Category Archives: Solo Female Travel

Las Vegas Trip Report: ACES!

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Day 10 Las Vegas trip report!

I woke up at Cosmopolitan.  At 5:00 AM.  View from my balcony:

Was on the world’s longest Starbucks line at 6:00.   That’s a thing in Las Vegas in current times, Starbucks lines.  They are fucking insane.   I stayed at Luxor, where Starbucks opens at 6:00 AM.  I moseyed over at 5:59 and the line was incredibly long.  Don’t even get me started with the Flamingo Starbucks of death, where the line never ends and goes out the door.  These places used to be 24 hours.  I fear this is never coming back.

I played my favorite Ultimate X Double Double Bonus video poker game and whoooooahhhhhhhhhhhh yay.

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Las Vegas Trip Report: I Hate the Chelsea Tower at Cosmopolitan

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Good morning Las Fucking Vegas!

I wake up at Treasure Island at 9:45.  I am out at 10:45.  I am not staying here tonight but since I am burning them, I booked the comp for tonight so I did not have to check out until I felt like it.

Reservations at all restaurants are still needed in Vegas during this trip.  I was able to score one for 12:45 at The Pantry at Mirage.  I cannot wait until the days of going to eat when you are hungry are back.   I hate having to keep track of time for meals.

I stopped at Starbucks, and then went to my Ultimate X video poker machine.  Lost 2 $100 bills before hitting this:
Also hit this:
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Amtrak: Omaha, Nebraska

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Ah, Omaha.

So many people asked me why I wanted to go here.  This includes my Uber driver from the airport, the nice guy who checked me into my room, and my former manager who grew up in Omaha.

Plain and simple, I wanted to get closer to having slept in all 50 states.  Much like most of the stops on this trip, this was the perfect time to do this.  I am not on vacation.  I am simply traveling around and working remote.

Omaha was the sole reason I packed gloves.  It was supposed to be in the 30s here.  Imagine me arriving and finding it 70 degrees outside.  What the hell Omaha.

I stayed at 402 hotel.  Poor 402 hotel.  I arrived and walked into the lobby, immediately hit with beautiful cool air from the air conditioning, wiping away the 70 degree weather I had not been expecting.  The lobby was cool, clean and wonderful.  That’s where it all ended.

I am told the hotel had recently had a flood and the elevators aren’t working.   Cool.   Came to figure out that the flood had been months ago and there is zero action being taken to fix the elevators.  Honestly, I am not even convinced they were really broken as I could swear I could hear elevator dinging from my room a couple of times.

First bonus:  The room smelled like pee.  And would not cool down.  I ended up taking the air conditioner filter out and wiping off the thickest layer of filth.  Then I sprayed it with my “I am traveling for 30 days in a carry on sized bag” Febreeze.   Killed two birds with one stone.  Cool air, no pee. Continue reading →

Amtrak: New Orleans

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I left Birmingham in the rain.  The train to New Orleans was relatively empty.   It was very nice to stretch out.

After arriving in New Orleans, I got an Uber.  The driver didn’t pick me up in the correct spot. I know I was in the correct spot because I saw quite a few people getting picked up there. I had to walk and find her car.

Then she could not find the address of my apartment.  I don’t blame her for this.  But it was pretty chaotic because she kept driving around.  The streets here are weird and there can be 2 street names parallel to each other.   I finally told her to let me out at an intersection that Google maps said was a 2 minute walk to my apartment and I found it.

I was staying at Sonder Suites.  I was supposed to check in yesterday and did not because I had to stay another night in Birmingham to be at an important work meeting today that I did not trust my hot spot for (there is no WiFi on Amtrak west of Chicago) and who wants to be talking in a work meeting on a train like an asshole anyway?

My apartment was non refundable, no changes, so I could not change the dates.  I did have a tiny fear that since I had not checked in last night, it would have voided me out of the system, but it did not.  You do not speak to any actual person with these types of stays.  They email you a code to the building and a code to  your room.  No reception desk, nothing.

My room was really nice.

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Amtrak: Being Stranded in New Orleans

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As I am continuing to post about this trip, I decided to break off my rant about being stranded in New Orleans from my actual post about New Orleans.  My New Orleans recap will be the next post.

So for the New Orleans portion of this trip, I worked for a few days and then I had planned to spend Saturday here to have a full day to check out the city.  I lost a portion of that after getting a call from Amtrak.  My next train is to Memphis.  That train is cancelled.

I am told I can go to Jackson, MS to catch the train.  It is not running between NOLA and Jackson, but continues on my route from Jackson.  How do I get to Jackson?  The woman on the phone said I had to get myself there.  Wait, what?  There is no way this is a real fucking phone call.   You are doing NOTHING to get me to Jackson?

I have never heard of Jackson in my life.

So Google it is.

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Amtrak: High Point, NC to Birmingham, AL On the Toilet Train

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You read that title right!

Here we begin on leg 2 of my 30 day Amtrak USA Railpass.  If you are new, you can find my itinerary HERE.

