theDIBB - Where's the Mouse

Monday 28th August 2006.
Cast – Dollar Bill – AKA Bill or Billy, and Jools – AKA Julie.
Written by Jools, Posted by Bill

We got up around 7.30 showered and went off to the lobby to be taken to the timeshare resort in exchange for our Mamma Mia tickets. We would also get a free 2 night stay back at the Luxor if we return within the next 18 months just for attending today. We already have 6 weeks of timeshare each year and needed more like a hole in the head but the man who invited us said that didn’t matter and it would be rude to refuse their tickets. We were bussed off to a resort somewhere along the Strip and were given name badges. There was a whole coach load of people setting off like lambs to the slaughter. Once at the resort the timeshare sales people came out and shouted your name in the “Price is Right” stlye, so for us it was “Bill and Julie come on down”. We couldn’t stop laughing. As soon as we told the sales lady – Priscilla- that we already had heaps of timeshare she told us we’d have to stay for 2 hours to get our show tickets and to helpourselves to more coffee, doughnuts etc. We spent the time talking about Florida where she has relatives, and she gave us instructions on how to play the slot machines. Luckily we weren't shown around the room and given the talk about the company and the history of timeshare. There was absolutely no pressure. We looked around the resort which was lovely and may well stay here in the future by doing an exchange through RCI. After the 2 hours were up we had our vouchers in our mits and were bussed back to the Luxor.

We went for a look around the hotel where there really is loads of things to do. We ate lunch in their foodcourt, each having a Phillycheesesteak sandwich before going back to our room and getting our cozzies on to go to the pool. It was around 1.15 when we got to the pool area, which is huge.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/d...xor_Pool_2.jpg
We bagged a couple of loungers – there were lots available and lay for a whole 5 minutes before deciding it was far too hot and going into the pool. I ran to the pool (I didn’t intent to honest) as the ground was scorching. (far hotter than we’ve ever known it in Florida). It was great to reach the water and stick my burning feet in. We swam out a little way and found a wall to sit on and be mostly submerged. It was all very pleasent.

After about an hour and a half we went back to our room showered and watched a bit of TV. At around 4 pm we went to the Mandalay Bay via the indoor walkway from the Luxor to exchange our Mamma Mia vouchers for actual tickets to see the show on Monday September 5th. We then Casino and exchanged a voucher we were given at check in which gave us $10 free to use in the slot machines. We had go in the 5 cents slot machines (we are not gamblers – lol) but got bored with it and and quit while we had $8.55 to cash in.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/d...xor_Casino.JPG
Bill decided to try his hand at Blackjack as he enjoyed playing this many years ago when he was a marine engineer at sea. The minimum bet was $10 which Bill thought was excessive (he is after all Scottish -[I was looking for the $1 bets - Bill]), but we decided to place $50 as that is what we would spend if we went out drinking. After about 20 minutes I could see he had lots more chips than he started with so urged him to quit while he was ahead. He did and cashed in $86 worth of chips along with the $8.55. Not a huge amount but it was great to win and playing was very enjoyable.
We were on our way back to the room to leave our Mamma Mia tickets there when Bill decided to have a go on the 25 cents slot machine. He put in $1 and won $41 straight away which was immediately checked out of the machine, rather continue to play using the winnings and that was also cashed in. We couldn’t stop laughing at our good fortune and put our winnings away in an envelope along with the show tickets. We were up just over $80 and thought it was great. I don’t know what we’d be like if we won a large sum. We decided to have a walk to the Excalibur through the internal moving walkway and had a brief look around. We bought some bananas and Diet Pepsi (big spenders or what?). Feeling a bit peckish and not wanting to drive anywhere we decided to return to the Luxor for something to eat.

We went for dinner at the Pyramid cafe which is a table service cafe.We both had grilled cheese toasted sandwiches and fries (very tasty they were too) along with Mountain Dew. This cost $23 which was good value. The couple we met at checkin the day before, who had been on our flight were at the next table. They had enjoyed their day as much as we’d enjoyed ours and we all agreed things were much better than the first day. We were still quite tired and went to bed after dinner at about 9pm.
Tomorrow we drive to California.