Sunday 6th September
Arrived at Orleans about 7pm, checked in, unpacked a bit, took shuttle to strip. Had Harrah's buffet with 2/1 coupon, wandered up towards Venetian went to St Mark's Square then wandered back to Bill's for shuttle about 11pm or so.
Monday 7th September
Breakfast buffet at Orleans. Picked up car at 230pm at MGM. Dodge Grand Caravan which is a 7 seater and it was a big monster compared to my little Yaris I have at home. Also not helped by my slight nerves after having been in an accident at home the previous week
. Drove over to Meadows Mall (using the I-15 for the first time which was a bit of a nightmare). Shopped for 2 hours, then took the I-15 down to Silverton for the buffet. There was some sort of Labor day deal on and the buffet was only $5. This meant having to wait for an hour to be seated. Meanwhile we gave the freeplay coupons to the others in our group (ACG Coupons), and they won $11 for the kitty. This paid for the passes at Lake Mead and Valley of Fire few days later. Drove back up after being in Silverton a couple of hours and had few drinks in the Mardi Gras Lounge. Tuesday 8th September
Got up early to discover the Orleans buffet wasn't open at 730am so we hit the road out towards the Hoover Dam, stopping for breakfast at Arizona Charlie's Boulder (not great but 2/1 ACG made it very good value anyway), on to a store for some drinks, and then down to Hoover Dam for about 10am. Did the Dam Tour $12 I think and then drove up through Lake Mead area up and through Valley of Fire. As there had been a bit of time wasting earlier we were starting to get short of time, and I was getting a bit fed up with driving so we didn't stop many times at VOF. It was also a constant 105F for the first week of our trip so it wasn't the most comfortable having to get in and out of the car.
Wednesday 9th September
Drove up to Red Rock casino using the big road that cuts up there at a diagonal from near the Orleans. This saved so much time compared to driving up and along Charleston! Couldn't believe it. Although I wasn't having much fun missing the exits on the I-15, it was still working out quicker even when making mistakes! Did Red Rock breadfast buffet, which was good as always. Then over to Marshall's, Best Buy etc. Along to the outlets near downtown, and then cut back across to Wal Mart. Went over to TI and parked. Went over to pick up tickets for Phantom, while hubby went over to Fashion Show ticket booth to get something for 2 others in our group. They went to the Rat Pack, and reported that it was good. Back to Orleans about 3pm or so, and had Margarita's by the pool. Took taxi to Venetian for Phantom. Great show. Then walked over to California Pizza Kitchen at the Mirage, and had bread starters which were huge! Couldn't eat it all, and also realised our tiredness was catching up on us after not sleeping very well at all the first few nights.
Thursday 10th September
Went out quite early again, to south strip outlets this time.
Stopped by downtown (parked at the Golden Gate I think it was just across from the Plaza), valet fee only. Saw light show, had Main Street Station buffet. I'm sure we ended up back in Wal Mart.
Friday 11th September
Moved hotels to Platinum (love this place). Had a bit of trouble getting rooms at a decent time. Hubby and I went over to drop the car off, as no-one else wanted to walk back they just sat waiting for their rooms at the Platinum. Felt this was a bit of a waste of their day as there was no need to sit and wait as we had one room so luggage was all stowed away! We walked back up via a few casinos for a cool down. Stopped in at Bally's for a bit of Pizza on the way at Sbarro. Also got a bit of fudge cake for the room. Yummy. Sat at pool for a bit when we got back. Got ready and all went out for a walk over to the Strip. Didn't do very much, ended up in Casino Royale doing the freeplay thing. I was playing it for far too long (got a few wins that were big enough to give me loads more spins, but they weren't actual jackpots so not real wins at all!). Sent the others back ahead of us, and hubby and I walked back not long after midnight.
We then eventually found them when they came back down and things were a bit tense again so we went to the room. The 2 guys went to the Chicago Bears game over at Hooters and had a little too much beer (to the annoyance of us a little as we had had to go to the pool then just wait in the room while the game lasted much longer than expected!). Never mind, I got my ironing done for the next 4 days. 
Earlyish night. 