I last left off in High Point, NC, which you can read about HERE.  My next leg takes me to Birmingham, AL.  Hotels in Alabama in general are very expensive, maybe due to hurricane damage in New Orleans?  Birmingham had the cheapest (although still expensive) choices so Birmingham it is!

Since my train is leaving at like 1:00 AM, I have the realization that I boarding a train in the middle of the night and people will be sleeping, stretched out into an empty seat next to them.  The Amtrak website shows me the train is 70% full.

So you know what?  Fuck it. I am going to purchase a sleeper ticket so I can have a room to myself.  WOO HOO.

My train is an hour late but I get to the station on time anyway.  I figure I may as well sit outside and smoke, rather than stand outside my hotel room and smoke.

I get to the train station in time to catch the train at the originally scheduled time, ignoring the delay.  I cannot get down to the platform.  The stairs are locked and the elevator is not working.  There is someone inside the station.  I try and ask him if he will unlock the stairs when the train is coming.  I don’t know that he knows the elevator is not working.  I knock on the locked door and see him.  He sees me.  He actually starts shaking his head “no.”  I have not asked him anything, he is too faraway from the door.  But refuses to come to the door, or open the door.   So I throw him my ever reliable middle finger and walk to the nearby bench to sit down and talk to my cute little stuffed dog about how much I fucking hate this person. Continue reading →

Las Vegas: Starting a New Year at Flamingo Hotel

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Happy fucking New Year!  Goodbye 2020.

I am up at 8:00 and out at 9:00.

I lose $100 on Ultimate X video poker . Then a second $100 bill gets me 7s x 4 = $200 cash out.

I go back to my room to pack and go.  I am moving to Flamingo today, and I decide to take the bus to kill some time between losses.

The bus is completely fine until the stop before mine.  A homeless guy gets on, no mask.  Snot dropping from his nose to his chin, it actually looks green.  Not sure why he was allowed to board.  I kind of want to offer him a mask but don’t want to get anywhere near him.   Thankfully, I am off the bus seconds after he gets on.

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Las Vegas: Buffalo Slot Machines and More!

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It is day five in Las Vegas and I am awake at 7:30 AM at Circa.

My morning view.  I love the morning view in Las Vegas.  You look outside and know ANYTHING can happen today.  I also find myself fantasizing about running away from life, maybe getting a drivers license and driving into those mountains in the background just to see where they lead.

I shower and get dressed and am ready to hit the town at 9:30.  I really should do more hitting the town in Las Vegas, rather than just going back and forth between the same casinos all the time.  But I won’t.

When I get to the casino, I stay away from my usual money stealing machines and try some Dragon Link Spring Festival.  I doubled four $20 bills and lost the 5th.

Next I try Peacock Princess.  I lose a $20 and then double a $20.

Buffalo Deluxe!  I lose $80 and then lose $100.  Why do I do this?  Like seriously, why.   When I type up these trip reports, I just get so mad at myself.   I am fiiiiiiine with losing, fine with repeatedly losing on Buffalo.  But why do I keep putting more money in when I am losing?   Because of those sporadic big wins?   Oh yeah, that is why.  Because of those sporadic big wins.  Sigh.

Breakfast is me grabbing McDonalds at Plaza.

Then, since I cannot smoke in my room, I smoke a cigarette at a Buffalo slot machine before taking a nap.  Buffalo does not hate me during this session. Continue reading →

Las Vegas: Free Play + Circa Stay

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Good morning Las Vegas!  Today is day 4.  I am waking up at California Hotel at 7:30 AM.

I am out at 8:50 and make a bee line for Binions, to have breakfast at their coffee shop.  Still using the app for dining credit.

I stop and play some Buffalo before eating.  I lost a $20, turned a second $20 into $120 and lost a third $20.  I have no photos except this one of Circa!  Where I am checking into today YAY.
I take an Uber to go buy cigarettes and then return to California to do some quick playing before checking out.  I also stopped to pay my hotel bill, a whopping $4.61, in cash.

I played Buffalo Diamond and finally beat this shitty game.

Despite this busy morning, I am back in my room at 10:20 AM.  I pack my crap and move on.

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Las Vegas: Merry Freaking Christmas

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Las Vegas Christmas trip starts at 6:30 when I wake up at 6:30 for no reason at all. I can barely make it to work ten feet from my bed by 9:00.  Vegas?  Can’t even sleep  until 9:00 am.

I am out at 8:15.  Breakfast again is at Market Street Cafe, paid with comps.

I go back to my room to grab the Dunkin Donuts coffee I smartly brought back last night and left in my refrigerator, to stop me from having to walk to go get iced coffee.  OF FUCKING COURSE the refrigerator setting is too cold so it is kind of like a coffee smoothie.  I tried using the hair dryer to melt it.  It kind of not really worked.  Damn me and my fucking ideas.

Over to Binions I go for some Wonder Four Buffalo.

$100 – $167, cashed out at $160

$100- $238, cashed out $200

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