!

We dropped by Pok Pok for dinner.

This restaurant still hasn't lost it's lustre.  It's so fucken busy here!

It was time for a coffee, so we came across Ford Food and Drink.

I got a Mocha and an awesome cookie!

Lila had the same cookie too.

Apparently, this cafe used to be an assembly and distribution plant for the Ford Model T back in the day!

Since we still had time to do more shopping tonight, we dropped by Lloyd Centre.

Yeah baby!!!

I was craving a Malt Shake,

so I picked one up at Billy Heartbeats.

Thanks to a little research by Lila, we found out that there was a Chinese New Year celebration at the Alibi Tiki Lounge!

They've got karaoke here every night!

And because of the tonight's event, they had free food for everyone!

This is Portland's original tiki bar.

Eat, eat,

and eat!!!  :-)

Vegas with ShowBiz (Day 8)

Damn, I'm certainly going to miss waking-up to this view every morning.  :-(

It was our last day in this city and it was time to checkout of this wonderful resort.

All three of us loved this place and we were sad to finally leave it.

Good-bye Encore!!!  :-( 

A blast from the past...  While we were checking-in at the airport, I ran into Pia!  We haven't seen each other since we graduated from Killarney Secondary years ago!

She and her husband were in Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday.  It was crazy running into her here, of all places because she now lives in Thunder Bay!  And it was awesome that we still recognized each other.  LOL!

The cheap way to get here and there.  ;-)

How depressing, coming home to rain.  :-(

We did make a pit-stop at a local Jack in the Box before crossing the border.

It has certainly been a pleasure spending a whole week with these Numenoreans in Sin City.

Care for an Encore?  ;-)

What Happens in Vegas... (Day 6)

It's our last free day before we go back home. Fatty, Popa Fett, and I grabbed a cab from our hotel... Another thing we learned on this trip is when paying your cab driver, always use cash in Las Vegas! There's an extra $3.00 processing fee on top of your fare if you use your credit card. to Budget Car Rental. We were finally on our way to see the Grand Canyon! Here's our ride, a red convertible Mustang! Lila really wanted a convertible so she could tan while we drive. "Which way to the Canyon?" No way, I was getting my head burned. Lila wasn't loving the convertible too much after waiting in traffic for over an hour. LOL! Just as Jeff said, there was traffic crossing the Hoover Dam. Let's not cause an accident now. Our Stang was looking good. Driving in Arizona now. We made a little pitstop at this stand run by the AMVETS. Lila and the wagon... In an area where everyone was trying to make money off of tourists, it was refreshing to see these guys. They offered us food and beverages for donation only! This was the stupid dirt road on the way to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Just when you thought your car would get a break from the rough ride, you start driving on a paved road that's littered with potholes! We eventually arrived at our destination only to find out that in addition to the Skywalk fee of $29.95, you need to pay $43.05 for a 5 minute bus ride from the air terminal to the Skywalk! We just thought it was ridiculous to pay for something we could have walked to, so we said, "FUCK IT!!!" We just thought it was such a scam. We went back on the road to find another vantage point and that's when we spotted these cows crossing! I love cows! Yeah, that's not the Canyon. I'm getting pissed now. There were no other vantage points nearby, so basically we test drove this car for $100. It is pretty here though. Our Grand Canyon mission turned out to be an EPIC FAIL!!! Lila changed into her yoga gear to take some photos. On the way back, we took some photos of some more local scam artists. You can buy a small bottle of water here for $4.00! They call themselves the "LAST STOP", totally making travellers think they're the last resort for food and fuel on the highway. This is not the case, there's another gas station close by. Don't even bother trying to ask them for simple directions because they'll try to sell you a $7.00 map or some kind of tour package. Yeah right, fuck these guys!!! Exactly... The Hoover Dam at night... A sight for sore eyes... I always get a Sourdough Jack from here! I was feeling bittersweet about our whole day. "The way to a man's heart... is through his stomach." Back on the Strip now. Does this city ever sleep? The Paris' Eiffel Tower... It's still impressive being half the size of the original one. The hallway outside our room was so long, it seemed like something from a dream! After getting cleaned-up, we met-up with Jeff at Aria. It was our last to spend with him before we all go back home. Fatty with some cutlery fun... Posing with my favourite speed skater... We tried to provide Jeff with some counsel about his whole situation. It was my turn to have fun with the cutlery. I ordered Belgian Waffles! When Fatty saw the condiments it came with, he asked me, "Is that caramel?" I answered, "Yes!" He then turned to Lila and said, "It's caramel, Honey." LOL!!! After our meal, we walked outside to admire the hotel's fountain. The way the lights shone and how the squirts of water collided, made it look like fireworks! Just an awesome display! "Skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet!!!" The waterfall was equally impressive! Since we had a car, we drove Jeff to his hotel. This time he was staying at the Luxor with his parents because he had already checked-out of the Bellagio. Administer embalming procedures. Oh wait, she's not dead! Having fun with the hieroglyphics in the elevator...

Fooling around with the statues in the hotel...

Wait a minute. There's some guy bigger than Fatty?!?

Bye-bye Jeff. It was a fun-filled trip nonetheless. We all had a great time!!!