The Waiting Game

Well, we arrived in Vegas safe and mostly sound. But it has very much been a waiting game all around. First, when I drove up to the car parking place at the airport in Amarillo I had to wait about 5 minutes before anyone came to my car. Usually they have someone that hops right in and rides with you to the airport and then drives your car back. I guess they were short on people because we had to get out with all of our luggage and take the shuttle. Not that it's a long trip, but it was an inconvenience. Then our plane was delayed by about 40 minutes. Once we arrive in Las Vegas there wasn't much of a wait in terms of getting our luggage or getting on the shuttle to the rental car center. But once there the line at Dollar (and almost all other places) stretched what seemed like miles. It took about an hour to get the rental car. Then we piled all the luggage and people in the car and headed to the Hard Rock cafe (in a very round-about way - thanks to one-way streets) for lunch. Luckily another group got there early for us so there was no waiting. The meal was good (I had the Haystack chicken salad) but was a little pricey. After that we came to the hotel to check in. They gave us two rooms in one building and another room in a completely different building across the complex. I wasn't happy about it but they said there was nothing they could do since they were completely booked up. So I put the boys by themselves and we came over to the other building. Come to find out, they did the same thing to another school from our area but the coach was in our building and her kids were in the other building so we ended up just switching rooms. The coach moved over there and the boys came over here which made it more convenient for everyone around - except for the fact that they had to repack everything and move and they're both on the third floor with no elevator.
Then we chilled for a bit. Around 5 (Vegas time) we headed to Walmart to get supplies. Since we have suites with mini kitchens, we got cereal and drinks and stuff. I also got more hangers since the hotel supplies us with only four. Then I thought I had a great plan for going to Freemont street. We would park at the MGM Grand (since you don't have to be on the strip to access the garage) and take the bus downtown. According to the information I gathered, it would take 30-45 minutes to get downtown. It actually took over an hour. But we made it there and watched the Freemont Street Experience and listened to a live band play some 80's hard rock and watched the drunk people act stupid. We then went to a grill to get a late snack since we didn't supper (I just got a coke) and then we watched another light show. After that we took the bus back to the MGM Grand (another hour trip) and then it was a 15 minute walk to the car and a 20 minute drive back to the hotel. We didn't get in until 1:30 in the morning which was actually 3:30 Texas time.
I went to bed shortly after getting in but I got up early this morning to go to church. I know I'll be tired today, but I wanted to make sure I went early enough that it didn't interfere with other plans for today. Now I'm waiting for my kids to get ready (another hour) and then we'll go to registration. After that, we'll go back to the strip and experience it. We have 24 hour bus passes that are good until 8:00 tonight so we'll use them and go up and down the strip a bit - but do it in moderation. I do have to get to the Sahara so I can ride my rollercoaster that I've been trying to ride for the last few years.
I think my kids are having fun - it's already been quite an eye-opening experience. We've seen prostitutes, porn, panhandling, and a lot of drunks. Nothing like being in Sin City for a National speech tournament.