Only in Vegas...

Hotels in Las Vegas can afford to charge very little. By very little, I mean half the price of the average hotel. This is because they know most people are going to give them major bucks downstairs in the casino.

About a week ago my little family was there, staying in the cheapest hotel we could find. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the price that was cheap. The room was okay, I guess, a little worn, quite a bit outdated, but clean at least (to the naked eye, anyway). Another little fact about Vegas: it's easy to find great deals on food, but only it you're willing to get up in the middle of the night to eat it. We were trying to save money, so we ate at the buffet of this unnamed cheap hotel. Bad idea. The food was awful. I thought that was the worst of it, but I was wrong.

In the middle of the night I woke up with my stomach in knots. By morning, I was so sick I couldn't stand up without the world going black and passing out. Even sitting up was exhausting. The only way I felt even marginally like a human being was by kneeling down with my forehead on the floor. Rob was a dear and took Isabella down to breakfast with him so I could shower and get packed up (we were moving to a different hotel). Needless to say, it took me a very long time to get ready.

The car ride to the next hotel was... unpleasant. I kept my head between my knees, but still my nausea continued to rise from the rocking motion of the car. It didn't help that Rob had no idea where he was going, so a trip that should have taken five minutes ended up being more than an hour. The roads were busy, so Rob had to concentrate on his driving and couldn't keep an eye out for the hotel. Eventually I decided to help him out, and raised my head. Another bad idea. Only in Vegas can someone vomit out a car window without even drawing a second glance from passersby.

It was horrible. Horribly embarrassing. I tried to stick my head as far out the window as I could, but still I got vomit all over the side of the car. Too much information? Try this: even though it had been about 19 hours since I ate, every food was still clearly identifiable in a puddle on the road.

(On a side note, I'm trying to understand why I chose this humiliating story to share. Most people like to keep their embarrassing moments to themselves, but instead I blab it where everyone and their dogs can read it. What's wrong with me? Where's my survival instinct?)

Luckily by the next day I was feeling well enough that I could attend The Lion King. I would have hated to miss that. It was so amazing! We all know the story and can sing along to the songs, but the costumes were incredible, and the dancers so lithe and animal-like. Definitely worth seeing, even if plays aren't your thing. Look at this and this.

The moral of the story is: don't eat at cheap buffets, but if you have to, do it someplace where no one will care when you lose it all in public.