the getaway

You may remember that when talks first began about our little getaway I thought we should live it up a little bit. Maybe stay somewhere with a lobby and an elevator. Somewhere we wouldn't have to park right outside our motel room door. You get the idea. So once again I googled myself silly and checked out about a million hotel rooms. Or at least that's what it seemed like. Finally I booked a room, a beautiful room at the Hilton. It was about double what we're used to paying, but still substantially cheaper than the same class of room anywhere else due in large part to the room being at the back of the hotel. We would have to make due with a city view. Whatever! The room itself would more than make up for it.

Our check in time was late, but we still left around lunch time. Hit the Outlet Mall. I did not do as well there as I usually do. I found an adorable dress at Roots, but the wrap style top could not contain my massive rack. Disappointing because it was dirt cheap. I did score 4 bras and a pair of undies for $27!!! Keeping myself fully stocked in the underwear department is priority one, ever since the horror that was last year's birthday.

Next we roamed around Clifton Hill, wandering in and out of shops looking at the same tacky souvenirs in every one. Then we decided to try out the massive skywheel, a decision I would later regret with every fibre of my being. Oh it seemed like a good idea on the ground. One hundred and seventy five feet doesn't sound so high on the ground. I mean it started out okay. There we were in our gondola, I snapped a picture of Mike..... and my batteries died. Totally died. There would be no amazing aerial shots of the falls for us.



Have I ever mentioned I'm a little afraid of heights? Because I am in certain circumstances and apparently being in a little gondola 175 feet of the ground would be just the right circumstance. You see the problem was the wind. It was windy enough that the gondola was swaying and the wind was whistling in through the doors, but still I thought I could make it the three revolutions we had paid for. Except it wasn't busy, so they sent us around again and again. At which point Michael even started to panic a little bit. Something I told him to knock off right away since I already cornered that market and our little gondola was way too small for two anxiety attacks. And then they stopped us. AT. THE. TOP. Obviously I made it down to tell the story, but there was a time up there that I questioned if I would. Oh and I may have kissed the sidewalk, Pope style, when we were released from the hell ride.

Eventually we arrived at our hotel to check in. They punched our name into the computer and then said nothing for a really long time. I was starting to panic as he continued reading his computer for much longer than should have been necessary that he couldn't find our reservation.
Remember yesterday when I said my Mom is a rock star. Well she truly is because this is the view we paid for...... And yes that is a Hooters you see down there. And a construction site.



This is the view she paid to have us upgraded too.



It was the most amazing thing! A truly incredible and thoughtful gift. I still get a big smile on my face whenever I think about walking into that room for the first time. The rest of the time we spent watching the Olympics, watching the Falls, watching a lightening storm over the falls, making a new best friend (the casino lady who asked if I was over 25. I may have kissed her on the mouth), making a small donation to the casino (boy $5 lasts a loooong time at the penny slots) and sleeping in a humongous bed with down pillows and comforter. Total decadence. And we didn't call home once!

The following morning we hit the delicious breakfast buffet at the restaurant one floor above us. Also courtesy of Mom. It was a great meal and a great view, which we would have appreciated more if we had spent the night in our original room. What can I say? It was more than wonderful. Can't wait for next year!