It was a hectic day beginning in Santa Barbara at 5:00am. From there, we went to San Francisco and over to Salt Lake City. Once there, we learned that someone must have sneezed in San Francisco and the bay area was now covered in low clouds, delaying our departure from Salt Lake. The bigger problem was that we needed to make a deadhead connection on a United flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas. After launching out of Salt Lake at our flow time, we were able to coordinate with dispatchers to put us into the gate right next to our United flight, getting to the plane just in time. If only one could do that as a passenger...
After taking a little nap on the flight to Las Vegas (Reminder: I was not flying the plane), we took the shuttle van to our hotel in Henderson. Although McCarran International is much closer to hotels on the Las Vegas strip, one can see the PR issues that could ensue by putting a flight crew up in the MGM Grand. After going for a quick run, I set out on the hunt for food. There were numerous restaurants in the area, but I was looking for a place where it is socially acceptable to be eating alone. So... I went to a casino.
As we all know, Vegas is known for its buffets, but they can be quite expensive. Fortunately, being off the strip, I was able to score endless food for less money than my tiny airport sandwich I bought in Salt Lake City. I ate my way around the world so to speak. It was divided into sections based on regional specialties. I began with Italian and Asian -- two slices of pizza, calzones, garlic chicken, linguini alfredo, meatballs, and fried rice, and an egg roll for starters. Then I moved on to the American and Mexican section where I acquired a quesadilla, spanish rice, a corn muffin, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and biscuits and gravy. And what's that I see in the corner? Is that a salad? It is! Look how healthy I'm eating! To finish things off, I knocked back a coconut cream pie and some ice cream and called it a night.
